IT WAS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY

A chance to show off the FLOCK to 20,000 people, young folk and family members. Meticulous plans were made, FLOCK team members rose before dawn and drove in cars packed with FLOCK birds. The occasion was Ambury Park Farm Day on Sunday October 2nd, a great happening on the edge of Auckland city.
Unwilling to accept the tyranny of the weather the team battled on and planted the FLOCK in dawns early light. Then the wind strengthened, the rain became horizontal and thunder and lightening threatened.Hardly anyone was there or likely to come. Time to pack up.

Trudy, Wendy,Louisa and Krystal still smiling though after a heroic effort.

It was a busy weekend for the FLOCK elsewhere. In the city itself was the Australasian Shorebird Conference. We scraped together a small FLOCK to welcome them on the AUT campus.

At the Shorebird Centre was another FLOCK to welcome those on Monday on their field trip from the ASC .

Also a new FLOCK member, mascot and money collector AKA "Noddy"

The same busy weekend and yet another small FLOCK appeared at Miranda's Farm Gallery.

The Farm Gallery is promoting the work of Derek Onley who painted the illustrations for the latest Field Guide/Hand Guide to the Birds of NZ.

Back on the North Shore the weather on Sunday 2nd was a little kinder. The Holy Trinity Church in Devonport celebrated St. Francis of Assissi Day. Jim Eagles talked to the congregation about shorebird conservation.

The church group made many new FLOCK members and also donated to the cause. Thanks to Rev. Charmaine Braatvedt and her team for their great contribution.

In the eastern Bay of Plenty a FLOCK of over 200 birds from six schools were being planted in the Ohiwa Dunes.

It looked like a lot of fun! Thanks to Meg and Mike Collins who organised it and sent these photos.

We are thrilled with the latest recruits to the FLOCK campaign. Last Friday at the Devonport Naval Museum our Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. John Key, and the Minister for Conservation, Hon. Maggie Barry, spent some time with members of Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists' Trust.

As you can see they also painted and signed some new FLOCK members.

It is great to have their support and also that of all you folk out there who are making the FLOCKNZ project such a success.

BRaid in the S.I. continue to do remarkable things. Their Flocks have been touching down in a great number of spots. Here are just a few of them. 

Kaikoura

Methven

Rakaia

Twizel Area School

THERE'S A LOT OF NEW STUFF TO LOOK AT!

There's a lot of new stuff to look at! you can find it at http://www.miranda-shorebird.org.nz/flock-media
Many thanks to Trudy Lane for loading all these resources onto the Pukorokoro Miranda website.Trudy also designed all of the poster resources, logos and a lot more.

This poster, which you can download and print, tells of the risk level for 15 of our shorebirds. Trudy has left space at the bottom left for you to add your own message.

There is an A5 mini poster for each of the 15 shorebird species with a few facts about each of them.
If you would like to know a little more there are 4 articles (Extinction is forever. Arctic migrants.Endemic species.Stilts) which you can download as PDF's.
You will also find the FLOCK logo and font details you can use for your own FLOCK publicity.

Here in NZ now it is School holiday time but, a while ago, the very first school to join the FLOCK had a surprise. When the students from Kaiaua Primary arrived at school their FLOCK birds and many more had landed on the lawn.

A welcome also to two more schools, Paparimu Primary and Peninsula Primary Te Atatu.

Thanks also to Waikato Regional Council  for posting this photo on their Face Book page.

In this school holiday time we start to use the beaches a bit more. Now is when some birds are starting to nest.

This pair of Variable Oystercatchers have an egg already. They can be very scary and will dive bomb you if you get too close to their nest or their chick.

The NZ Dotterel also nests on the beach. Here the chick is being shaded from the sun.
We humans can cause beach nesting birds big problems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml32UJxDmiU
This quite beautiful video cartoon from Bird Life International shows how nesting birds react to us.

This weekend, Sunday 2nd October, will be the first really big FLOCK appearance. Many Flock birds will roost at Ambury Park Farm Day, Ambury Regional Park, Mangere Bridge, Auckland. Find out more
http://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/articles/events/2016/10/ambury-farm-day/

THE FLOCK IS LIKE AN ICEBERG

The FLOCK is a bit like an iceberg. You can't see how big it is. 90% of the Flock isn't under water but it is under construction! It is hard to imagine just how great it will look when all of our birds are together. Here is a clue:

These 300 birds came to roost in Hamilton Gardens yesterday as part of the Waikato Enviro Schools event.

Krystal Glen, our PMNT educator (pmnteducator@gmail.com), was there to talk about two special birds, the wrybill and the bar-tailed godwit. She brought along binoculars for the students to use.

Hidden among the FLOCK were numbered birds. The trick was first to spy them and then to identify their species.
The "unseen" FLOCK members are being created near and far.Visit  http://issuu.com/devonportflagstaffnewspaper/docs/sept23devonportflagstaff?e=11678115/38970066 
And scroll through the Devonport Flagstaff to pages 42-43 for an article about the Devonport FLOCK. Every school on the Devonport Peninsula, Auckland North Shore, is involved. A big occasion is planned for November, more later.

Not so far away on Waiheke Island, the Hauraki Classroom has opportunities to paint birds at the Waiheke Library. They have developed their very own bird cut-outs. To find out more, and there is a lot more, visit https://www.facebook.com/Hauraki-Classroom-962701903849779/?fref=ts
New schools are joining all the time.Welcome to the Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust Christchurch who have 5 schools helping them to build a FLOCK. It will roost at the annual Farewell to the Godwits in February and they hope to sell their birds to raise money to fund a permanent flock of giant godwits for New Brighton. A really great idea.

Also down in Christchurch the BRaid Flock has touched down at Christchurch airport and a few other places too! Watch out for them.

There is also news from overseas. FLOCKOz is making lots of cut-outs for schools in Adelaide and along the Samphire Coast. We look forward to seeing their painted birds.

Exciting developments from South Korea too.
A while ago David Lawrie sent a small parcel of cut out birds to Tomoko-Ichikawa of the EAAFP Secretariat in Incheon, S Korea. This group co-ordinates the groups in the flyway that migratory birds use from NZ and Australia, through the Yellow Sea and on to Alaska and Siberia. The folk there were thrilled to get their parcel and enjoying making their FLOCK.

 We also hear from Andreas Kim that an ECO-class in the Muan Mongtan Middle School http://mongtan.ms.jne.kr/user/indexMain.action?siteId=mongtan_ms will be joining FLOCKNZ soon. Andreas says that they would love to hear from some of you.For some of our migratory shorebirds the mudflats of S. Korea are very important re-fuelling stops on their journeys. A very big welcome to Muan-Mongtan Middle School.

 Just to finish here is a banner we have made to explain the situation our shorebirds are in. For the birds in the "Nationally Critical" group the next step is "Extinct". We know that our iconic brown kiwi is in trouble. It is 3 steps away from "Extinct", the same as the red knot on the poster. It is a real worry that so many of our shorebirds are only one step away from "Extinct"
 Thank you for being part of the FLOCK, for helping to spread the message and caring about these special birds.

CONSERVATION WEEK AND FLOCK HAPPENINGS

Conservation Week has seen lots of FLOCK activity throughout the country.

 On 6th September, World Shorebird Day, years 3 and 4 from Te Puke Primary School had a great day at Newdick's Beach. They went with Karen to plant their 76 birds and newly made signs.

Tania Bramley from Maketu Wetland Society was along to help them with identifying the birds. Carolyn from MOW also told them about predator control. It must have been a tiring day as they also helped Chris of Coast Care with some dune planting. Well done Te Puke Primary!

The BRaid Rivers Group had a great FLOCK Launch on 9th September with Rangiora Borough School bringing along their FLOCK.

 

The party was hosted by Rangiora DOC. Sarah Ensor brought along their giant wrybill to join the party. It was an important event and Waimakariri District Mayor, David Ayers, joined in the fun. Good work Rangiora Borough School.

There have been happenings in the bay of Plenty. Birds of Plenty promote a great variety of bird related activities annually. Meg and Mike Collins of Ohiwa have been busy getting their "Flock A Plenty" organised. Five schools are involved so far, so there will be plenty of birds for their FLOCK launch on 2nd October.

Already their beautiful sign has been erected at the beach.

  A little closer to home Karangahake School, near Thames, had their own FLOCK day. Krystal Glen, the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird educator, was pleased to be invited to talk about the birds and add some of her FLOCK to the display. Super birds Karangahake School.

There is just a little space to tell you about a threatened shorebird that is quite common in the Bay of Plenty over the summer.

 It is the banded dotterel. Most, but not all, of them breed in the South Island and come north for the winter. Some also go to Australia for the winter but they never breed there.

Some of them have just joined THE FLOCK

BREAKING NEWS from BRaid:

Twizel Area School has just launched it's own FLOCK. Well done to you.

Also a strange happening, their big FLOCK has split in two. One half landed outside the Waimakariri District Council building just a few hours ago.

and the other suddenly appeared outside the Rangiora Vet Centre. Are these Flash Flocks? Where will they appear next?

Keep up to date with these exciting happenings www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=braided river aid

The next few days are going to be very exciting. If you have something going on with your own FLOCK please let us know and we can share it with everyone.

THE FLOCK IS GROWING

Each week we are having to up our estimate of the number of birds in THE FLOCK. In fact finding a place to store them all between FLOCK appearances is becoming a bit of a problem.

They have taken over the garage at the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre while Keith has been away.

If there is no room for his car when he returns at least we have upgraded him to a Porcshe!(only on the cartoon though).

 A number of new schools have joined THE FLOCK project as a result of a visit from Krystal, our new PM educator. We welcome Dawson Primary, Wakaaranga Primary and St. Joseph's Paeroa. Also Year 3 from Oropi are making a Flock after seeing the amazing birds from Ruru's class.
It's not just the young folk though. A community group from Waiheke Island, known as the Waiheke Classroom, is preparing 50 birds for THE FLOCK.
On the 21st of September at Hamilton Gardens there will be a FLOCK appearance at a one day EnviroSchools event.

A few FLOCK birds  are now in permanent residence at the Pukorokoro Miranda hide.Just look out and down through the window and you will see Ziggy Stardust and his plywood friends.

Down in the South Island the BRaid wing is working wonders. Above are some of their FLOCK birds from

Te Pihinga at Rangiora Borough School.

In just a few days on September 9th BRaid and DOC will be publicly launching their FLOCK with a bit of a party for all those who are involved.

Meanwhile, over in Australia everything is moving at great speed.

The Arctic migrants are returning very shortly to both our countries and we need our Flocks to be there to welcome them back.

A HUGE THANKS TO RESENE!

It is heartwarming when a big national company says "WE would like to support the FLOCK in its approach to shorebird conservation".

You don't have to look too closely to see that new FLOCK members are getting the benefit of Resene's generosity.

If you are a group making new birds for the FLOCK and would like some paint contact Louisa pmntprojects@miranda-shorebird.org.nz  or (09)232 2781
New groups are continuing to get involved. Just about all Devonport schools are making birds. Waitakaruru School at the bottom of the Firth of Thames has all 100 students fledging birds this term.
In the South Island, Rangiora Borough School is fledging birds too (the photo above shows some of their fantastic creations).

In Ashley Rakiura the grown-ups are also getting involved!

It is an unexpected bonus that fledging birds for the FLOCK helps with the rehab of those suffering from head injuries. Great stuff from Rotorua,

Plans are afoot to show all of these wonderful birds to the world. We will keep you posted with details.

The FLOCK will gather at Kaiaua on Saturday 22nd October, we haven't confirmed the location yet but we will let you know.
All going to plan there will be a massive FLOCK appearance at Windsor Park, Devonport from 11th November.
Our South Island wing, the BRaid River Group has a number of events planned. They are getting great support from both business and local government. Look out for the FLOCK at Christchurch Airport. Follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/braidedriveraid

Their poster tells a little about the birds they are so concerned about.

There is also interest from other parts of the world.
Recently we sent some birds to South Korea for decoration.
Exciting news from the UK, a group in the Wirral is planning it's own FLOCK.
While the FLOCK is not worldwide yet it is interesting to see from how many countries folk are following it's progress through this Blog. At the moment there is interest from NZ, UK, USA, Russia, France, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Spain, South Korea, and the Ukraine. With Alaska and Siberia at the end of the flyway for our Arctic migrants it would be terrific to welcome them into the FLOCK project sometime soon.
www.miranda-shorebird.org.nz/theflock 

A big thanks again to Resene but also to those people who are getting behind the FLOCK. We haven't even reached the halfway point yet so there is plenty of time for new schools and groups to get involved, no matter where in the world you are.
Welcome Te Puke School who are getting on board, looking forward to you photos.

Our world's threatened shorebirds need our help.