My Account
Rare find
In the quiet period between Christmas and New Year, I was walking past the small reserve opposite Bridgehouse when I stopped to count the number of epiphytes growing on the branches of the venerable old oak tree, a few metres from the footpath.
Among the fronds of the abundant, creeping leather fern I was excited to spot a clump of grass-like leaves on the second branch above the ground to the left of the trunk. A mass of small yellow/orange flowers was blooming on the stems.
I was confident that it was the rarely seen perching orchid, Earina aestivalis. Another, larger clump grows around the other side of the tree.
There are three species of earina found in New Zealand. The spring-flowering species, with longer, narrower leaves and paler cream/orange flowers is very common; it grows in Kowhai Park. The autumn-flowering species, with white, fragrant flowers, is reasonably common, but the summer-flowering E. aestivalis, while not on the Threatened Species List, is very sparsely distributed.
In this area, it has only been recorded from the west coast of Auckland and the Kaipara Harbour, and on Great and Little Barrier Islands. I was able to contact keen wildlife photographer, Alan Martin from
Summerset, and with his telephoto lens he took pictures, which gave me a close-up view, and that verified my identification.
Maureen Young, Warkworth
Speed cameras
Thank you for informing us about the monstrosity foisted upon us in the name of traffic safety (MM Dec18).
After enduring weeks of traffic disruptions, it was good to get some clarity, however Waka Kotahi’s credibility is sorely stretched in this day of PC correctness.
On a road that is hugely congested during summer, with a road surface severely disfigured by the recent utility work, who could possibly speed? As Waka Kotahi will tell you, before improving a road they do an economic benefit analysis, so if we add up the cost of construction, the cost of traffic management plus the cost of the public’s man hours lost in the queuing, we can imagine the cost was well over $1million to install two speed cameras for “preventative measures”, not revenue collection?
Then why, pray tell, do we add more cost to erect another sign saying “Camera not in use”? So the fear factor the cameras might induce for us to slow down is negated by a sign saying ignore them!
With local communities crying out for more road maintenance, our credibility is stretched by this blatant spending of the ratepayers’ moneys.
Vernon Pryde, Point Wells
