More than birds at Miranda

Gordonton ecologist David Riddell was one of more than 50 specialists who flocked to Miranda recently to take part in a Bioblitz.

Organised by the Miranda Naturalists’ Trust, the aim was to identify as many forms of life as possible, between 6 am and midnight on 28 February 2013.

The area covered encompasses the coastal strip between the Taramaire and Pukorokoro/Miranda Streams, and the adjacent intertidal zone. It also included the grounds of the Miranda Shorebird Centre.

David took a gaggle of homeschoolers to see what could be found in the stilt ponds and nearby mangrove creek near the main shorebird roost.

As it happened, the ponds had been badly affected by the drought and there were no living animals left in them. Freshwater ponds elsewhere on the reserve were completely dry.

The mangrove creek had more of interest, including a small Australian fish called an oyster blenny which was first recorded in NZ 10 years ago. There was also an Asian sea anemone which is another recent colonist. There were also quite a few natives, including a barnacle and a snail – which have gone the other way and are now very common in the Northern Hemisphere.

The tally from the Bioblitz is still being added to, but by the end of the day it was approaching 500 by the time the N8N team left for fish and chips.

A muddy and educational time was had by all.

UPDATE:  Just heard (7 April) that the current total stands at 1126 species identified.

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