Where are the swans?
Royal swans are on the wane and DU Director Will Abel wants suggestions about getting hold of some breeding stock. Please contact Will on 06 362 6675.
More Flights scheduled
From next year, Flight magazine will be published three times a year in February, June and October. Submissions of stories, photos, story ideas and suggestions should be emailed to Alison Murray at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
DU rep appointed
Director Neil Candy has been appointed as a member of the Game Bird Habitat Trust Board, which distributes funding to develop and enhance the wetland
habitats of game birds and other wetland inhabitants. He attends his first meeting as a board member this month in Dunedin where 12 applications for funding will be reviewed.
What's on the telly
DU directors Dan Steele and Jim Law both appeared on TV in August. TVNZ's Matty McLean was given a tour of Blue Duck Station by Dan on the Breakfast show, and Jim and Marilyn Law's Palliser Ridge Station was featured on Country Calendar.
This episode can be watched online at www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/country-
calendar/episodes/s2020-e23 though you may need to sign up first (it's free).
Rainy day reading
New Zealand Geographic has an extensive online feature on wetlands. Go to www.nzgeo.com/stories/wetlands.
A $300,000 Fish & Game study is hoped to shed light on nesting success of native birds, in particular duck broods.
The three year study is the first of its kind in New Zealand, and aims to pinpoint when birds nest and lay, how many ducklings hatch and how many survive and fledge.Ducks Unlimited is New Zealand’s leading wetlands and waterfowl conservation group. We work to save our wetlands through protection, funding, technical aid and education so that the flora and fauna of our most endangered ecosystem are a legacy we can pass down to future generations. Our key focus is to increase the efficiency and number of New Zealand wetlands developed and support any relevant wildfowl recovery programmes. To aid in this worthwhile cause we harness community support and Government resources, plus utilise global links and findings from wetland global research programmes.
MB23 - he’s one of the first generation North Island Brown kiwi born at Pukaha Mount Bruce after Operation Nest Egg delivered his parents there in May 2010. Now he’s sitting on his own nest!
Department of Conservation Ranger Yuri Forbes is tracking his activities with a chick timer transmitter which tells Yuri that he’s nesting. The eggs (there’s usually two) will be removed at around 70 days incubation and with any luck the reserve will have their second generation kiwi about 20 days later hatching in the nursery.