Newsletter #7
Hello everyone,
We’ve just announced details of our annual braided river bird and trapping courses. I’ll be emailing most of you directly with flyers, which I’m hoping you will pass on to all your networks. Meanwhile, I’ve listed them below.
Excitement is ramping up as the birds begin returning to rivers and estuaries. While many of you use ebird and other sites to record or monitor sightings, don’t forget we also have a widget on our bird pages that updates every 15 minutes live sitings of braided river birds recorded on NatureWatchNZ.
Cheers,
Sonny Whitelaw,
BRaid Manager (manager@braid.org.nz)
Braided River bird  courses
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, courses this year are all FREE. For administrative and catering purposes, people can register for any of these courses for FREE on Eventbrite. Â
Trapping courses:
- North Canterbury Saturday 17 October at the Rangiora DOC offices
- South Canterbury Saturday 31 October at Geraldine DOC office
Riverbird awareness and management course (Conservation Week):
Black-billed gulls return to the Ashburton River
They’re back! Sitings of the critically endangered black-billed gull have been reported in the district since early August. Edith Smith, Braid’s treasurer, reports on the latest from the Ashburton-Rakahuri.
First  Wrybill
They’re also back! Nick Ledgard, our Chairman, takes us for a walk along the Ashley-Hakatere.
Plastic in 99% of seabirds by 2050
Researchers from CSIRO and Imperial College London have assessed how widespread the threat of plastic is for the world’s seabirds, including albatrosses, shearwaters and penguins, and found the majority of seabird species have plastic in their gut.
Death by 1000 projects
Following the recent Environmental Defense Society conference, Monica Peters takes a look at citizen science projects.
4WD Debate over access Ashley River
After posting the news about a compromise reached on 4WD use of the Ashley Rakahuri during bird breeding season (an interesting test case for other rivers), a lively debate both for and against the compromise played out on the Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare Group’s Facebook page.  You can read more about this in the front-page article in the North Canterbury News. Nothing like a bit of contention to stir the juices.
Banks Peninsula Trapping  Workshop
Nick Ledgard reports on the workshop was organised by Wildside, the trapping arm of the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust.
BRaid news
A big thank you to the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust for their recent to donation. With the assistance of the Trust, BRaid can continue to grow and fulfil its vision to promote protection, enhancement and awareness of braided river ecosystems by liaisoning with and promoting co-operation between stakeholders, encouraging community groups, and facilitating the collection and storage of information.
AGM – Reminder! Our next meeting, which is also our AGM, will be held 1.00pm Monday 7th September (that’s this coming Monday) at 31 Ngai Mahi Road Christchurch (map). I’ve only had four apologies to date, so I’m expecting a big turnout!
Membership If you are not already a member of BRaid, you can join as a General, Casual, or Representative member. Membership is a modest $20/annum and entitles you to vote, receive periodic print newsletters and help BRaid continue to operate. As the AGM is Monday, this is also your opportunity to take a place on the management committee to help direct BRaid’s activities.
Funding opportunities
Most of the major funding bodies have or are about to close for the year. Canterbury Community Trust is having a makeover, so if you are considering applying for the next round (this round closes o4 September) keep an eye on their website.