TRIP REPORT : Off-track Otari – Wilton’s Bush

 Saturday 24 January 2004 :   Off-track Otari – Wilton’s Bush

On our way down through the grove of planted beeches we stopped to inspect the Ileostylus micranthus mistletoe planted there some months before by Otari staff.   Shortly after, we had the opportunity trackside to distinguish male from female kahikatea by their tiny cones and minute ovules, respectively.   Further along the Circular Track we found Hymenophyllum diaphanum, not previously listed. We hummed and ha’d each time we came upon Polystichum species, determined to put into practice our recent learning from Leon Perrie.   Wharangi seedlings, relatively new arrivals in Otari, were duly appreciated, as was the smallleaved milk tree, Streblus heterophyllus in the vicinity of the “Pukatea Hilton”, a holey-trunked, known, roosting site for kingfisher/kotare.   Later, Chris showed us one of the many possum bait stations which he maintains on contract to Greater Wellington Regional Council.   Throughout, we had remarked on the abundant regeneration, the result of this sustained pest control operation combined with a rainy summer and increased seed dispersal by birds.

Participants: Rae Collins, Penny Currier, Bryan Halliday, Diane Harries, Chris Horne (co-leader), Rodney Lewington, Pat McLean, Cath Mathews, Barbara Mitcalfe (co-leader), Darea Sherratt, Joyce Wilson, and “JS (Jess) Bach”.

Barbara Mitcalfe