Bream Head scenic calendar to celebrate 2021 and raise funds for trust

Bream Head Community Trust members with the calendar at the Bream Head Scenic Reserve: Jennifer Lawrence (left), Annelies Struijken, Dane Higgison and artist Terry Fitzgibbon.

Bream Head Community Trust members are just as keen to say "so long" to 2020 as anyone - and they've produced a scenic-inspired fundraising calendar for 2021 to help speed up the process.

With 2020 being a tough year for the community conservation group with traditional funding sources drying up, the recipients of this year's NRC Environmental Award for pest control have teamed up with local artist Terry Fitzgibbon, who has designed a striking Bream Head-themed calendar.

As well as Bream Head scenery, Fitzgibbon's artworks include wildlife living in the reserve or on nearby beaches. An exception is a tuatara - the iconic reptile's return to the reserve is an aspiration, volunteer co-ordinator Jenny Lawrence said.

"The subjects and scenes for each month were entirely conceived by the very generous artist, who has been involved in conservation all his life," said Lawrence.

"Four of the subjects were already digitally painted for books illustrated by Terry, who extracted them and placed them in Bream Head backgrounds. The rest were painted exclusively for the trust."

Some of those include: February's Matuku Moana – a white-faced heron chasing a dragonfly; June's Ruru and Weta – a morepork hunting down a cave weta; August's Tui Trio depicting three tui warbling a dawn song with Bream Head in the background; October's Kotare in Kowhai – a splendid kingfisher making a catch; and December's Kaka in Pōhutukawa – kaka munching on the flowering native flora.

"Takapu over Te Whara" - Gannets over the Bream Head Scenic Reserve is the January 2021 entry for the reserve's fundraising calendar.

Lawrence said the calendar is printed on environmentally responsible, art-quality paper, suitable for framing the artwork individually at a later date.

Calendars can be purchased for $25 each online and at various locations throughout Whangarei Heads, with proceeds going towards helping support the pest control operation. For further details visit: www.breamheadtrust.nz.

The Bream Head Scenic Reserve is 800ha of predator-free rugged peninsula. With sustained and intensive pest control over the last 20-plus years, the ecosystem is flourishing. New species have been found, birds are being reintroduced and species that were only occasional visitors from the Hen and Chicken Islands are now breeding within the reserve.