Shaw's Bird Park
A couple of weekends ago I visited Shaws Bird Park in the Waikato. A place that I had heard about online. It was said to be the home of birds - so you can better believe your sweet butt that I was there. Anywhere that birds dwell; I will flock to. It is a natural instinct.
Background
Shaw’s Bird Park is the lovechild of Murray Shaw and his wife Margaret. They have created over the last twenty nine years, a nature paradise. Where vistors can ramble through the trees, have encounters with amazing feathered friends, and generally connect with nature.
Unfortunately, Shaws Bird Park is also a place on the verge of being splintered in two by hungry metal monsters and even hungrier politicians. Hamilton City Council plans to put a road through the park, as a part of the Peacocke Development Project happening in the area. Another ugly gigantic housing development that the council and New Zealand government are pumping money into right now.
The name Peacocke Development kind of makes me want to vomit. A suburban nightmare, really. Because what we really need is more grey uniform blobs dotting our landscape.
The Shaws do not want the road cutting through their park. The Council are adamant that this is the only way.
Richard Briggs, Hamilton Council Chief Executive, has pumped out generic statements such as “That was the optimal route through to achieve the connections that need to be achieved,".
Using all of those key power words, such as achieve and optimal. I am convinced that this man may be a robot.
When the Shaws expressed concern that the birds would abandon the area when a busy road became a main feature of the park, Briggs was quick to remind all that he is in fact a bird whisper. Stating that,
“the council will plant 15 hectares of gullies in The Peacocks subdivision where the birds will "have a ball”
The problem with this development goes further than destroying Shaw’s Bird Park. It is set to destroy important ecosystems, for example, the longtail bat, who is critically endangered in New Zealand.
Authorities in Hamilton have known about the Longtail Bat for 15 years, but have yet to implement infrastructure to safeguard their numbers. Rather, they prefer to build developments that destroy their habitat. Developments also cut off their flight routes, as the bright lights deter them.
Forest and Bird Central North Island regional manager, Rebecca Strirnemann has stated that
“Long-tailed bats are critically affected by development that squeezes them out - and they are on the brink of extinction in Hamilton”
Developments such as Peacocke are terrible for creatures like the Long Tail Bat. As they destroy their nesting spots, such as mature trees. Lighting and noise from new housing developments also disrupts their lifes, as they need dark and quiet to travel via echo-location.
The problem is that the parts that they are so gracefully opting to leave alone are gullies and riverbanks, land that does not make sense to build a house on. Basically the bats and the Shaws and the rest of the natural world depending on this space, are been given the offcuts by council.
The essence of the story is that the bats, the birds and the Shaws are getting shafted, while Briggs and his cronies are lining their pockets. Perhaps laughing in an evil maniacal manner while rubbing their hands together. It is a classic Goliath and David kind of deal.
I want to share my experience at Shaw’s Bird Park, so you can see just why we need to protect this area.
My Visit.
This is where we are going to get killed, my mum informed us.
My mum was not one to often foretell my death. Perhaps her suspicions were born from the many white crosses dotting the walkway. It was all rather macabre. But as we later learned, those white crosses symbolised the potential death of a native tree from the construction of the road meant to cut through the park.
A woman on a golf cart followed by a hungry black swan greeted us as we made our way deeper into the park. She gave us a jovial hello.
The traditional round of small talk ensued where we learned about the park and also about the swan. It was interesting as she kind of shattered my romantic dreams about swans mating for life. Apparently this swan’s name was Swanni and her mate died. She however moved on to another swan and they partake in the beast with two backs (aka mating) quite frequently. Which was good to know.
I know I should not romanticise animals, but I am a giant romantic at heart and found it sweet that swans mate for life. Or so I thought. At least they are not like pukekos who hold giant orgies basically and everyone goes at it.
Back to the story and less bird sex talk. As you can imagine, I am a laugh a minute at parties with all these small talk topics up my sleeve.
After bidding farewell, we preceded to amble through the park. At our time of visiting, the trees were alight with the falling autumn leaves. I could not resist and dived into that crunchy leave pile fun. There is something fun about getting leaves stuck in your hair and smelling like dirt and debris. You should try it.
A cute semi stalker-like pīwakawaka or fantail followed our journey very closely. He flittered through the trees and in front of us on the ground, all the while wagging his fanned tail here and there. They are one of the most trickiest birds to photograph, kind of like myself. Never staying still. Always flying to the next branch. I found it is sometimes better to simply enjoy their high pitch chatter and snazzy dance, than try and photograph them.
The pond was home to some shy Canadian Geese, who did not really want me to be part of their crowd. I did not have enough feathers apparently. Mallards wheezed their hilarious ducky laughs and swans gracefully glided. Swans to me are like the popular birds in the lake, all beautiful and lithe.
We spotted Wood Ducks and Mandarin Ducks. They are seriously the most brightly coloured creatures I have ever seen. They are just a little bit extra.
The park is also home to rescue birds. Ruru, Kereru, and white faced herons are all reared back to full health before being released back into the wild.
There is a lot to do at this park. From bird watching to frolicking in the leaves, to cuddling a guinea pigs if you are that way inclined.
When people start chaining themselves to trees in protest to this park being cleaved in two, I will be there. Because in my mind, this park is a sanctuary for the wildlife and a treasure for the public. It is something we should protect rather than throw to the frothing at the mouth wolves. Aka council.
What can you do dear reader?
Please sign the petition to save the park on Change.org. It already has 20,846 signatures, with a goal of 25000.
It can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/hamilton-city-council-save-shaw-s-bird-park
Also be sure to visit the park. So, you can meet Swanni and go frolic in the woods like a cute wood elf.
For more information on the park, check out their Facebook. They also welcome photos from visitors, so this can be a cool way to get your photos shared around https://www.facebook.com/mangakotukutuku/about/?ref=page_internal.