Last week Susan Foster, MRC’s Operations and Account Manager attended the Picton Dawn Chorus (PDC) field day.

The morning started in Picton’s Little Theatre with presentations on the scope of Picton Dawn Chorus’s work and the domestic garden trapping programme.

PDC recently merged with Kaipupu Sanctuary. Work completed by the group includes making traps, setting and checking traps -2,713 currently installed- growing and planting native plants to regenerate bush, completing research to identify gaps in local fauna for feeding birds so that plantings can fill any gaps and provide food for native birds all year round. There is a strong focus on encouraging local schools and individual households to participate.

Susan says “this is an impressive community project with some 200 volunteers involved, which is amazing given the size of Picton. The success of the project has encouraged surrounding communities to follow the same path.

We encourage you to check out their website to see how you can become involved.

Marlborough Research Centre has been a long-time supporter of the awards. Together with Plant & Food Research, we jointly sponsor the Supreme winner. Don’t miss out on the final field day for 2023. We have the details for you here.