This enchanting little bird was self introduced from Australia in the 1950’s, when it established a small breeding colony in the far north of Northland. From there it spread southward and nowadays, Welcome Swallows are established all over this country.

The Australian bird, like its European counterpart, is migratory. However, our Welcome Swallow shows no signs of being migratory.

These birds are small and their flight can be rapid as they chase after invertebrates caught on the wing and which consist of flies, midges, blowflies, beetles and moths.

Their head is rusty brown with the crown being blue black. Chin and throat are rusty brown, upper parts are metallic blue black and underparts are greyish white.

They have streamlined bodies with a short neck and long, pointed wings. The tail is deeply forked.

When feeding over water, the bird is continually dipping into the water surface and they chatter and twitter as they fly about.

Breeding is between August and March and the nests are built using a mixture of grass, hair, saliva and feathers.

In certain bays, out on the briny, we always have these swallows come and join us on the boat. They sit on the pulpit railing and twitter - I love seeing them but hubby always wishes they would point their little bottoms out over the water!

(Thanks to the NZ. Bird Gallery and my bird book by Stuart Chambers).

Gill Jackson

From the mountains to the sea - ki uta ki tai

We hear talk about environmental sustainability. Indeed sustainability has become the number one buzz word in Wellington policy circles. And you will hear ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ in every second speech from a politician.

The delight is throughout NZ some groups are out there working with their communities to improve the environment.

A recent workshop in Hamilton brought many of these groups together, to share their knowledge and experience, under the banner of "Integrated Catchment Management".

There was a great diversity of environments represented – rural, urban, mountains, rivers, estuaries, harbours, farmland, forestry, large and small. They were all brought together by the belief that all is not well in Godzone.

Despite all of its talk about sustainable development and the need to balance environmental, social and economic needs central government puts less than 1% of its funding into the environment. A lot more funding does come through local government. But it is still not enough!

When asking for money the first response is about limited resources, other priorities and the limited rating or tax base.

"We can’t afford it."

Actually we can’t afford NOT to.

This is about the water we drink and the food we eat. It is an investment, not a cost. The research is being done, practical tools are being developed, and we are learning how to apply them in our everyday world.

In our own backyard there has been significant deterioration of our waterways where bush has been cleared and turned to farmland. Siltation and nutrient runoff has increased and we are seeing the results in our rivers and harbours. According to Dr Michael Baker, Environmental Sciences & Research (ESR) the effluent from NZ’s cows is equivalent to the untreated sewage from 200 million people. What does that do to our Bay?

We may still be healthy by international standards but for how much longer? The good news is that there are practices and systems which can be implemented to benefit everyone to help restore our clean green land.

One of the great success stories in this field is the work done by the Whaingaroa Harbour Care Group in restoring the Raglan Harbour and its fishery.

Fred Lichtwark from the group will be speaking at the Matai Aranui Marae in Whirinaki, 9.30am , Wednesday, 28 January, to help a Hokianga group set up their own program, and this is a wonderful opportunity for anyone who has concerns about the quality of our water ways to hear about what can be done.

Car pooling available from Russell - contact Jacqui Knight, 403 8543. Or for more details please contact Will Stensness, 09 405 8415 or Far North Environment Centre, 09 408 1086.