As many people who live closely with the land will know, a change of season shifts our priorities, and the natural world can be a very different place. Both farming and conservation rely on familiarity with the seasons, knowing what to do and when.

What does this mean for those who have a QEII covenant on their land? We talked to three QEII regional representatives about what the move into winter looks like in te taiao in their region and how to approach covenant care in the colder months.

Chris Floyd, QEII regional representative for North Auckland

As a QEII rep, what does your wintertime involve?

It’s definitely the quieter time of year for me. In terms of fieldwork, it’s not the safest time to be sliding up and down steep slopes in the bush, so I’m usually doing fewer monitoring visits. The risk of carrying soil-borne PA pathogen (Phytophthora agathidicida), which causes disease in kauri, is higher when everything is muddy at this time of year, so I try to avoid kauri blocks altogether over these wetter months.

What changes would QEII covenant owners usually spot in your region as they come into winter?

When you’re getting wetter paddocks, it’s a good time to look for sign of pig rootings and an opportunity to try get a handle on pig numbers in your area. It’s a bit easier to try and shoot or trap them in the paddocks than it is moving through the bush.

What’s happening in the natural world at this time of year in your region?

There’s not much flowering at this time of year around here. But birds will be starting to get their breeding plumage as they start to pair up for breeding season. They’ll be more brightly coloured at this time. Most of the reptiles and invertebrates will be hunkering down in the cooler weather, along with bats. They tend to go into a torpor state, not quite hibernating but less active in the wintertime.

Do you have any winter advice for landowners in your region?

Being careful to give kauri space in winter. Like I said earlier, it gets muddy in winter and there’s a risk of the PA pathogen moving via the soil on boots and gear.

It’s also a good time of year – while we’ve got time inside – for planning for the year ahead and thinking about what you want to achieve. It’s a good time to think about applications to the Auckland Council Fund (for those in the Auckland region) and The Stephenson Fund, starting to think about potential projects in your covenant.

Do you have any winter pest control tips?

Subject to getting out in your covenant safely, I’d be trying to knock out rats and possums in the wintertime. Pests are hungrier, looking for food and it’s a lot easier to bring them to food lures. It’s important to knock them down as much as we can before the birds start breeding. Rats might be more willing to get closer to humans, compost bins etc. around winter as well.

What about the plants? Is it a good time for planting or for pest plant control?

Plant growth tends to slow down in these colder months, and it can be harder to spot weeds when they’re just ‘green on green’. Most weeds are better to get in spring and summer when they’re speeding up growth and more visible.

If anyone’s doing planting, this is the season for getting plants in the ground. The planting season here usually starts in May as soon as the first rains start to come. We’re well into the planting season right now. You’d want to get a fair bit of water on them [the plants] before the dryer season comes around again.

Tom Stein, QEII regional representative in Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough

As a QEII rep, what does your wintertime involve?

Generally, there is a lot more paperwork than fieldwork in winter as a rep. You’re more often running out of daylight, so I do fewer visits during each day. The main difficulty is planning visits around the weather forecasts. For instance, the forecast might say it’s fine and then when you get to the day it could be raining. Winter makes it harder to do photopoints, especially on foggy or rainy days. In winter I often can’t go to the high country and so stay in the low country. In the Sounds, you get more of those beautiful glassy waveless days. Apart from the cold, it’s a nicer time to visit.

What changes would QEII covenant owners usually spot in your region as they come into winter?

Mostly landowners in my region would notice that the small streams that were once dry are flowing again. Many streams in Nelson-Tasman and Marlborough are ephemeral, meaning they typically only flow after rainfall. Although as we’ve seen recently, too much rainfall can turn those small streams into raging rivers, which can bring significant impacts to landowners and their covenants.

Those covenantors that are blessed with high altitudes get ice and occasionally snow. On the bright side, we need these wet winters to get us through to the dry summers.

What’s happening in the natural world at this time of year in your region?

Fungi are the big thing this time of year. All the extra moisture and humidity means you’re getting heaps of cool fungi, big ones and small ones. You’re also noticing the birds are starting to scrap over territory. The kids have been kicked out of the nest and they’re starting to look for feed and territory. With any luck, there are winter-flowering rātā adding a bit of orange or red.

Do you have any winter advice for landowners in your region?

Stay warm and dry. If you do have tracks through your covenants, it’s a good time to check the water tables and that tracks haven’t washed away.

Winter is also a great time when you’ve been cooped up inside to get out on a sunny day to go hang out in your covenant. For many of us, winter’s a time when there’s not many other jobs to do. Plus, you can take lots of photos of fungi and other interesting lifeforms and put them in iNaturalist.

Do you have any winter pest control tips?

Winter’s the best time for doing trapping because animals are hungry and there are less of them, and the ones that have survived the winter will be eating the birds in springtime. I’ve heard it said that “a winter stoat is worth ten times a summer stoat”.

What about the plants? Is it a good time for planting or for pest plant control?

Most of the planting is done in the Autumn here, so for most people planting is finished by winter. But with pest plants/weeds there are a lot of things you can still do in winter– for wilding pines you can drill and fill, and they’ll still die. Some of the weed species lose their leaves which makes them easy to spot. It’s also a good time to do hand pulling of weeds because the ground’s nice and soft and they come out easy.

Jesse Bythell, QEII regional representative for Southland

As a QEII rep, what does your wintertime involve?

As a QEII rep, winter is a time for data entry catch-up and planning, especially around Matariki – reflecting on the year gone and the year ahead. I try to get on the phone to landowners a bit through this time, especially for the older ones that might be stuck at home more. I’m also trying hard not to get the flu or spread anything around.

Do you have any winter advice for landowners in your region?

Winter’s a good time for landowners to look ahead and plan for the coming season. There are several funding rounds open in the late winter/spring (e.g., The Stephenson Fund) so getting a direction of travel/plan for the active season is great.

Fences come up a fair bit in winter – pokey stock, winter storms/floods/slips can put pressure on fencing infrastructure and livestock seeking shelter and maybe a bit of extra forage can have a negative effect if they get into covenants. This is a great time for landowners to be on top of their fences – though repairs can be hard in the months when the ground is wet. Regular inspections, especially if intensive winter grazing next to a covenant is important.

Things are happening out in the bush, but it could be a bit subtle to spot changes. Some local farmers I know have an informal competition who can spot the first kōwhai flowering (I’ve seen one grove in a very sheltered spot flower in late June). Down here kōtukutuku/tree fuchsia can flower as early as July when there are no leaves on the tree and usually orihou/threefinger are starting to flower in June. These are important early nectar resources for birds, and both threefinger and fuchsia are targeted by deer, so keeping pressure on these pests will directly benefit your birds.

Do you have any winter pest control tips?

Winter is a good time to trap as pest animals are hungry or less distracted by other foods. This will help reduce levels in time for birds breeding in spring.

What about the plants? Is it a good time for planting or for pest plant control?

Some farmers have more time in winter (e.g., dairy) and this can be a good time to get your neighbours together for a weeding bee – depending on the type of weed and whether control is effective in winter. But days are short, and it can be hard to fit things in (this far south we get eight hours of sun above the horizon in the depths of winter).

Photo credits: Tom Stein and Jesse Bythell