Kia ora

It isn't easy being a conservationist

Being a conservationist can be hard work - even in New Zealand (or especially in New Zealand). The latest conservation news from Forest & Bird documents a depressing list of concerns - endangered birds, sea lions at risk, mangrove destruction, mining on conservation land to name a few. A major conservation issue in our part of the world is water. It is easy, whilst walking through the beech forest beside Bowyers Stream en route to the Sharplin Falls to think that we have no worries with our water - mountain streams mostly giardia-free, pristine lakes, fish in the rivers. But our rivers are under threat. The phenomenal growth of dairying in Canterbury is matched by an increase in demand for water. One proposal which is being actively promoted would see a storage dam built in the upper reaches of the Ashburton River and a series of canals diverting "flood" water from the Cameron, Potts and Clyde Rivers. A strategy to counter this threat would be the creation of a  conservation or national park in the area which incorporates mountains, lakes and tussocklands. A pipe dream maybe because there are so many other priorities for the conservation lobby to address. However I was encouraged by a quotation today not to give up on this idea:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.

Winter bird count

I participated in the annual bird count on the Ashburton lakes along with members of our Forest & Bird group and Christchurch ornithologists. My beat was again the southern shore of Lake Heron and this time my companion was Ron Nilsen, a very knowledgeable birder and former Wildlife Service officer. Ron, along with his friend Rhys Buckingham are well known for their search for the South Island Kokako, officially assumed to be extinct. Ron and Rhys are convinced that it is not and have (and are) expending much time and money in their quest to find and photograph this bird. May they be successful.

Results of the bird survey: 22 crested grebes, 15 black shags, 54 little shags, 474 black swans, 1075 Canada geese, 51 paradise shelducks, 256 mallards, 38 grey ducks, 53 shovelers, 2314 scaup, 145 grey teals, 41 coots, 2 pied stilts, 49 spur-winged plovers, 7 balck-backed gulls, 1 black-billed gull, 1 falcon.

Winter Highlights

Snow – Our Images of a frozen landscape programme commenced on 3 July, the day the snow came. 40 cm of it! The programme lived up to its name and the scenery was spectacular. We went further afield for this programme and included Mt Peel, Peel Forest and Geraldine. 

Trout spawning – I have discovered a number of trout spawning streams and enjoyed seeing the reds and the fish at close quarters.  I saw rainbow and brown and the reds of the American Brook Char (Salvelinus fontinalis) also known as Fontinalis

Curling – In spite of the warm June and the snow (which is no good for hard ice), we enjoyed a curling and ice skating season of 5 weeks. I have invested in the curling club’s tartan tam-o’-shanter, but have had difficulty convincing Marita that at $1500 a pair of curling stones would be a great investment.

Spring events

The normal signs of spring started in September – first sighting of a swallow, Wrybill arriving on the Ashburton, Rakaia and Rangitata braided river beds, clematis flowering in the beech forest, Bellbird and honey bees competing for honey dew. But this spring has been very different weather-wise – heavy snowfalls, strong norwest winds and plenty of rain. Rainfall to date this year is 1350 mm – the total for 2002 was 980 mm. Mountain beech trees are in flower – it is called a “mast” year and will probably result in an explosion in mice numbers, followed unfortunately by rats and stoats.

Staveley News

Sculpture – the village green has an impressive limestone sculpture Honouring the pioneers of the Foothills. It was funded by descendents of Willian Taylor and Hannah Smith, early settlers at Staveley who named their farm Birchlands. (Birch was the name the early settlers gave to beech – many locals still use the name) The Birchlands  homestead, now a fine building set in beautiful gardens on Sawmwiil Road  now owned by our good friends Alan and Lorna Dent.

South Face Route – On November 8 a new track  was opened on Mt Somers. It will enable keen and fit trampers to complete a circuit of the mountain in two full days. The track will be known as the Mt Somers Subalpine Circuit and will start and end at Staveley.             Track notes can be downloaded from www.nature.net.nz/index.cfm/mtsomers/

           

Freedom of the Hills

I can recommend an excellent publication which has been produced by Federated Mountain Clubs (copies available from FMC Secretary, Box 1604, Wellington). It outlines FMC’s vision for the high country and how these public lands can be reallocated according to their appropriate values. I will quote from the section  The Romance of High Country.

Undeniable romance in the history of our high country stations…… the shepherd, the mustering dog will long linger as an inspiring ideal of vigour, hardiness, resourcefulness and freedom.

The life of a high country shepherd, Samuel Butler wrote, was a “mixture of that of a dog and that of an emperor”; in part dirt, drudgery, danger and exhaustion, in part an incomparable freedom and exultation in a glorious world. The rivers ran swift, roaring and braided, the tussock rippled in the nor-wester, the kea cried in the snow. It was a life for folk with virtues of heart and sinew, where love of empty places made loneliness a word  without  meaning.

Sounds like Tussock & Beech country doesn’t it?

From the Kitchen

Cumberland Sauce is a spicy, sweet, citrus-flavoured sauce. It is delicious served warm with smoked chicken, ham or pickled pork. It keeps very well in the deep freeze so I always have it on hand.

• ½ t dry mustard
• 2 cloves
• 3 T brown sugar   
• 2 T corn flour
• 1 t ground ginger
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 4 T cold water
• ¼ t salt                                  
• ½ C red currant jelly
• 1¼ C dry red wine             
• 1 t each finely ground orange & lemon rind.
• Juice of 1 orange & lemon

Put mustard, sugar, ginger, cayenne pepper & salt into a saucepan. Mix to a smooth paste with a little of the wine. Stir in the rest of the wine. Add cloves. Bring to boil slowly. Lower heat & cover pan. Simmer 10 minutes. Mix corn flour to a smooth paste with cold water. Add to sauce and stir until thickened. Add all remaining ingredients & leave over a low heat until red currant jelly has melted.

Warren & Marita

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