First week.

Every time I have headed down to Smacks Creek I have been surprised. I was surprised to see a rabbit one day (too slow to snap it), a pukeko the next, then a pair of shovellers, then a cat. All things that you don't see every visit and might not see in fifty visits. It's making this project very exciting. I have recorded all or almost all of the large woody plants, a couple of ferns (maybe the only two species there), the Carex and have made a start on the weeds. The weeds have great potential to boost the total taxa number. There is a lot of disturbed ground where it looks like exotic trees (Silver Birches, willow) have been removed. So there is a lot of good space for weeds. The wood is also rotting, and there a lots of invertebrates underneath to observe and record when I have more time. I also need to spend an hour with my video camera which has a good zoom on it to get the wee passerines that are all about. I think I can get to about seventy observations by this time next week. And from there I aim to get to the century before the years end.

Posted on November 25, 2014 10:34 PM by joepb