News from the Valley

Keen to connect with nature, flex your citizen science muscles, and help protect our feathered friends? The NZ Garden Bird Survey is back from 28 June to 6 July, and your backyard is a key research site! Birds are fantastic indicators of ecosystem health, and your counts help scientists track trends in native and introduced species within our beautiful urban ecosanctuary and across Aotearoa. You don’t need to be a bird expert – just set aside one hour, find a comfy spot (thermos of tea optional but encouraged), and record the birds you see. Stuck between a tūī and …

New Zealand has several kinds of native wasps which have evolved here and are not a nuisance. However, five species of social wasps have been introduced in the last 80 years and have become pests. These include German and common wasps, and three species of paper wasps. These introduced wasps harm our native birds and insects (including attacking beehives), as well as being a threat to human health. There is a particular concern for German and common wasps in New Zealand as they have no natural predators here, giving way to some of the highest densities in the world  …

The results are in, and we can count ourselves lucky here in North East Valley! Thanks to students from Otago Polytechnic and the Nature Club at North East Valley Normal School, we were able to contribute data for the 2024 NZ Bird Count from four different locations in North East Valley. Observations were made between 29 June – 7 July, and sites included Chingford Park, Bethune’s Gully, Wilkinson Street Park in Pine Hill, and the North East Valley Community Garden behind the Normal School. Manu pango (blackbirds), korimako (bellbirds) and pīwakawaka (fantail) were observed at all four sites. Students …

Thank you for your interest in the Garden Star program. Please fill out the form to calculate your garden biodiversity rating. By completing and submitting this form, you'll be eligible for a FREE VOUCHER to purchase two native plants from Ribbonwood Nursery. You can submit the form by emailing it to openvue@northeastvalley.org or you can print it out and drop it to the Valley Project office at 262 North Road. 

Open VUE will be propagating native plants from seed and cuttings collected right here in the Lindsay Creek Catchment! We are practicing a loose definition of the term, “Ecosourcing”. Ecosourcing strictly speaking means collecting wild seed from original source populations. Collecting seed from sources that have been growing here for hundreds or thousands of years will produce offspring that are more likely to survive as they have adapted to the local conditions. However, in the urban environment, this can be a little difficult. We would love any seed collected from original or regenerating forest or trees growing on properties …

Weed Bash Success! The Weed Bash was full of celebration last month when various Weed Warrior crews and Community Gardeners removed about 15 woolsacks of weeds from community spaces and backyards! The target weed for the Weed Bash - Banana Passionfruit Vine (Passiflora tripartita) was the top of the list for removal - a highly invasive weed, with many plants removed from backyards. Banana Passionfruit Vine is a climber, climbing onto trees, eventually smothering them. Keep on look out for a plant with three lobed leaves, pink, tubular hanging flowers when flowering and banana-shaped fruit that ripen from …

What has Open VUE (Open Valley Urban Ecosanctuary) uncovered about North East Valley wildlife? There may be many different creatures living in your backyard, from birds to mammals, right down to invertebrates and lizards! Working with our Open VUE educator, Clare Cross, local school pupils from North East Valley, Opoho and Pine Hill took on the challenge to find out exactly what was in their own backyards. They used many different tools and techniques, outlined below, and then combined their findings in what was truly a collaborative citizen science project. Here are the results of what they found out …

The Transition Valley 473 initiating group meets monthly to discuss how we can make our community more resilient in the face of climate change, environmental and economic threats. We welcome new people to these meetings or to any of our activities. Contact Philippa on 473 9293 or see us on Facebook at ‘Transition Valley 473’. community orchard Our community orchard consists of fruit and nut trees and berry bushes planted on six different sites in Pine Hill and North East Valley. Come and join a winter working bee to prune and mulch our trees! Phone Philippa 473 9293 or …