Rosemary Davison and a hand-reared kererū
Last week, the King Country Farmer was taken to several properties participating in ecological restoration of the Upper Waipā River Catchment.
The day was organised by Fonterra Sustainable Dairy advisor Matthew Holwill who was keen to demonstrate that not only had dairy farmers got on board, but those who farm sheep and beef are now joining the efforts to restore the district’s riparian ecology through planting natives.
“About 70 dairy farmers are involved with Waipa Rere Noa – Stage 2, our catchment restoration project providing native plants to landowners in the greater catchment area,” Matt said.
“We have only a few drystock farmers participating at present but have capacity for more to get involved in the planting program, exclusively those farming in the Upper Waipā catchment.”
But eerily, our day began with a kind of “visitation from the natural world”, as we pulled into the property owned by Rosemary Davison and her husband, Graham – Rosemary being the joint funder of Waipā Rere Noa.
As Matt got out of his ute, a large wood pigeon (kererū) swooped down and landed on his shoulder.
Rosemary came out of her house and explained that the nameless bird had been raised from a chick by the household – herself and her daughter, Katie.
It had been found within a privet tree on the property, which Rosemary and her husband cut down.
“So, we hand-reared the little bird, tapping knowledge which had been gained by Katie, who was working at the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House at the time.
“As it grew up, it would appear every day and swoop down to land on somebody’s shoulder, to be fed frozen peas. Often it brings another wild kererū with it, which does the exact same thing.
“The strange thing is that there was no telling when this will happen. It could be on subsequent days, or we might not see her for up to six months. But she always came back, like she has today,” Rosemary said.
She used the appearance of the tamed kererū to share her vision for the restored natural environment which would ensue as the Waipā River was lined with native plants once again.
Rosemary hopes that in future native bird species, including the kererū, will be able to migrate long distances up and down the river, taking advantage of the food sources as vegetation now being planted on its banks comes to maturity.
“And no, though people tell us that privet is a good source of berries to feed the kereru on, sadly this is not the case,” Rosemary said.
“The trouble is that the privet’s berries are only there in Februrary, and though the birds can eat them and spread them around, this invasive plant provides nothing for them to eat for the rest of the year.
“Meanwhile, almost more than any other exotic species of tree, the privet displaces and smothers the native plants that could feed the kererū and other native birds year-round.
“Privet is probably our number one weed pest; we work to get rid of it.”
