The end of summer and the first cull

The pink, yellow and purple wildflower bee-heaven of the Arena and, more lately, Cape Honey Flower Bank, is drying and fading now, thankfully having made it through to the recent rain before more than a few were dry enough to need cutting or trampling down to avoid creating fire hazard.

So the first cull was done yesterday, of any benign exotic now limiting the growth of native seedlings. There are not a lot, but at least a few ti kouka and karamu seedlings can be found within a metre or two of most places.

A long-awaited delight, the task was to penetrate the exotic herb thickets enough to spot any new seedlings, to relocate earlier seedlings lost to view since about Christmas, and to reduce the herb cover just enough, while trying to keep the cover dense enough to continue doing what its been doing so wonderfully ie suppressing the docks and creeping buttercup, and keeping all the others in what must be balance, because most of the species that arose wild on the bare clay banks are still present.

The native seedlings discovered or rediscovered were released to partial light, along with some young carrot seedlings which will create only the lightest of canopies over a sjngle slender stem. Any areas of soil bared by this were mulched with branched herbaceous material that partially shades and retains moisture while leaving space beneath for germination.

4 or 5 Senecio seedlings to c. 2cmH were found in the moist shade of dense leafy benign exotics under the rescued ti kouka and karamu. They look like Esler's weed, and some wild seed was scattered in that area osometime during the summer, so hopefully they will prove to be this often overlooked native:
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/21108227

A couple of ladybird, or ladybird-like, species were seen for the first time. Perhaps the breaking of the drought encouraged their emergence as adults.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations?place_id=any&project_id=gahnia-grove-umbrella-project&subview=grid&taxon_id=48486&user_id=kaipatiki_naturewatch&verifiable=any

Bees are still abundant and , as throughout summer, especially thick in the midday warmth. The tiptoe-path down the middle of the Arena was finally cleared to create a gap about 50cm wide between walls of wildflowers, so it can be now be traversed even at midday when pollinator flight paths cross before one at every step.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/21106188

Posted on March 11, 2019 07:02 AM by kaipatiki_naturewatch