When Captain Cook came to the Queen Charlotte Sound in 1770, his botanist, Joseph Banks, described the dawn chorus he heard in his journal.
"This morn I was awakd by the singing of the birds ashore from whence we are distant not a quarter of a mile, the numbers of them were certainly very great who seemd to strain their throats with emulation perhaps; their voices were certainly the most melodious wild musick I have ever heard, almost imitating small bells...."
Sadly, with the introduction of countless pest mammals, many of our forests have fallen silent. Particularly rodents (rats and mice), mustelids (weasels, stoats and ferrets) and possums are considered some of the most damaging pests. Picton Dawn Chorus is an Incorporated Society, set up by a group of passionate Picton residents with the aim of controlling introduced predators in order to restore our native bird life.
The Society is committed to using humane and environmentally sensitive methods of predator control. The work has been split in to four stages: 1) the Victoria Domain, 2) Urban Picton and Waikawa, 3) The Wedge, 4) The surrounding hills of Picton. Traps have been set out on the Victoria Domain and these are checked and maintained by volunteers on a weekly roster. In Picton/Waikawa township, residents are trapping in their own gardens. The control programme on the Wedge is in preparation and due to be initiated in the winter of 2018.
"This morn I was awakd by the singing of the birds ashore from whence we are distant not a quarter of a mile, the numbers of them were certainly very great who seemd to strain their throats with emulation perhaps; their voices were certainly the most melodious wild musick I have ever heard, almost imitating small bells...."
Sadly, with the introduction of countless pest mammals, many of our forests have fallen silent. Particularly rodents (rats and mice), mustelids (weasels, stoats and ferrets) and possums are considered some of the most damaging pests. Picton Dawn Chorus is an Incorporated Society, set up by a group of passionate Picton residents with the aim of controlling introduced predators in order to restore our native bird life.
The Society is committed to using humane and environmentally sensitive methods of predator control. The work has been split in to four stages: 1) the Victoria Domain, 2) Urban Picton and Waikawa, 3) The Wedge, 4) The surrounding hills of Picton. Traps have been set out on the Victoria Domain and these are checked and maintained by volunteers on a weekly roster. In Picton/Waikawa township, residents are trapping in their own gardens. The control programme on the Wedge is in preparation and due to be initiated in the winter of 2018.