News from the Valley

Chew cards are one of the detection tools in our predator monitoring toolkit that help us to identify the presence of mammalian predators that might harm our native wildlife. Chew cards are made of plastic ‘corflute’ with many small channels that are filled with a peanut butter based (non-toxic) lure and can provide clues to help us to detect which mammalian predators are visiting our backyard. We can select the right trap to target specific species and. The great thing about chew cards is that they are easy to use and place in your backyard - using just a …

Have you noticed the new window decorations at the Valley Project Fred Hollows Room? They’re a little tricky for us to see but they light up brightly (like reflective strips on a bicycle or HiVis Vest) to birds flying past by reflecting UV light. These decals are designed to prevent window strike which can occur when birds perceive a direct line of sight through a window - either they see a reflection of trees or the sky or they can see directly through two windows. As well as placing UV window decals on your windows, the placement of your …

A NEW addition to the Valley Project team, a New Zealand Falcon, or kārearea in Te Reo Māori, can be found enhancing the entrance to the car park on North Road. This beautiful mural, painted by Bruce Mahalski from the Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery signifies all of the amazing biodiversity found within the North East Valley and surrounding suburbs. His image is inspired by a photograph by Keith Payne. But, why the kārearea, and why is it so special? We have heard many stories from local community members remarking on the wonderful and fierce nature of the …

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 …

North East Valley and the surrounding suburbs are some of my favourite places to be in Dunedin. One of the reasons being the closeness to nature - I love stopping by the creek on my morning walk and watching the water rush by or seeing some birds feeding in a nearby tree. There’s a few trees in particular that I like to look out for on these walks too! The iNaturalist app has been super handy to help me identify and keep track of them all! Or for the child-friendly version, try Seek. Right next to the road at …

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 …

The term “weed” is a little bit of a misnomer - the term weed could apply to any plant, if it’s not quite where we want it to be. Some species however, are known as invasive weeds - these are plants that are introduced into a new area and spread very quickly, altering the new environment. Often, these plant species take over areas, creating a monoculture and have little benefits for native wildlife. Plants considered weeds may also attract undesirable species (i.e. sycamores attract wasps and likely rats too), do not produce foods native species eat and/or are not …

How about taking a ramble for the holidays? With the days becoming longer and warmer, I feel the pull of exploring the outdoors becoming much stronger. With the school holidays and warm spring weather, I find myself with some spare time to spend outside. Chingford Park up North Road offers plenty of opportunity to satisfy my craving for the outdoors. Lindsay Creek, running through the heart of Chingford Park and the Valley itself is particularly alluring as the sight and sound of the water flowing across the river-bed has a calming effect. The creek is also home to many …

Meg and Simon are community members within the Lindsay Creek Catchment who have been working towards enhancing wildlife in their backyards and community spaces by managing mammalian predators and weedy plant species respectively. Have a read of their stories below and find out ways you can be involved! RIP Stumpy Sorry, but your nightly feasts on my kōwhai, silverbeet and cabbage seedlings had to stop. If we hadn't got an infra-red camera, you and your friends probably would have chomped through my entire vege garden by now and would be waiting hungrily for the tasty new leaves and birds’ …

Keen to learn more about our curious kākā? Read below about Scott Forrest's research into the movements of kākā outside the Orokonui Ecosanctuary fence and the project, kei hea ngā kākā (Where are the kākā) lead by Taylor Davies-Colley! Operation Kākā Repopulation As part of my Master’s research at the University of Otago, I will be tracking the movements of a subset of the Orokonui kākā population. Our wonderful ecosanctuary at Orokonui is great at keeping mammals out, but not so good at keeping kākā in! So to provide the best support for them on the outside, we …

Does the idea of sharing your backyard with more native wildlife excite you? By working together as one big “Backyard Ecosanctuary” and a Lindsay Creek team of 14,000 community members, this idea is now becoming a reality. The “Backyard Ecosanctuaries” programme is an initiative by the Open Valley Urban Ecosanctuary (VUE) project to encourage positive outcomes for native wildlife in backyards and community spaces through actions based in citizen science and education. We have several focus areas for 2020, driven by passions grown within the community. Primarily, we are focusing on habitat enhancement through planting and weeding and mammalian …

Throughout my walks over the last few weeks, I have been enchanted by the sight and sounds of many native and introduced bird species, which got me thinking more about some of the mammals living in New Zealand that we don’t often see. New Zealand Indigenous Mammals After watching the “So you want to be a bat-spotter” webinar from Predator Free New Zealand, I found out a little more about our native mammal species. We only have two species of native land mammals in New Zealand, both of these being bats (long-tailed and short-tailed bats) or pekapeka in Te …