We wrote to Niall and Maka of Environment Canterbury after our visits to the braided river and to the Ashley River Wetland. We had plenty of questions. Here are some of our questions and the responses to them from Niall and Maka. Please check out our written language and visual language on the page "Our Writing".
Q: How many kilometres can Godwits fly?
Q: How many kilometres can Godwits fly?
A: The non-stop flight of a Godwit from Alaska to the Avon/Heatchcote Estuary in Christchurch covers over 11,000 km in just 8 days. The Godwits at the Ashley Estuary would have
flown about the same distance.
Q: How many fish can one Spoonbill eat in a day?
A: The fish the Spoonbill eat are very small, so they need to catch quite a few of them to eat every day.
Q: Why does the Wrybill have a curved beak?
A: Scientists are still trying to figure out the exact reason, but we think it helps the Wrybill to dig under round river rocks for bugs to eat.
Q: Are there more than two types of fresh water eels?
A: The Longfin and Shortfin eels that we saw are the two main species, but occasionally we also see Spotted Eels which came from Australia.
Q: Why do crabs burrow?
A: The burrow is the crab’s home, just like a rabbit would live in a burrow.
Q: Have I seen any rare bird babies:
A: I have seen heaps of rare bird babies. We help look after Black-billed Gull babies each year especially, but I have also seen baby Wrybills, Dotterels and heaps more.
Q: Have I ever eaten eel?
A: Yes I eat eel every day in season – I catch it myself for my own family.
Q: When did I start this kind of work and why?
A: Well I wasn’t really very good at school and I used to look out the window at the birds when I was bored. I remember the house martins nesting on the side of the school. Because I love looking at birds so much it never really feels like I am working.
Q: What is are the biggest and smallest birds I have seen in the wetlands?
A: Probably the smallest bird is the red necked stint which is smaller than a Fantail. The red necked stilt flies from NZ to the Arctic and back every year even though it is so small. Some of the largest
birds would be the black swans. The biggest bird I would have loved to have seen would have been the Haast Eagle but they are gone now.
Q: Do the spoonbills need a lot of patience?
A: Probably more persistence (patience is just waiting, persistence is doing something)
Q: What are the penguins like that live in the sand dunes?
A: The penguins in these sand dunes are mostly white flippered Little Blue Penguins and are quite small (the smallest in the world actually!) – much smaller than emperor penguins. They have bluey-
grey feathers and a white belly. All sea birds smell nice; quite oily.
Q: Why am I so interested in birds?
A: Because birds have few restrictions and flying means freedom. There are 8600+ species in the world and every country have some endemics and some that travel the globe. I have seen red necked stints in Finland and New Zealand. And I have seen snowy owls in Finland and Kea’s in NZ.
Q: Do Godwits have to eat a lot before flying to Canada?
A: Yes the Godwits try to eat plenty and get really strong and healthy before their big trip. But they cannot add too much weight or they will be too heavy to make the long journey.
Q: What kind of predators do the red and black-billed gulls have?
A: Its really hard for these birds as they have a lot of predators they need to watch out for. There are cats, rats, stoats, weasels and ferrets that can eat the birds when they are trying to nest. People
can also disturb the birds really easily. Also it’s important to keep dogs on a leash around them, as dogs can eat the birds. There are also some larger birds that might attack small red and black-billed
gulls.
Q: Are the shell species we saw only on that beach?
A: No most of the shells we saw will be up and down this whole side of the South Island, but some of them might only be found in New Zealand.
Q: Why do Oyster Catchers have the wrong name when they eat mussels?
A: Because they are the only birds that can open a oyster shell but mussels are easier and more common.
Q: Why did we not see any Dotterels or Wrybills?
A: These birds only live in this area between about September to March while they have chicks and raise their families over summer. After that they fly to different areas to feed for winter. ( I did see
some Dotterels and I pointed them out)
