Wildlife

Penguin signs go up in the Bay

/ / School, Wildlife

Penguins could be one step safer at Pukerua Bay, with a new sign providing tips and information to visitors. Little penguins or kororā are occasionally seen and heard by residents at Pukerua Bay beach. Kororā usually come ashore in the evening and return to the sea in the morning. But when they are breeding or moulting they stay on land all the time. As their name suggests, they are tiny at around 33 centimetres long, and as they are flightless, they can easily be attacked by dogs.

penguin_kids

Children from Pukerua Bay School joined Councillor Dale Williams and local residents to celebrate this initiative on Thursday 14 June. The children planted around the sign and placed hand-painted penguins nearby.

penguin_sign

Designed by Pukerua Bay resident Anne Johnston, the sign has been adapted from a sign placed at Paekakariki by the Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project. The Pukerua Bay sign was created with support from the Hutt Mana Charitable Trust, the Department of Conservation, the Kāpiti Coast Biodiversity Project, Porirua City Council and the Pukerua Bay Residents’ Association.

 

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Kororā sign planting (Take 2!)

/ / Announcements, Biodiversity, Wildlife, Working Bees /

Next Thursday (14 June) at 10.30 am, Pukerua Bay School children will be planting the area around the new Kororā (Little Blue Penguin) sign on the beach, at the start of the coastal walk track. The sign is for promoting the protection and conservation of the penguins.

Come and join us!

Image CC-BY-SA courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Predator-free Pukerua Bay March and April 2017 update

/ / Biodiversity, Wildlife / ,

This month’s update (PDF) is published on behalf of the Predator Free Pukerua Bay project. If you are interested in participating, email predatorfreepkb@gmail.com for more information.

Autumn is definitely with us now – longer, cooler nights means that rats and mice are looking for warmer lodgings. It’s a great time to check your roof cavities and out-buildings for signs of rats and mice and place traps accordingly. We had great success at our house just by moving our trap into the garden shed (previously, it was just outside by the shed door): we caught a mouse and a rat that very night! We have also heard of others putting a little bit of bait at the tunnel entrance as a lure, which has been successful.

March and April’s 2017’s reported catches

March and April’s catch numbers continue to increase.

Total reported catches since 12 November 2016: 262 rats; 375 mice; 10 mustelids (all in the Scientific Reserve); and 32 hedgehogs.

Reported catches, to April 2017.

Welcome on board to our newest trappers! At the end of April, we have 102 properties involved in Predator-free Pukerua Bay (about 14 percent of all Pukerua Bay properties). All of the original 90 traps/tunnels provided by the Department of Conservation have now been sponsored – what a great effort from the community! …

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