March 2017

Workday reminder, March 18 2017

Travis Monthly Workday, Saturday March 18 2017, 9 am – noon.

Meet at the education center (the old farm house) behind the Beach Rd car park at 9 am.

Bring your own gumboots but don’t worry if you don’t have any we can loan you some.

All gear provided.

There will be “morning tea” afterwards for those that want to stay for a chat.

News

The Travis Wetland Trust has attended a couple of public events in the last few weeks.

Summer in Styx 2017

The first was the Summer in Styx event on the 19th of February held by the Styx Living Laboratory Trust. The event was held at the new Christchurch City Council Reserve at 303 Radcliffe Road. This area hosts eight hectares of native forest plantings, a series of constructed freshwater lakes and ponds, four natural waterways including the Styx/Puharakekenui River and Ka Putahi Creek, historic farm buildings and an area specifically established to demonstrate Rongoa Maori (Maori medicinal plants).

The location of this event was an ideal place to promote Travis Wetland. It is all part of creating a network of natural areas for our plants and wildlife.

Summer in Styx 2017

A wide range of organisations with an interest in our natural environment attended the event which was well supported by the public.

Phil played the great videos he has put together, which can be viewed at http://traviswetland.org.nz/about-travis/videos/. Other Trust members answered questions and gave out information on Travis Wetland and the Trust.

Article and Images Denise Ford

Children’s Day 2017

Childrens Day 2017

The second event was Children’s Day which was held in the residential red zone on the corner of New Brighton Road and Locksley Ave. Over 10,000 people attended on a very hot Sunday! It was great to hear that many people knew about the wetland and thought it was a fantastic place to go for a walk and observe the wildlife. In fact everyone who had visited it loved it!

Childrens Day 2017

A nature quiz got the children and parents looking for birds, lizards and insects that they may find in a forest and wetland. It was fantastic to see so many children out enjoying themselves.

These events are a great way to inform the wider public about the wonderful asset we have in the north-east of Christchurch. I am sure we will get many new visitors and maybe some will come along and volunteer at our working bees.

Article and Images Denise Ford

Iconz Evening Visit to Travis

A group from Iconz for Girls, which is part of Girls Brigade are working towards earning their Trax badge. Part of it requires them to have knowledge of the impact of Wetlands & the role they play in the community. Travis Wetland was the perfect venue for this.

‘Home Sweet Home’ began with an invertebrate/insect search [it revealed lots of spiders] and plenty of places for them to live. Sue [from our Trust] gave a great overview of the part Travis plays in our natural Christchurch Community.

Each girl took on the role of a creature living there in its own community. To be in a community the participant had to find a place to live and a job to do in either a bush land, grassland or around lots of water. Black and Blue Red Beaked Bug Eaters, Tiny Buzzing Blood Suckers and Slimy, Slippery Swimmer Hunters were given the ‘thumbs down’ at the Community Court and had to die when the wetland ‘changed’ as they couldn’t survive without it. They were recycled as soil & nutrient for either grassland or bush communities.

The girls discovered that wetlands are essential not only for human needs but for a large section of inhabitants of our natural world. It was a very pleasant summer evening of learning and understanding about the value of our precious remaining wetlands, for all.

Contact Iconz4girlz at http://www.iconz4girlz.org.nz/

Article Eleanor Bissell

Preschoolers Wetland Day

Six youngsters aged 2 to 5 years from Paua Preschoolers at Home recently spent a sunny Tuesday morning at Travis. Some had travelled from as far as Kirwee. Eleanor had planned a wide range of activities and Sue and Jean assisted .

The icebreaker activity was making pukeko greeting cards. Parents and carers
encouraged the shiest children, glue brushes worked overtime and the bird body parts were aligned in approximately suitable positions.

The older boys were ready for action, so a walk to the bird hide was next on the list. On the way the children collected natural items that felt hard or soft and matched up colours from special rainbow bags with the surrounding environment. Playing with path gravel or large sticks was added entertainment for some, including Spiderman who was celebrating his 5th birthday.

At the bird hide the children spied black swans, coot and ducks. A pukeko and chick obliged by coming very close and performing balancing acts to reach carex seeds. After a brief snack it was time to return to the visitor centre, collecting bird food items along the way. Thanks Eleanor for showering us with flax seeds.

The finale for the day was making pukeko pizzas. This involved plastering paper plates with our favourite ingredient – more sloppy glue. Then each child showed a distinctive style in arranging coprosma berries, leaves and numerous seeds to form the final artwork pizzas.

Thanks to the parents and carers for their interest . We hope we can host a repeat visit next year.