Native plant gardeners of Ōtautahi Christchurch and Selwyn area! Can I please harvest harakeke seed pods from your garden? Looking for places that have a high number of large, established harakeke plants so I don't take too many from each plant. Or if you know of wild locations that people wouldn't mind my foraging in!

#foraging #Ōtautahi #ŌtautahiChristchurch #Canterbury #harakeke

Native plant gardeners of Ōtautahi Christchurch and Selwyn area! Can I please harvest harakeke seed pods from your garden? Looking for places that have a high number of large, established harakeke plants so I don't take too many from each plant. Or if you know of wild locations that people wouldn't mind my foraging in!

#foraging #Ōtautahi #ŌtautahiChristchurch #Canterbury #harakeke

I was running down off the hills this afternoon as part of my monthly biodiversity survey of this Port Hills route. I was carrying cameras and a monocular and a wind-shielded microphone plugged into my phone.

A couple of young guys biked up the hill on their mountain bikes.

"Capturing the birds?" one of them asked, curiously.

"Yeah!" I replied.

"Premium," he nodded.

There wasn't time to explain that I was capturing more than bird observations. Still, here are two of my afternoon's "premium" bird observations.

😄

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214

#nz#ChristchurchPortHills#Ōtautahi#Christchurch #birds #nature#BiodiversitySurvey #wildcounts #iNaturalistNZ

I was running down off the hills this afternoon as part of my monthly biodiversity survey of this Port Hills route. I was carrying cameras and a monocular and a wind-shielded microphone plugged into my phone.

A couple of young guys biked up the hill on their mountain bikes.

"Capturing the birds?" one of them asked, curiously.

"Yeah!" I replied.

"Premium," he nodded.

There wasn't time to explain that I was capturing more than bird observations. Still, here are two of my afternoon's "premium" bird observations.

😄

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214

#nz#ChristchurchPortHills#Ōtautahi#Christchurch #birds #nature#BiodiversitySurvey #wildcounts #iNaturalistNZ

If you're in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ, and are keen to make some noise about the climate crisis on Friday, note that the young team of #SchoolStrikeforClimate have a protest march planned. They're starting at the Bridge of Remembrance at 1 PM.

My daughter is one of the organisers and she's worried that the turnout will be low this year as recently Meta locked them out of their Instagram account (they don't know why but expect it's because they expressed support for Palestinians). They started another Instagram account but don't have many followers.

(I've tried to convince them of the general excellence of Mastodon, but without any success, so far.)

Anyway, if you're a local, a boost would be appreciated, as would support from all ages on Friday. Thanks!

#ClimateCrisis #protest #march#Ōtautahi#Christchurch#NZ

If you're in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ, and are keen to make some noise about the climate crisis on Friday, note that the young team of #SchoolStrikeforClimate have a protest march planned. They're starting at the Bridge of Remembrance at 1 PM.

My daughter is one of the organisers and she's worried that the turnout will be low this year as recently Meta locked them out of their Instagram account (they don't know why but expect it's because they expressed support for Palestinians). They started another Instagram account but don't have many followers.

(I've tried to convince them of the general excellence of Mastodon, but without any success, so far.)

Anyway, if you're a local, a boost would be appreciated, as would support from all ages on Friday. Thanks!

#ClimateCrisis #protest #march#Ōtautahi#Christchurch#NZ

I spent this afternoon touring the "Red Zone" of Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, with two friends. One of them works for Corrections and with his "clients" they've so far planted more than 90,000(!) native trees in this area of the city. Many more are to come. They're still baby trees now but a whole forest is on it's way!

For non-locals, the Red Zone was created after the disastrous Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 wrecked the housing in this eastern area of the city. Most of it was reclaimed wetland and the ground didn't hold up to a serious quake. The city decided not to re-house it.

The houses have since been removed although many of the home garden trees were retained. The area is now being re-landscaped for nature, recreation, and floodwater retention.

#Christchurch#Ōtautahi#NZ #restoration #nature

I spent this afternoon touring the "Red Zone" of Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, with two friends. One of them works for Corrections and with his "clients" they've so far planted more than 90,000(!) native trees in this area of the city. Many more are to come. They're still baby trees now but a whole forest is on it's way!

For non-locals, the Red Zone was created after the disastrous Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 wrecked the housing in this eastern area of the city. Most of it was reclaimed wetland and the ground didn't hold up to a serious quake. The city decided not to re-house it.

The houses have since been removed although many of the home garden trees were retained. The area is now being re-landscaped for nature, recreation, and floodwater retention.

#Christchurch#Ōtautahi#NZ #restoration #nature

Okay, do I know anyone in #Ōtautahi #Christchurch with a ute or trailer or similar who would be able to take a load of trash bags to the tip tomorrow (Sunday)? I will pay for the tip, your petrol, and your time.

And if after that you can help transport a fridge and washing machine, even better!

they paved Seagull Pit, put up a parking lot...

I was disappointed to find this week that the seagulls have all been banished from the Christchurch "Seagull Pit" and it's now another car park.

After the Christchurch earthquakes, the badly damaged PricewaterhouseCoopers Building was demolished, leaving the remains of the foundation, which filled with water. To everyone's surprise, a group of tarāpuka , black-billed gulls, found it and formed a breeding colony, right in the middle of the city. They're the rarest of NZ's seagulls and typically breed on temporary gravel islands in braided rivers.

On Google Maps and Apple Maps the site was listed as a Tourist Attraction called "Seagull Pit", open 24 hours.

The area was always going become another building eventually. In the meantime, instead of gulls, we've now got another carpark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_Seagull_Pit

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360791815/laser-beams-and-electro-magnetic-fields-seagull-pit-fight-goes-hi-tech

#seagulls #birds #nz#Christchurch#Ōtautahi#PeopleVSnature

they paved Seagull Pit, put up a parking lot...

I was disappointed to find this week that the seagulls have all been banished from the Christchurch "Seagull Pit" and it's now another car park.

After the Christchurch earthquakes, the badly damaged PricewaterhouseCoopers Building was demolished, leaving the remains of the foundation, which filled with water. To everyone's surprise, a group of tarāpuka , black-billed gulls, found it and formed a breeding colony, right in the middle of the city. They're the rarest of NZ's seagulls and typically breed on temporary gravel islands in braided rivers.

On Google Maps and Apple Maps the site was listed as a Tourist Attraction called "Seagull Pit", open 24 hours.

The area was always going become another building eventually. In the meantime, instead of gulls, we've now got another carpark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_Seagull_Pit

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360791815/laser-beams-and-electro-magnetic-fields-seagull-pit-fight-goes-hi-tech

#seagulls #birds #nz#Christchurch#Ōtautahi#PeopleVSnature

In #otautahi#Christchurch#NZ earlier today.
🇵🇸

Here are four wetland birds I've photographed on my bike commute to work this week, between Ōtautahi-Chirstchurch and Lincoln, New Zealand. Together they're a testament to how much wetland bird life has been returning to the wider city, as the city has been restoring native wetland habitats.

I've been counting birds on my bike commute to Lincoln since 2003. While I saw pied oystercatchers in 2003, the first ever pied stilt I counted wasn't until August 2017, the first grey teal I counted was in July 2019, and the first coot I counted was in June 2024.

Bring back the wetlands and the birds return.

Poaka · Australian Pied stilt: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208255

Tete · Grey teal: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208254

Tōrea · South Island Pied Oystercatcher: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208266

Australasian Coot: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208248

#birds #nz #wetland #restoration#Ōtautahi#Christchurch

Last month I helped my daughter shift some climate protest signs from the Climate Action Campus (which used to be Avonside Girls High before the earthquakes and is now available for community groups to use).

She's at high school and volunteers for SchoolStrike4Climate, helping to make young voices heard in NZ's climate politics.

Here are a couple of photos I took of the signs. Of course, I particularly liked the TOOT sign.

(Many of the signs are, for the moment, still stored in our garage.)

#ClimateCrisis#ClimateChange#Protest#Signs#NZ#Ōtautahi#Christchurch