Opening Weekend

2011-09-26T03:14:00.000-07:00

Festival Opening Saturday 24th

A very enjoyable evening celebrating our 10th annual festival.

The Mayor of Whakatane Tony Bonne addressed the gathering and wished the festival success
Morley West gave a summary of a number of national and very pretigious awards that Bay of Plenty people have received in the areas of bird preservation and conservation and also in the area of bird art
Jacqui Hughes told us about the initiation of BIRDSaPLENTY and the cut the cake.

The room was decorated with a collection of bird teatowels which attracted quite some interest

Opotiki Field Trip Sunday 25th

A small group walked over the hill from Ohiwa Domain to Bryans Beach. We heard and saw a fernbird as we crossed the wetland. Fantails, kereru, kingfishers, tuis, fantails, finches, grey warblers and waxeyes were among the birds we saw as we walked passed the big puriri tree and walked over the hill. The beach was very quiet but a couple of oyster catchers were flying along just out above the surf.

The Hukatai Domain Care Group gave us a very informative tour of their "patch". They began doing some pest control about 5 years ago when it was noted that the "collection" was not regenerating and there were not many birds. They now have a pleasing amount of natural regeneration and the birds are coming back. We were joined by a young couple from UK and Germany.

10 Annual BIRDSaPLENTY Festival

2011-08-23T02:26:00.000-07:00

Every year the Eastern Bay of Plenty celebrates our regions wonderful diverse bird life and the community organisations that work to maintain and enhance their natural habitats. This year the festival will run for 3 weeks with plenty of activities for everyone. The highlight will be an evening address by Ruud Kleinpaste a well known celebrity speaker who will entertain us with a talk entitled

Our Biodiversity in Whakatane – privilege and responsibility. Tickets are available at Good Life on the Strand.

Other activities include walks, talks, debates, field trips and afternoon tea at the pottery.

Programmes are available from Whakatane I Site, Eastbay REAP and many local businesses.