The Sinclair Wetlands (''Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau'') are an internationally renowned wetlands located to the south west of
Dunedin,
New Zealand, at the southern edge of the
Taieri Plains. They are on the western side of
Lake Waipori
Lake Waipori is the smaller and shallower of the pair of lakes located in the wetlands to the south west of Dunedin in New Zealand on the Waipori River. The Waipori River is a major tributary of the Taieri River, and these wetlands form the south ...
and approximately equidistant between
Mosgiel and
Milton
Milton may refer to:
Names
* Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname)
** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet
* Milton (given name)
** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
. The protected area covers a little over 315 Ha 3 km
2.
The wetlands are home to many species of birds including
scaup
Scaup is the common name for three species of diving duck:
* Greater scaup, or just "scaup", ''Aythya marila''
* Lesser scaup, ''Aythya affinis''
* New Zealand scaup, ''Aythya novaeseelandiae''
External links
{{Animal common name
Birds by co ...
,
swan
Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...
s and many more
wetland waterfowl including the
fernbird
The New Zealand fernbird or simply fernbird (''Poodytes punctatus'') is an insectivorous bird endemic to New Zealand. In the Māori language, it is named or .
Taxonomy
The New Zealand fernbird was described by the French zoologists
Jean Quo ...
and rare
bittern. A number of birds such as
white herons and
spoonbills occasionally frequent the area also.
The wetlands are named for Horace "Horrie" Sinclair, a local farmer who donated land to the wetlands scheme in 1984. An education centre opened in the late 1980s is located at the wetlands. The wetlands contain a small island (Whakaraupuka / Ram Island), which was in ancient times the location of a Maori settlement, Tukiauau
Pa.
In the
1986 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1986 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...
, Horace Sinclair was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to conservation.
Gallery
File:Sinclair Wetlands 1 MRD.jpg
File:Southern Bell Frog MRD Sinclair Wetlands.jpg, Southern bell frog (''Ranoidea raniformis'')
File:Coprosma propinqua MRD.jpg, Miki ''(Coprosma propinqua)''
File:Fernbird (Mātātā) in Flax (Harakeke).jpg, Fernbird/Mātātā (''Bowdleria punctata'')
File:Nursery Web Spider at Sinclair Wetlands.jpg, Nurseryweb spider (''Dolomedes'')
References
* Dann, C., & Peat, N. (1989). ''Dunedin, North and South Otago''. Wellington: GP Books.
External links
* https://www.tenohoaka.org.nz/ Te Nohoaka o Tukiauau/ Sinclair Wetlands
Protected areas of Otago
Wetlands of Otago
Taieri River
{{Otago-geo-stub