9 December, 2024

Pupuke story laid out on new signs for lake visitors

Good to know… Pupuke Birdsong ecological advisor Maisie Ramsay and departing environmental coordinator Tabitha Becroft with one of the new Lake Pupuke signs giving information about the lake

A new sign displaying information about Lake Pupuke for visitors was unveiled at environmental group Pupuke Birdsong’s end-of-year celebration on 27 November.
The sign is one of three with information about the introduced and native flora and fauna in the lake, along with details of how and when it was formed in two volcanic craters, its depth, its condition and what people can do to improve it.
The signs are at Sylvan Park, Killarney Park and Quarry Lake Reserve.
Departing Pupuke Birdsong environmental coordinator Tabitha Becroft said many visitors who come to see the lake don’t understand that it’s an important ecological feature, so the idea behind the signs was to provide the key educational information so people can appreciate it for what it is.
The signs were funded with grants from the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and North Shore Forest and Bird.

Team effort… The Zhu family, Lenin, Vita and Ronnie (front) at the Pupuke Birdsong end-of-year picnic on the western side of Lake Pupuke, where they were won the environmental group’s family volunteering award

Becroft, who has had her role at Pupuke Birdsong since 2021, is leaving this month to take up a community-programmes ranger role at Auckland Council, working city-wide.
She told the Observer she would still be involved with Pupuke Birdsong in a volunteer capacity, while Takapuna North Community Trust manager Natasha Geo and Pupuke Birdsong ecological advisor Maisie Ramsay will take over her duties.
Around 35 volunteers were at the organisation’s end-of-year picnic at Quarry Lake Reserve.
The Zhu family of Vita, Lenin and Ronald, who immigrated from China two years ago, won the family volunteering award.
Lenin said volunteering had helped them discover parts of the area they wouldn’t have otherwise known about.
Vita said she used to do conservation/restoration work in China but that she’s still learning about the different native species in New Zealand.

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