Nga Manu Nature Reserve

A Fantastic Asset - Ian Weeds

Ian Weeds................know that name? Well maybe not but you will know Grandad, which is what he is called by those who work alongside him at Nga Manu. When I asked how he got his name someone quipped, "well he is everyone's Grandad". Ian has been volunteering at Nga Manu for 10 years in February 2010 and enjoys it as much today as he did when he first began.

Ian grew up in Thorndon and, once out of school did a joinery apprenticeship in Newtown. He turned his hand to repairing billiard tables travelling throughout the South Island and the lower half of the North Island. After marriage he moved to Stokes Valley and then Upper Hutt where he was a partner in a joinery business. This closed in the 1980’s and Ian then worked for the Post Office for 11 years before retiring to Paraparaumu. On retirement he decided to become involved in the community and this decision has benefited Nga Manu for almost 10 years. He started with a ½ day, increasing to 1 day and now 2 days a week and looks forward to his time at the reserve. As a volunteer he feels he is respected by all the staff, enjoys the friendships he has made and says he gets back more than he gives. They all have lots of fun and a few good stories could be told.......perhaps another time.

His day starts with helping to clean out the cages and feeding out. This finishes at morning teatime, a good opportunity to catch up with everyone. After that he does whatever needs to be done – driving the tractors (a new skill) and general maintenance. His joinery skills have been invaluable and he was heavily involved with laying the decking on the boardwalks. Ian doesn't feel that he has to do anything that he doesn't want to do which makes his days even more enjoyable. Everyone involved with Nga Manu is fantastic and they are only too willing to share. As a result, his knowledge of the flora and fauna has greatly increased over the years. He loves feeding the Keas and has taught them to feed out of his mouth and scratch his head. Ian says the "birds follow me around" – sounds a bit like the Pied Piper of Nga Manu.

In 2005 Ian received a 'Wellington Region Conservation Award' in special recognition of innovative work at Nga Manu Reserve to raise more than 350 tuatara for transfer to a predator-free island. This was supported by Victoria University citation noting that "Grandad is a fantastic asset for Nga Manu, a great guy, and a pleasure to work with".

Ian is justly proud of this award and especially the letter from those he worked alongside from the University Ian has also been involved with the Sounds 'n Nature concert since the beginning and is 'Spotter Par Excellence' for the Charity Auction. He has enjoyed every concert, especially last years, and is raring to go for the 2010 event – he just wants a fine day.

My name is Prue Chrisp and I live on the Kapiti Coast and have a keen interest in outdoor sports particularly golf tennis and fishing. I teach at Cardinal McKeefry School in Wellington and I am currently at Nga Manu on a Royal Society’s Primary Teacher’s Fellowship.

During my time at Nga Manu, I am involved in a research project, monitoring the fresh water aquatic species that are to be found in the reserve. This research takes me out into the reserve each day where I set nets at 10 different locations at night and then return in the morning to monitor our results. I measure air temperature, water temperature water clarity, ph of water and then weigh and measure any fish caught in the nets, releasing them to the same place.

I am also looking at how best these fish may be displayed for people to view. This has taken me to Christchurch, Napier and soon to Hamilton to look at requirements of keeping fresh water fish. It has been a very interesting project so far, but as well as the fish research I have learnt so much about different aspects of work at Nga Manu.

I have worked with botanists to identify plants around the sites, helped in re-locating and releasing different birds and assisted with some tuatara and Kiwi research work. I have also been able to attend several university lectures visited Somes Island and also visited other teachers on Primary Science Fellowships and looked at their projects. It has been a very busy and exciting first half of the fellowship and in the next 8 weeks I am looking forward to completing the research and also putting together a teaching resource that I can take back into the classroom.

My name is Glynis Skippers and I live in Lower Hutt. I work at Epuni School in Lower Hutt and teach in the Junior School area. I applied for the Science Fellowship so that I am confident when I teach Science because it is not a subject I particularly liked as a student at school.

Being at Nga Manu has been a great experience. We set traps 3 times a week and in the morning we go around to the 10 sites and monitor the fish that have been caught. We look at the water and air temperatures, clarity of the water and then weigh and measure the fish. We record the data and at this time are working on comparing the data we find. Because I am an Immigrant to New Zealand it has been a great experience to learn about the native fish.

The typical moth life cycle is egg - larva – pupa – moth. During spring the puriri moth spreads her fertilised eggs, up to 2000, on the forest floor. Once they hatch they spend the next year as caterpillars eating fungi on the forest floor. Those that survive the year move from the forest floor up trees such as, putaputaweta, makomako and houhere. They start eating the outer bark to make a tunnel shaped like the number 7 then spend the next 6 or so years in this tunnel chewing the bark and outer sapwood. They produce a silk cover over the tunnel entrance to hide the entry point. When the grub is ready to emerge as a moth it chews away the cover and emerges as a large green moth with a wingspan up to 15cm. Some areas of bush come alive with these moths and are a sight to behold. As it is only found in the north island I am afraid the mainlanders reading this will have to make a trip north.

The maori name, Pepe Tuna, is very appropriate for this moth as the maori would break the silk cover and extract the moth from its tunnel and use the juicy fat grub for eel (tuna) bait.

Peter has been trying to photograph the moth as it emerges form the tunnel and has had no success. It is hard to know what the larva is up to in the tunnel and what stage it is at regarding emerging. Peter removed a section of fallen tree that had larva that had not emerged and considered splitting the log to see what stage the larva was at. The light bulb turned on and he took the log to Raumati vets, our local vet that has an x-ray machine. Fortunately, Andrea is used to unusual requests from Nga Manu and when Peter asked if she could x-ray a log of wood she enthusiastically obliged. The result was successful (see x-ray pic) and the information gathered has lead to a new level of research for this photographic journey.

Kiekie put to good use

Given the weather over winter and the amount of rain, it was hardly surprising we had some Kiekie fall down. The Kiekie in this case was a very large cluster that has been established for many years around Glen’s Grotto in the reserve. The heavy rain has waterlogged the plant and the following winds caused the extra burden on the support trees branches and down it came. Grandad, one of our volunteers along with staff spent the best part of a day clearing it away form the area. As Kiekie is sort after for weaving they sorted it and put the best leaves aside. A few phones to some local contacts were timely. Local iwi are doing some weaving restoration work and were keen to utilise the resource.

Sounds 'n Nature Outdoor Charity Concert - Saturday 20 February 2010

Set aside a few hours on Saturday 20 February to enjoy the 7th Sounds 'n Nature Outdoor Charity Concert. After an amazingly successful concert last year where the Ladykillers wowed the crowd we have again upped our game and, now............from Australia............

We bring you the legendary Australasian band

......Dragon......

With well known Kiwi
Mark Williams

Mega hits that you are sure to remember include
......'Are You Old Enough', 'Rain', and 'April Sun in Cuba'......

We are also putting together a great line up of support acts that will get you up and jigging.

Gates open at 3pm, entertainment begins at 4pm and goes through until 9.30pm.

Prices:

Early Bird to 6 December:
From 7 December:

Adults $45
Adults $55

Teens $20
Teens $20

Children $10
Children $10

Get in now and buy your tickets at the early bird price. This year we are offering online sales so check out www.soundsnnature.org.nz (click to link) for the latest information.

Don't forget all those out of town friends and family – more and more people are going to outdoor concerts throughout New Zealand and it is great to be able to invite people to our home patch for an event. A ticket to this concert would make a unique and wonderful Christmas present for friends and family so get a group together and buy your tickets. There will be some quality food and hot drinks available on site or you are welcome to bring along a picnic.

You know that the setting is absolutely superb..............................do they...................


	FEATURES IN THIS NEWSLETTER A Fantastic Asset - Ian Weeds \| Royal Society Primary Teaching Fellowship Puriri Moth (pepe tuna) \| Kiekie Put to Good Use Sounds 'n Nature Outdoor Charity Concert (Click on a link above to view the article)