Zoo staff hunt for puweto: west Auckland
Auckland Zoo staff have joined Matuku Link colleagues to scour for the elusive puweto.
Puweto, or the small dark coloured rails, live in freshwater wetlands scattered throughout the country, with their largest populations in the North Island.
The Matuku Link is a 37 hectare native forest block in west Auckland's Bethell's Valley.
The reserve connects many protected areas including Ark in the Park, Habitat Te Henga, Forrest Ridge and Matuku Reserve.
Staff from the zoo and Matuku Link joined volunteers to search for the birds in Bethells wetlands.
The presence of small dark coloured rails in a particular wetland signals the overall health of the ecosystem.
But more than 90 per cent of New Zealand's wetland areas have been drained and cleared for agriculture which has yielded a major impact on all species.
Puweto need vegetation such as raupo and kuta in which to forage and nest.
Surveyors used a recorded sound of the birds' calls to aid monitoring.
They saw two puweto and netted 13 call responses at 38 listening posts.
Photo: John Sumich
Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we are having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
Calling All Puzzle Masters! Can You Solve This?
When John was six years old he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height.
Ten years later at age sixteen, John returned to see how much higher the nail was.
If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.
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