We had an art stall where people could paint their own wooden dotterels, oyster catchers or godwits to add the art installation at the Port Waikato sculpture garden. The art installation is part of a bigger art project called “What The Flock”, the wooden birds are put up on display in each year when the migratory bar tailed godwits arrive in this part of the world. We ended up with around 100 lovely painted birds, created by young and old which were really beautiful and colourful.

Along the shoreline we had some spotting scopes and binoculars set up where people could spot the different shorebird species present at the port and learn about them from some New Zealand bird experts. There were also bird checklists where the kids could check off the birds they saw. It was very cool to see the kids engaged and learning about these cool creatures. Experiences like this help them to care more about the environment as they grow up and make choices to help the environment.

There was also a stall where people could learn about the traps used by the Department of Conservation, see some taxidermy predators, sign up to be part of the predator free 2050 efforts at Port Waikato and find out why trapping is so important to conservation in New Zealand. There were a lot of great questions and a lot of people signed up to help!

Overall the event was a great success, people had a lot of fun and learnt a lot. Check out some of the beautiful painted birds below.