Travis Wetlands

We started the day off with a lecture from Dr. Colin Meurk on Ecosystem Restoration. He covered the dimensions of restoration, which include vision, planning and maintenance. We also reviewed the concept of landscape connectivity.

After the lecture, Dr. Meurk joined us in the van as we headed to Matariki Gardens where we met up with Simon, a geology student at Canterbury University.

 Next we headed to Travis Wetlands where we saw Puekeko birds which looked like small blue velociraptors. They were very curious little birds, and they clearly wanted us to share our lunches. 

Dr. Meurk and Dr. Hostetler classified many of the plants we saw, like Coprasma, Kanuka and Five Finger. We then broke off into groups of two to do bird counts. The first kind was the semicircle point count. From a lookout dock, we counted and classified all the ducks in a 40 meter radius. We did this for 10 minutes, also counting ducks that flew into the radius during that time. Next was the transect count. For that, the students walked a set distance and counted the number of ducks within 40 meters. Some of the birds we saw were Black Swans, Shovelers and Paradise Shelducks. Our data can be compared to data from previous years.

After we looped around the entire wetland, classifying flora along the way, we headed to the Naked Baker for tea time. The hot drinks were a nice break from the cold. 

Next we headed to a nearby beach. It was rather windy and brisk, so we took a few pictures and headed to the playground across the street. Everyone swung down the zip line, and a few of us climbed some trees. 

Finally, we all piled back into the van and headed home. 

 ~Emma