The thousandth plant, and a pair of grey warblers
A working bee cut short by wind still passed a thousand plants for the year — and a pair of riroriro were found nesting beside the path, in a weed.
By Trish Shirley
The working bee on 23 August was abandoned early when the weather turned, but not before 94 plants went in — and with them the thousandth plant of the year.
The nominal 1,000th plant was revealed, and crunchy bars and a chocolate block were handed out.
Two days later the mid-week team put in another 70. There are eight of them now, planting during the week alongside the weekend working bees, and it is that steady rhythm rather than the big days that has done most of the work since July.
Riroriro
The better news was found rather than planted. A pair of grey warblers were nesting in the flowering currant beside the path down from Lookout Point.
They are our second smallest native bird. Quite a bit smaller than a sparrow, and mostly grey, but with four white spots under each wing. They are easy to recognise by their flight pattern, and also their very distinctive song.
The flowering currant is a weed, and one the project is working to remove. Which is the honest shape of a restoration at this stage: the birds are already using whatever is here, and the plants that will replace it are still in protectors.