Bolshie Karearea Encounter

One of our Halo champions shared their experience with a pair of bolshie karearea in Te Ahumairangi: My 8-year-old daughter Estella and I had a dramatic but very cool encounter with a pair of bolshie karearea in Te Ahumairangi (Tinakori Hill, a stones throw from the PM’s whare) today. We were rambling up to the Northern Walkway when we heard a ‘kek-kek-kek’ … Read More

“How to plant a tree”- from an expert !

Greetings everyone Nick here. Tim Park from the Wellington City Council is a great friend of the Halo team and we wanted to share his knowledge on planting a tree. Take it away Tim. Thanks Nick and hi everyone.  It’s been an amazing summer but now that the days are getting shorter and rain is becoming more frequent it’s time … Read More

Polhill’s exciting discovery : a Saddleback / Tieke nest.

I thought it was time that I updated you about what we have been up to in Polhill and what is planned for the coming months. The most exciting thing to happen recently is that we discovered a saddleback/tieke nest near one of mountain bike tracks and working closely with WCC and Zealandia we soon identified that there were two … Read More

July 2014 Update Bells’ Track

Tena koutou katoa The planting for this year is just about complete with some 500 plants having been put in..   This is a record amount so a very big thanks to all who helped in one way and another.  The bulk of the plants came from the City Council together with a good number from Nick and Jase and … Read More

Get Predator Free with Goodnature

Predator control is a big part of protecting our natural environment. It’s also something we can all play a part in bringing the birdsong back. In some sweet-as results for our under pressure birdlife, our Wellington-developed Goodnature automatic rat traps have totally eliminated the predator rat populations at large-scale Department of Conservation (DOC) trials in Northern Te Urewera and the Boundary Stream Mainland Island. … Read More

Baring Head by Colin Ryder

Spotted Skink (Richard Ronijin, GWRC)

It’s been a funny old Sunday morning weather-wise and I’m still a bit sore from spending 6 hours yesterday setting Doc 200 traps and grubbing out horned poppies at Baring Head.  I think I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.  Besides, evolution has given me the perfect body shape to be a couch potato; rather than to do … Read More

Some sad news from a New Zealand falcon monitoring programme

Some sad news from a New Zealand falcon monitoring programme on the East Coast of the North Island The New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae) is a rare endemic (only found in New Zealand) bird. It is one of our few native predators remaining. It’s conservation status is Nationally Vulnerable; there are 650 pairs of Bush Falcon remaining. These photos of … Read More