Usually Ark in the Park and Forest & Bird Waitakere run ‘Nightwalks with Nature’ in summer near the Ark headquarters at the Cascades car park. But due to kauri dieback restrictions, that is out of bounds so they partnered up with Matuku Link to do “A Night at the Bufferzone”.
It was a beautiful clear night, we were fully booked with two groups of 16 visitors which were led by seven experts. We saw eels, glow worms, weta, stars, spiders, did some botanising and heard lots of ruru (morepork)…and even woke up two hedgehogs. The half moon lit our path back to the barn where we all finished for a hot cuppa and a chance to warm up.
Feedback from visitors was positive, and with two of them running the Astronomical Society, we might do a real star gazing experience in the not too distant future as well.
Thank you to all our volunteers and experts who helped on the night: John Sumich, John Staniland, Derek March, Lisa Simonsen, Conor Reid, Yvonne, Mike, Anko and Wayne.
Annalily
All images expertly taken by our volunteer photographer Stefan Marks – thank you!
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