Meanwhile, banded dotterel are ‘’quite consistently’’ the most common braided river bird on the Ashley River, but “are almost entirely absent from the Ōpihi”. “The least threatened birds, those that successfully nest in environments other than braided river –pied stilt and pied oystercatcher – are increasingly making up the bulk of bird numbers in the Ōpihi.” The report says between the Pleasant Point bridge and the lower gravel extraction area there are a number of islands of sufficient size and suitable gravel substrate for nesting. “This is the best section of the river. However, these islands have thick mature weed cover which includes broom, lupin and some small poplars,” it says.