Happy new year all!
Just got back on Sunday (to 47 degrees at Sydney Airport!) from a quick trip
over to neighbouring New Zealand. The trip consisted of 6 days on the road
travelling around the south island, followed by some relaxation with family
on the north island.
Birding was in no way a focus of this trip, however I was pleasantly
surprised at the ease I had in finding and identifying most species. New
Zealand is a wonderful place for birding beginners to find their wings.
Being unprepared for the trip, I did not acquire a bird guide until late on
the first day. Driving out of Christchurch on the first morning, I am
almost certain to have seen a masked woodswallow fly straight past the car
windscreen. I did not think twice about this sighting until later that day
when I read that there had only ever been 1 sighting in NZ! The same story
with the Australian Pelican. I have a vague memory of seeing on, but cannot
remember where!
Another surprising sight for me was the number of Australasian Harriers
flying about. We saw large numbers of them everyday on both islands. I
found it strange that it was the only large raptor in the country, and yet
is so abundant!
From the list below you will notice a number of ommissions - waders. I
don't do waders :P
Some of the more disappointing dips for me were kiwis, NZ Falcon and Blue
Duck. Redpoll and Cuckoos were also missed. I did not make it to Kapiti
Island (the home of my partner's brother in law) or Stewart Island. I will
keep these for another trip. I also declined a trip to Mt Bruce (outside
Wellington) where I could have picked up Kaka and Saddleback.
Most of the birds below were seen from the car while driving the South
Island. I put in locations of more interesting species. All up, 64 species
were seen in the 2 weeks of travel, none of which were searched, but rather
seen as part of regular travel.
South Island
--------------------
Black Shag
Spotted Shag - Oamaru
White-faced Heron
Paradise Shelduck
Grey Duck
NZ Scaup - Lake Te Anau
Australian Harrier
Pied Oystercatcher
Variable Oystercatcher - Nugget Point, Kaikoura
Yellow-eyed Penguin - Nugget Point
Spur-winger Plover
Black-backed Gull
Red-billed Gull
Black-fronted Tern - Milford Sound
Rock Pigeon
NZ Pigeon
Kea - Milford Sound, Arthurs Pass
Silvereye
Grey warbler
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Sky-lark
Tomtit
NZ Robin (South Island) - Lake Gunn
House Sparrow
Goldfinch
Yellow Hammer
Starling
Australian Magpie (black backed & white backed)
Chafinch
Bellbird - Milford Sound
Darter
Black-billed Gull - Queenstown
Tui
Welcome Swallow
Rifleman - Lake Gunn
Dunnoch
Song Trush
Fantail
Greenfinch
Australiasian Great Crested Grebe - Lake Pearson
Pied Shag
Little Shag
Reef Heron - Kaikoura
Black Swan - Hokitika
Weka - West of Arthur's Pass
White Fronted Tern - Haast
California Quail - Picton
In Kaikoura, we ventured out for a quick and expensive whale trip, where we
saw 3 sperm whales and a small pod of playful dusky dolphins. I regret not
having gone on the Albatross Encounters trip, as I was amazed by the number
of seabirds which I saw just flying past (including a group of several
hundred Fluttering Shearwaters!) Below are just the birds I could identify,
however I am sure that a number of other albatrosses flew past in the
distance. There was always at least two or three in sight at all times,
even though they had no attraction to our boat!
Kaikoura Whale Trip
-----------------------
Wandering Albatross (Exulans)
Shy Albatross (Cauta)
Fluttering Shearwater
Hutton's Shearwater
Westland Petrel
Cape Pigeon (Snares)
Fairy Prion
The next day we caught the ferry from Picton to Wellington. Upon entering
the cook straight, a stiff southerly came in, allowing more excellent
seabird viewing.
Cook Straight Ferry
----------------------
Northern Royal Albatross
Wandering Albatross (Exulans)
Shy Albatross (Cauta)
Buller's Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Flesh-footed Shearwater
Fairy Prion
Yellow-Eyed Penguin (two came up right beside the boat!)
Australiasian Gannet
Arriving on the North Island became a christmas party and family affair. I
only managed to add 4 species to the total:
North Island
---------------------
Peafowl
Little Black Shag - Lake Taupo
Myna
Eastern Rosella - Silverstream (Wellington)
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