Blog Archives

LANDCARE OKAREKA - MARCH 2016

22/3/2016

Welcome to a new year - 2016. Landcare Okareka volunteers undertook a great tidy up Working Bee at Boyes beach reserve on Saturday 27th February 2016. Over the next couple of months we will be doing more of this in various reserve areas around Lake Okareka.

We will be doing this work to try to keep on top of the weeds which have benefited from the wet and warm summer conditions.

Landcare Okareka Volunteers working at Boyes beach, Millar Road, Lake Okareka on Saturday 27th February 2016. From left to right: Ian Stuart, Elli Walter, Rod Stace, Mike Goodwin, Steffen Lotzmann (sitting), Christine Caughey, Sam Lusk, Brian Law. Photo taken by Sandra Goodwin Once conditions become right for planting, damp and cool - and the plants from the nurseries are big enough to put in - we will be carrying out more planting in various reserves, as we usually do. One of the areas that we would like to replant this winter are the gardens on either side of the Lake Okareka Community Hall. There will also be plenty of scope for planting along the new walking track from Boyes beach to the DOC camp, once the track is completed.

If you are keen to help with any Landcare Okareka working bees, we would appreciate any time that you have to spare. Working Bees will continue to happen on the 4th Saturday of the month (unless otherwise notified). Watch out for the sign boards to go up - and please feel free to come and help.

Sandra Goodwin
Secretary
Landcare Okareka
Phone 3628 865 or email sgoodwin@actrix.co.nz

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Lake Okareka Walking Track Report - March 2016

22/3/2016

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The Lake Okareka Community Assn is pleased to announce that Jeff Milham, Operations Manager Tauranga and Rotorua, from the Department of Conservation (DOC) has recently formalised with a letter, the approval for the work on the Lake Okareka walking track. This work was until then being carried out under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Lake Okareka Community Assn and DOC (see elsewhere in The Newsletter).

Volunteer work on the Lake Okareka Walking Track—Stage 1 from Boyes beach to the Dept of Conservation camp has continued over this summer, with almost all of the benching work on the track being now completed. Some culvert pipes have been installed in places along the track. A recent quarterly report (from 1st Dec 2105 through to end February 2016) to DOC shows an approximate total of 320 hours of volunteer work has gone into the track in those 4 months! This is a massive effort and our thanks go out to everyone who has worked in support of this project.

The contract with the builder Owen Builders from Ngongotaha has been completed. The builder will start work very soon on the timber built boardwalks along this section. Please note that while this work is underway parts of the track will be closed. The builder and LOCA does not want people walking on uncompleted timber structures. Please take notice of any warning signs, tape and safety fences that are up along the track. They are there for your safety, and we ask that you stay well away from any uncompleted structures.

Volunteer work will continue as there is much more yet to be done. Specialist fabrics will be placed in some sections to help with stopping mud from coming up through the gravel surface. LOCA is also pleased to announce the support of local timber manufacturer Verda International Ltd, who are supplying at a very good price, all of the edging timber products—various sizes of planks and timber stakes. The edging timber will hold the gravel in place that will be applied to the surface of the track that is not board walk.

So there is still lots more work to do over the coming weeks and months to get this track completed. When this section of the track is finished it will be suitable for people of all ages to walk or to go visit in wheel chairs, mobility scooters or push chairs—so all kinds of family groups will be able to use this track.

If you would like to help with this very worthwhile project, please contact Sandra Goodwin 362 8865 and I will add your name to the email list of volunteers.

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RAT BAIT AND BAIT STATIONS - AUTUMN 2016

21/3/2016

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Thank you to everyone who has been rat baiting over the last few months. Thank you also to those property owners who have recently become involved with the Lake Okareka rat baiting programme. If you have checked your rat bait stations recently and cannot see that bait has been eaten it may be because the rat bait is mouldy.

The weather we have had recently - warm and damp - will cause the bait to go off quite quickly. Rats are definitely active again following the warmer summer - those doing rat and mustelid trapping in the riparian strip are finding this in the past couple of weeks. The best thing for you to do is to please remove the old rat bait, wrap it in a plastic bag and put into your rubbish sack. Rats can detect mould well before we can see it with the human eye. The bait becomes unpalatable to the rats and we hate to see disapponited rats! So please re-stock your rat bait stations with fresh bait and keep a close eye on what happens to the bait over the next few days and weeks. There is still some rat bait available and it is a very good idea to keep the bait stations stocked up to help protect bird life in the area over the next couple of months.

Landcare Okareka is supplied Ditrac rat bait under a Biodiversity Management Plan with Bay of Plenty Regional Council. The rat bait is available to individual property owners, with their own bait stations, to help support enhancing the biodiversity at Lake Okareka. If you are interested to take part, but maybe feel that you do not come to your property often enough to keep the bait station full, please contact us. We may be able to work out a partnering system with someone who lives here permanently, and is prepared to keep your bait station filled. Ditrac is a poison, and care must be taken when using it.

How to Use Ditrac Bait:
It is recommended that bait be fed in a type of bait station, fitted with a locating rod, that does not allow the rats to carry baits away to be stored. The baits have holes in them and they thread onto the rod. Rats and mice eat the bait in the bait station. Bait station protects the bait from the weather. It means also that bait cannot be eaten by non-target species such as birds, dogs, cats and children.

Bait stations are available by contacting Mike and Sandra Goodwin 362 8865 or email sgoodwin@actrix.co.nz. We have a new type of lockable bait station, like a small suitcase. They also have locating pins for the bait. Cost of these is $25. Please give us a call if you would like to purchase a bait station for your property.

Do you have a bait station already? That's great if you do. When you collect your bait you will need to confirm your name and address and the address of the bait station. We need to update our data base about bait stations and where they are located throughout Okareka – and many thanks to everyone who has done this so far.

How do I get bait now? Bait is available in labelled, zip lock bags, containing 12 rat baits. This is enough bait to fill one bait station 2 times during a month. Bait stations should usually not be filled more than twice during a month, otherwise you are wasting bait and feeding potentially dead rats and mice.

If you require the bait or a lockable bait station for $25, please contact Mike & Sandra Goodwin phone 362 8865, 2 Pryce Road or Rod Stace phone 362 8523, 30 Summit Road or Mike Vincent 362 8376, 11 Branch Road. Please phone first to arrange a suitable time to collect bait or a bait station.

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500th Rat

20/3/2016

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We have caught our 500th rat, in fact at the time of writing we are up to 501. A big thanks to our trapping team of Dave Scott, Mike Goodwin, Rod Stace, Eli and Christian Walters, Steve and Liz Webb, Steve Harvey and Mike Vincent. As you may remember we have been trapping rats and other predators around the lakeshore margins since September 2013. Our other totals currently are 90 hedgehogs, 24 mustelids (ferrets and stoats) and two feral cats.

The Dabchicks and Scaup who are both endemic birds have been having a late summer flurry of nesting and young. In February we had a pair of Dabchicks build a nest in the tyres at the boat ramp jetty, they laid two legs but unfortunately abandoned the nest. A couple of people have pointed out that no wonder they are a threatened species if they nest in such a busy place.

DOC has asked us to conduct Dabchick counts at Okareka and the Blue Lake again this year. There will be three counts and these will take place from 9th – 17th April. If you would like to assist with counts, trapping or have any suggestions please contact Mike on 3628 376.

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Lake Okareka Walking Track - Update DOC February 2016

20/3/2016

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The Department of Conservation has formally approved the construction of the Lake Okareka Walking Track. This track will be formed between Boyes Beach and the Acacia Road boardwalk on Rotorua Lakes Council land and the Lake Okareka Scenic Reserve along the eastern, northern and western sides of the lake. Please see the letter from Jeff Milham and the map which follows.

There has been interest around whether the walking track will utilise the Lake Okareka Marginal Strip. This is not part of the current plan but should the community express interest in extending the track to include the Lake Okareka Marginal Strip, then the Department’s advice is that a proposal would follow the normal consultation processes. This includes consultation with whanau/iwi/hapu, neighbouring landowners and other affected parties.

The Department is not in a position to extend visitor assets such as tracks and would only do so in partnership with others.

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﻿LANDCARE OKAREKA - MARCH 2016

Lake Okareka Walking Track Report - March 2016

RAT BAIT AND BAIT STATIONS - AUTUMN 2016

500th Rat

Lake Okareka Walking Track - Update DOC February 2016

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LANDCARE OKAREKA - MARCH 2016