This Moment: Friday 12 Aug.

This Moment- A Friday ritual. 

Photo courtesy Joel Maxwell, published in The Observer.

My friend and neighbour Gerald Latimer. 

This Moment- A Friday ritual.

A photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment you want to pause, savour and remember. “This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man.

And borrowed often from whomsoever is carting it around. But a great idea and credit to the originators.

My Moment is a favourite photo dedicated this week to wildlife that has adopted our street and stormwater detention pond.

And I'm breaking the rules this week - I have a wee story to tell.

This past week has been a busy media week for myself.

I had a great photo of mine printed in one local newspaper.

And also, early this week I contacted Joel Maxwell of our 'Observer' community newspaper and alerted him to our concerns over the council's pool fencing moves. The Observer published an excellent article alerting the community to think about wildfowl access when building their fences. Gerald and I were stars of the article.

This issue is about homeowner's legal responsibility to take all reasonable steps to fence off pools and ponds associated with their property.That is an issue I don't wish to discuss here.

 However, let's think about the effect upon wildlife of forcing owners of homes that surround a pond to fence that off. Many may choose the cheapest timber board fencing style to be compliant, and that type of construction may pose an impenetrable barrier for a duck's brood when she takes them down to the pond for the first time. Most wildfowl around our area nest in wasteland further away and can be seen taking their newly hatched brood to the pond or moving between feeding areas and the pond during the day.

As you can see in the top photo, Pukeko chicks, and ducklings can passage through Gerald's well designed safety fence, and the parents can jump or fly over. That style of fence is compatible with the needs of wildfowl and child protection.



Our resident Paradise ducks.



Incidentally, the variety and number of water loving birds in our street has grown, as if wildfowl are learning to adapt to living in our urban environment. It's a joy to observe the paradise duck pair go through the cycle of raising a brood each year. Watching the territorial squabbles between the very aggressive pukeko and more laid back mallard ducks is always interesting.

The integration of wildfowl into our street may stem from one simple fact...it is an offence to allow a dog to wander or be unleashed in public except in designated areas. When you think about the number of dogs that once did wander prior to that legislation, there must have been a huge unseen effect upon all forms of wildlife wrought by marauding dogs. Wildfowl now seem to enjoy the peace around our neighbourhood!



A pair of happy pukeko.



This Moment: Friday 12 Aug.

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