Saturday, September 2, was a beautiful sunny spring day with a very gentle breeze. My daughter and baby granddaughter were visiting from Auckland and were supposed to fly to Christchurch on the 8.50 flight, but this was cancelled due to freezing fog in Christchurch. There was no rebooking that day unless you wanted an 8 hour journey via Wellington late in the day, so she rebooked for Sunday morning.

To make a day of we set off for Bluff. The oyster season has just closed so we splashed out on some oysters and chips and spent a lovely hour or so having lunch at the old signal station at the entrance to the harbour. Then we drove up Bluff hill to that spectacular view and ended up parking overlooking Foveaux Straight. We sat on a little rock outcrop to look at the view south but were soon distracted by what was below us. The regenerating bush of Motupohue Scenic Reserve was full of birds making a din of birdsong. I haven't heard that level of noise in the bush for a few decades. The Tui seemed to be in territory establishment mode and were the most dominant. We counted at least 40 in the area we could see. At one point we could hear quite clearly the cooing of pigeons from two different places. And sure enough after a bit of a wait the Kereru were in the air with one pair doing their loop the loop aerobatics over their nest site. There were bells birds and others we couldn't identify and altogether it was an experience to remember.

Back home I consulted Dr Google and read about the efforts of the Bluff Hill/Motupohue Environment Trust and their extensive efforts since 2008 to control the pests in the reserve with now over 1300 traps and bait stations. I think the return on the investment of time and money is significant and pleasing. Well done and thanks to them!

From Peter Dunn