Watercare, Auckland’s water provider, was expanding the underground network to include new housing developments in Massey and looked to do this expansion with minimal disturbance to the native environment. To achieve this, they opted to drill horizontally underneath some native habitat rather than excavate through the middle, reducing the number of trees being removed and impacts on the habitats in the area.

Within this project, some trees within the works area posed either a risk to workers or hindered access by machinery, and would need to be cleared. To minimise the disturbance and reach consent requirements, a bird nesting survey was required.

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Bird nesting surveys are only valid for 24-48hrs after they are conducted. This meant that the contractors performing the clearing would need to coordinate effectively with scientists on the right day at the right time to ensure the works are carried out to specification. This included coordinating with other Morphum ecologists performing lizard or bat surveys and the arborists themselves, to make sure the project continued as expected.

Morphum’s science team was called in to perform the bird nesting survey on the site, and we supported this coordination to ensure that the works could continue based on the results of the survey. Present in the area are native bird species Tūi, Pīwakawaka, Tauhou, species that thrive in native forests and bush feeding on nectar from native plants such as kowhai, puriri, kahikatea and flax, so ensuring we don’t disturb their nesting and roosting sites is vital to reduce additional pressures on their population. Protecting areas of native bush ensures the survival of not only the plants but a whole ecosystem of birds, bats, insects and lizards.

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Arriving on site, our environmental scientist inspected the canopy for evidence of bird nests and observations were marked clearly in a fieldmap with supporting photographic evidence. While no birds were identified as nesting on-site, endangered Long-Tailed Bats were discovered on the site, and the bat survey needed to continue for three more days to determine if they would move along of their own accord.

The bats did move, and our environmental scientist returned to site, and gave the ground crew the all-clear to proceed, coordinating with the arborists and other ecologists. With the surveys complete, the contractors were supplied an email with documentation and memo detailing the results of the survey.

With the support of an active bird nesting survey, the works were able to proceed with connecting the new developments to main water network, without disturbing native wildlife.