Black Swans on Te Waihora

Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora is an extremely special place that is very close to my heart. I pass by the lake on a daily basis, and I take great joy from the countless birdlife and beautiful sunsets and sunrises that grace this shallow body of water.

It's a place of national importance; in fact not many people are aware (including the residents of Christchurch and Canterbury) that it has been granted a status that is the equivalent of a national park for waterways.

Te Waihora has always been an important mahinga kai resource to local Ngai Tahu maori. Rich in tuna (eels) the lake has been sustainably harvested over generations, and today is the largest commercial eel resource in New Zealand. Commercial flatfish operations also exists on the lake, whilst numbers fluctuate with each year due to the number of fish entering the lake during the period it is open to the sea at Taumutu.

Contrary to misguided popular belief, the lake is far from dead. Nearly half of all of NZ's bird species can be found on or around the lake margins (including 37 breeding species). It's not just swans and geese either - over the last week I've spotted Royal Spoonbills, Southern Grebes, Pied Stilts and White Herons, and all from the highway too. But the fauna doesn't end at birdlife, with Ellesmere boasting over 40 species of fish and a vast amount of insect and other invertebrate life that also make the lake their home.

As these figures suggest the lake is, in many ways, thriving. But that doesn't mean that we can be complacent. In fact, the future of the lake's health depends on monitoring and greater awareness of the complex issues that this wonderful ecosystem posesses.

Find out more about Lake Ellesmere at the Waihora Ellesmere Trust website