Sea to the Left, Pasture to the Right, Sky Above, Worms Below

For today's expedition, the class ventured out to the Tavora Reserve. This is the northernmost reserve owned by the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, who had a member come out to help us with the restoration efforts. Dave Mcfarlane from the Trust and Regan Courtney from Mosquito Consulting Services talked to us about yellow-eyed penguin numbers and how avian malaria can be transmitted through mosquitoes. Luckily, New Zealand has no mosquitoes currently carrying human diseases, but they are still a pest when it comes to fragile populations like that of the penguin. 

Following the lecture, we got to work planting flax in the area. Teaming up in pairs we navigated the hillside, cleared patches of tall grass and in the end planted about 400 plants! I particularly liked using the "spaghetti" technique when removing the grass, where you spin the spade around it like a fork and pull. The flax plant is actually capable of out-competing exotic grasses, but it was nice to clear the area a bit before planting. Throughout it all we also found hundreds of worms and grubs, and attempted to place them back in the soil after digging them up.  

At lunch we opened up a bag of gummy snakes and they were unusually multicolored. Much tastier than any worms would have been while planting too. We also finished the bag in under an hour. Not trying to get sponsored here, but just saying that the class has gone through over a dozen of these by now with more to come. 

After our lunch, we took a hike down to the beach. On the way, Dr. Colin Meurk showed us how to plant a salt marsh ribbonwood. We also learned that a lot of areas where restoration is being undertaken experience difficulty in getting their plants to maturity. Whether it be rabbits tearing out flax or unexpected flooding killing seedlings, the effort is invaluable but sometimes it is not enough to work against nature. 

The beach was absolutely stunning and the sand looked like brown sugar!

The day was rewarding, but the drive back was definitely tedious. Props to Dr. Hostetler for driving 10 sleeping people back for what took 5 hours (with stops). We got back just after dinner would be served at the University, so decided to indulge in our first New Zealand take-out experience from Lincoln Fish Supply. The ketchup here is amazing by the way. 

-Emily