Mahurangi Matters, 25 November 2024 – Off the Record

Boom busted

One of our team who takes a keen interest in local birdlife became very excited last week after waking in the small hours and hearing what she was convinced was a bittern. For the uninitiated, bitterns are large, elusive wetland birds that look a bit like chunky brown herons, and whose males make a distinctive nocturnal ‘booming’ noise in the mating season. Not wanting to disturb her own mate, our intrepid reporter leapt – very quietly – out of bed so she could go outside to hear this rare visitor more clearly. Unfortunately, as she tip-toed out of the bedroom, she realised the noise was not, in fact, a rare booming bittern … instead, it was a common garden-snoring terrier.

Two birds, one stone

Canny staff at a popular Matakana riverside restaurant have come up with a winning idea to keep customers’ kids amused and deter scavenging seagulls from swooping down and swiping their chips. As soon as greedy gulls gather, MMK offers youngsters eating outside with their families a toy water-blaster to squirt at the pesky seabirds, giving parents a bit of peace on two fronts.