The BHMET and the Year 1 SIT Environmental Management students met again at Stirling Point yesterday to continue the restoration planting on the Oyster Cove to Gunpit walk way.
This Year 1 group were a hardy bunch - they tackled the cooler weather and they lugged a whopping 500 plants up the hill before getting down and planting.
A big thanks to the Year 1 students, the BHMET volunteers on the day and ICC for donating this years plants.
If you see small white cards like these around Bluff this week, please don’t remove them! They’re non-toxic and part of an Environment Southland project to monitor pests. The cards contain a peanut-based lure that animals like rats and mice chew. The tooth prints left on the cards give an idea of pest types and populations over time, and will help guide future pest control. Contact Environment Southland biosecurity officer Tom Harding if you have questions or concerns – 0800 76 88 45 or.
Release Party Stirling Point. Photo taken with love by Yvonne Pickford Photography
THANK YOU to everyone who braved the chill, embraced the sun and helped out on Saturday’s Stirling Point Release Party!
With such a great team on site, we got through much more than anticipated, so our next Release Party wont be for a few months. The Bluff Hill Motupohue Environment Trust are very grateful to all the Volunteers who attended. Check out the beautiful faces who were able to help here - Yvonne Pickford Photography
The BHMET also wish to thanks:
Invercargill City Council for donated plants
The Phillips family for donating their trolley for our plantings
This video is supplied by Estelle Leask, our fearless Conservation Leader, who is always up on the hill. Her trap baiting on the Millennium track was accompanied by this wee owl. He followed her down the hill. Estelle’s comment: “Awesome!!!!” So good to see these birds in our forest.
A huge thank you to Ross and Lynda at Oyster Cove who have made a generous donation to the Trust in response to the monetary loss we will suffer due to the senseless vandalism we suffered this week.
We have also been offered and accepted other items that should make it possible to identify any future eco terrorists. We are humbled at the messages of support we have received from the community.
The trustees are so proud of our wonderful group of volunteers, who have been on the hill for hours searching and retrieving traps. This has actually made us stronger and more determined in our fight against pests both animal and human.
Please keep an eye on our traps on the hill, it is your hill as well and knowing that our community is just as invested as us in protecting the hill and it’s birds means the future is looking good.
