This week John Darby who has led the program to save the endangered Great Crested Grebe’s for the last decade visited the Wanaka Community Workshop. John was accompanied by Dave Thomas and Markus Hermanns.
They were checking out the refurbishment of a second batch of nesting platforms.
The Great Crested Grebe is a water bird that uses floating nests. With Lake Wanaka fluctuating water levels their nests can be left high and dry. As the birds cannot walk on land due to their anatomy – their legs are far back on their body – this is a significant problem.
The nesting platforms which are anchored to the lake bottom have been designed by John. The design is continually improved in the light of experience.
Members of the MenShed, operating from the Wanaka Community Workshop, are restoring and upgrading the platforms to the latest design.