Once you’ve made the ponds, you’ve got to replant them before it becomes a wetland habitat for the birds… but how to plant grasses in the deepest parts? You plant them in bales of straw of course! Last Saturday an enthusiastic team of volunteers cheered on John and Chris, who were braving the cold in bare legs in the water, maneuvering the bales with carex to exactly the right spot…. now let’s hope all the different grasses and trees planted around the ponds will grow well to provide food, shelter and housing for the birds. We regularly hear and see puweto (spotless crake), matata (fernbird) and of course our little pateke (brown teal).

And yes, a lot of other work was done as well ;). Thank you for joining us at the planting day, many hands make light work.

Hope to see you there next time! – Annalily & the trustees

Protect, enhance and educate are our three core values at Matuku Link. And the “protection” bit is done by trapping and baiting. We’ve got a great dedicated team of trappers who check “their” traps every two weeks to reset, clean and refill them with a piece of salted rabbit meat for smell and an egg as a visual lure. This is mainly to catch stoats, but has useful by-catch like rats and hedgehogs.

Our baiting team refills the 295 bait stations (white plastic boxes made from recycled milk bottles, so called “PhilProof Mini”) on Matuku Link and adjacent Matuku Reserve every season, to get rid of rats and possums. Every baiter has its own lines: a grid system where lines are 100 metres apart and have a bait station every 50 metres. They are all north-south oriented, doesn’t matter if there is a cliff face, river or steep incline in the way! Some of our lines are easy and a lovely walk, others are much more challenging (one has a 60 meter rope!) but also more rewarding… we hope…

But how do we know we’re achieving anything? Are our efforts actually protecting our birds and our bush? We record the bait uptake (how much has been eaten) and volunteer Stefan turns them into heat maps to give a good overview. Red means fully eaten, green means not eaten at all.

Knowing how many rats are left is more important than knowing how many rats you’ve killed… and thanks to Auckland Zoo staff, lead by Sian Buley, we know that as well: they check the footprints on tracking tunnels after our baiting rounds. We’re still ‘tracking’ downwards, which is the encouraging!

All of our efforts have been helped enormously by the by-weekly trapping at Habitat te Henga, done by Forest & Bird contractor Matt Mannington for the past 7 years – also partly funded by Auckland Zoo and Auckland Council. Private residents along the wetland do their bit as well, caring for the birds, by baiting and trapping.

A very worthwhile group effort! If you’d like to become involved, contact me.

Annalily – matukulink@gmail.com or 0212207136

Welcome back! Were very happy we can invite you to Matuku Link again, the nursery is bursting at its seams and we’d love to get as many plants in the ground as possible. BUT with the new rules, there are some changes:

• when you’re sick, stay home.
•  no need to bring your own gloves and spades anymore, but if you do: everything needs to be squeaky clean because of kauri dieback
• fill in our H&S and tracing form before you come. Click here for the link. Contact me if you have any issues with the form.

The upcoming working bee dates, to try and catch up on the planting for this season, are:

• Friday 12th June
• Sunday 21st June – these our our “regular Third Sunday” monthly working bee
• Sunday 19th July
• Sunday 16th August

Start time 10 am, finishing with a shared lunch at 1 pm. It’s winter time – even if the dams are low, the water level is high in the wetland: gum boot time. Make sure they are clean before you come please.

Hope to see you there! – Annalily & the trustees

(updated 10 June 2020)

Auckland Bat Man and bat expert Ben Paris gave our volunteers an insight into bats, and showed us how to look, or actually: listen, for our long tailed bats (tourua peka peka) with the latest in bat detectors. Shiny new ‘bat loggers’, courtesy of Community Waitakere through the targeted rate for the environment, were taken out of their boxes and placed in the outdoors for the very first time.

We know there are bats in the Cascades (now closed due to kauri dieback). The past two years teams have captured bats to add a transmitter and followed them through the night to see where they went. As long tailed bats only stay in a roost site for a couple of days, it is quite hard to find them! So to enable efficient capture for next time, it would be good to know where a lot of bats hang out…

The scientific question behind this is that we’d like to find out how far north “our” Cascade bats venture. Years ago bats were detected in Riverhead forest, but we don’t know if they are ‘our’ bats moving that way, and if so: what path they travel to get there.

After the first week of testing the bat loggers, bats were heard on 4 out of 5 sites, which is a great result. Next weeks we’ll try other sites to get more familiar with the equipment, get better at scoping sites with high potential (large old trees, water, a clearing) and using the software.

It’s great to add to the knowledge of our biodiversity, especially in the case of this tiny beautiful intriguing creature we know so little about.

Annalily & the trustees

All images by our voluntary professional photographer Jacqui Geux – thank you!

And Stefan and Jacqui took photos of all the fun! Everyone mentioned before did a great job looking after all of our visitors and spreading the load. We even managed to sell t-shirts and sharks in the heat…

Great work everyone and thank you for coming and celebrating our unique wetland environment with us.

– photos by Stefan Marks

Annalily & the trustees: John Sumich, John Staniland, Chad Wilkie, Geoff Davidson.

All images by our voluntary professional photographer Stefan Marks – Thank you!

Our first Working Bee of 2020 was blessed with a sunny day (hot hot hot) and ice creams from our friends at Nice Blocks to cool off. We weeded, released plants, weeded and weeded some more…. and those who’d rather be in the shade, did great work out in the nursery planting up the seeds of the Carex Virgata and Juncus, hopefully ready to be put in our wetland next year.

Our working bees are always on the third Sunday of the month. We start at 10 am as (although some eager beavers are usually there from 8.30 am) and keep going until 1 pm, followed by a shared lunch, which of course is optional, but with the amazing food and great company, definitely a good way to wind down, learn about the project, catch up with friends, or make new ones.

The next working bees are:

• Sunday February 16th
• Sunday March 15th
• Sunday April 19th

A big “thank you” to all of you who have came along before, and a big “welcome” to new volunteers!  If you can’d do Sundays, but are interested to help out during the week with schools or groups, just contact me.

There is no public transport unfortunately but ample parking spots, and the opportunity to go to the beach afterwards. Let us know if you’ve got any questions, otherwise just turn up at 111 Bethells Road, with suitable gear (sunscreen and/or rain coats) and sturdy, CLEAN, footwear and gear. “Lickable clean” is the standard!  If it’s not 100% mud/soil free, we will provide you with brushes and trigene to get it to that point. This is important because we are kauri dieback free, and like to keep it this way.

The Summer Working Bees will focus on “Search and Rescue”: find the white sticks in the tall grass and fields of weeds, and rescue the plants we planted there by removing all the weeds which are keeping our plants from growing or photosynthesizing… If the weather is horrible, we’ll work in the nursery potting up plants (or just get soaked!). Usually there is also a group of us doing other tasks around constructing paths, helping build the barn, providing baking for the volunteers, trapping etcetera. If there is anything you specifically like to do, contact us.

Hope to see you next time! – Annalily & the trustees

PS We also host several business groups per year, as a team building exercise, educational experience or to see where their funding is going. If you think this is for you, drop me a line at matukulink@gmail.com.

All images by Annalily – let me know if you want a copy!

Girl Guides from all over New Zealand had a five day camp in Auckland, with a focus on science and the environment. At Matuku Link we treated them to a whole range of activities, with the help of Dr Grace Hall, arachnologist/entomologist from Landcare Research, and Dr Kevin Simon, associate professor at the University of Auckland in freshwater ecology, and their students.

Kevin treated the very enthusiastic young ladies on a demo of electric fishing and they collected water samples and identified all sorts of living inhabitants of our streams. They got an up-close-and-personal experience with a koura (native freshwater crayfish), which they renamed “Lobster Dude”, sparking the conversation on the difference between lobsters and crayfish, and they had a good look at a (and I quote): “very cute baby eel”!

Grace brought microscopes and lots and lots of small pots, to collect all the “bugs” she caught with the Girl Guides by having them beat the bush, literally! Whatever fell out of the branches they hit, was collected on sheets and put into those pots for further study in the barn. A number of stick insects, a katydid and many different sorts of spiders, beetles, cockroaches and some ants were identified.

To keep the troops happy, we were able to give them some of our donated ice creams from our friends at Nice Blocks – thank you!

After lunch the girls learned about birds and their threats, predator control, pets and pests, and helped out in the nursery. A hot and long day, one we hope will grow the interest of these amazing young ladies in the sciences and the environment.

Maybe we’ll see them again, on one of our working bees, at a camp next year or maybe as a student on their PhD!

Annalily & John Sumich

All images by Annalily – let me know if you want a copy – thank you!

Taking flight – more, bigger, better…

The Matuku Reserve Trustees, as they are officially called, always have many plans for the future of Matuku Link. For 2020 a couple of things are high on their list:

• consent for the toilets and kitchenette in the barn. Wouldn’t it be great to get rid of the big orange Tardis? And not to have to take dirty coffee cups home? Not to mention having actual hot water….
•  the start of an accessible walkway. Accessibility has always been high on the agenda for this project. Unlike other areas of the Waitakere Ranges, it is reasonably flat, being a wetland, and as such is accessible to help for groups of all ages. For people with limited mobility (using walkers, pushing a stroller or being in a wheelchair) there are no opportunities to experience a wetland environment in Auckland. With the “loop” from the barn towards our pateke pond and back around the Poets Path, everyone can do a leasurly stroll and enjoy the sounds, smells and sights of native bush, a river, stream and a pond as well as a glow worm rock!
•  apply for funding for a coordinator/educator/facilitator/general dogsbody. The past three years we’ve solely relied on volunteers to do everything, but with the growth in the number of groups we’re hosting, our aspirations around a new Sustainable Wetland Education Centre, education and accessibility, we need someone who can focus on organising, fundraising and coordinating this.
•  And of course we’ll keep on growing plants, weeding, planting, doing predator control and hosting groups!

If you would like to contribute in any way, with your expertise, knowledge, skills or time, please contact me: we’d love to hear from you: matukulink@gmail.com

All the best,

Annalily (secretary) and trustees John Sumich, John Staniland, Geoff Davidson, Chad Wilkie (chair)

(kereru in flight: photo Stefan Marks)

Most mages by our voluntary professional photographers Stefan Marks and Jacqui Geux – thank you!

Whitebait Connection have been working in the Bethells Te Henga catchment over the last couple of years to identify a possible Inanga spawning site. Matuku Link provides a potential habitat for the adult fish of these whitebait species. Inanga are one of the 5 native species of fish that make up the Whitebait catch. They are classified as ‘at risk’ (Conservation of New Zealand Fish Species 2017, DOC). Further work this year will be focused on possible restoration and protection of the site.

Trap setting & Spotlighting:

As we set out in the evening we were  pleased the weather was playing fair and proceeded to set up our 18 g-minnow traps and 3 fyke nets with hopes and dreams that we might catch something. Traps were set in the main Waitakere River that flows through Matuku Link and among the small ponds and waterways in that feed into it. We carried out some water quality testing on the main stream including, temperature, clarity, pH, nitrates, phosphorus, dissolved oxygen and macroinvertebrates (including some very lively swimming mayflies!). All tests showed the stream was within good healthy parameters at the time of testing.

Our spotlighting trip found some great Koura habitat in the pebbled stream in the bush, with several active Koura (Paranephrops planifrons) seen. Ruru calls followed us as we adventured along the stream and we turned off our headlights to reveal that unique starry sparkle of glowworms in the bush. We saw one bully and a big Dragonfly nymph, dragonflies spend most of their lives in this nymph phase before emerging into the adult dragonfly.

Checking the Whakaweku & fish traps:

On our return we saw we had caught an eel and a beautiful Banded Kokopu in one of our fyke nets, unfortunately or maybe fortunately for the eel, just the eel was left the following day.

The following day we were tasked with checking all the traps and our Whakeweku/Tau Koura monitoring points that we set up in October. The Whakaweku are based on a traditional technique that Maori would have used in some areas for gathering Koura. Branches are bundled together, secured and immersed in the waterway to provide some habitat and a hiding place for the Koura. They also create natural habitat for stream macroinvertebrates.

We had Whakaweku/Tau Koura set up in 9 locations, only one contained Koura when checked – in the lower pool of the bush where we had seen them when spotlighting. 3 individuals were present (10.4mm, 15 mm & 17.2 mm). The other Whakaweku/Tau Koura did however reveal a good quantity of healthy stream macroinvertebrates; dragonfly nymphs, water boatmen, left-handed snails, damselfly nymphs, flat mayflies, net building caddisfly, dobsonfly, meaning there is some good habitat and food for our native fish.

The fish monitoring was successful, we found both Long-finned (Anguilla dieffenbachii) and Short-finned eels (Anguilla australis), Common bullies (Gobiomorphus cotidianus), Cran’s bully (Gobiomorphus basalis), Gambusia affinis (introduced pest fish), and Banded Kokopu (Galaxias fasciatus). Banded Kokopu are one of the 5 species caught within the Whitebait catch and are considered good climbers. Two adult fish we found had made their way into the bush tributary and up some small waterfalls. Unfortunately not all our species of native fish have such strong climbing ability and are often challenged by stream modification and culverts.

We will be continuing our Inanga spawning site work in the lower Bethells Te Henga catchment in the new year and would love to hear from anyone who would like to be involved. If anyone is keen to find out more or become involved with WhitebaitConnection, check out www.whitebaitconnection.co.nz or contact steph@whitebaitconnection.co.nz

Images by Steph McLeod or Sophie Tweddle – Whitebait Connection

The three goals of Matuku Link for biodiversity are: protecting & enhancing, restoration and education. Enhancing is done by planting, restoration by planting and weeding and education is the foundation underneath all our group visits. But the most important part of what we do is protecting. Protecting our native flora and fauna from getting eaten, basically. This is the same for Habitat te Henga, Ark in the Park, the Ark Bufferzone and Forest Ridge: all the neighbouring projects Matuku Link, well… links to!

And protecting unfortunately means killing things: baiting and trapping to get rid of rats, possums, stoats, ferrets, weasels and hedgehogs to name a few. Research at Ark in the Park showed that the larger an area is, the better the “core” is protected: the invasion by predators is highest in the first 100 metres. That is why ‘buffers’ around high value biodiversity areas are so important: the core area will be better protected. In a way, Matuku Link’s 37 hectares are the ‘buffer’ for the 120 hectares of Matuku Reserve, and the predator control on the private properties on Forest Ridge are the ‘buffer’ for Matuku Link on its northern boundary.

A small team of very dedicated trappers look after traplines on Matuku Reserve and Matuku Link, making sure traps are checked, reset and rebaited at least every fortnight. The baiting team adds to the protection by refilling almost 300 bait stations every couple of months. But how do we know this is working? Our friends from Auckland Zoo have started monitoring September 2018, repeated that in May 2019 and did it again just recently at the beginning of November. And our trappers and baiters should be very proud: even though it is a mast year with lots of food around (to feed our birds as well as rats!), the numbers went from 69% rats to 27% to 20% in this last round. YEAH!!!

But it isn’t actually about how much we catch, it is about how well our native flora and fauna is doing. You might remember two years ago 5 kiwi were released in the Hunua Ranges and 2 were killed by one ferret in their first week. So how are we tracking in our area? It is difficult to get hard data because we are not surveying all of our native birds regularly. But at least we’ve seen some of our pateke breed and raise their ducklings to fully grown adults. And the third puweto (spotless crake) survey is planned in a couple of months. For now, we should just enjoy the spring bird chorus and know that the chances they are getting predated are less then what they were without our hard working volunteers.

A special thanks to our trappers (alphabetically): Barbara, Carly, Cliff, John, Eric, Ken, Marjolijn, Wayne, Sue and baiters Andrew, Anko, Craig, Lisa, Lissa, Jill, Jeremy, John Sum, John Stan, Josie, Matt, Stefan, Stuart, with help from Sian and John for monitoring, Lisa and Craig for bagging bait, Ken for repairing traps and all the others who make sure the whole operation works well, doing things like supplying eggs, ordering bait, taping lines, clearing tracks, refilling A24’s, making maps, entering data…. and so much more!

THANK YOU!

Annalily – on behalf of all our creatures out there