Hi
some of you may recall my RFI from mid December about my upcoming trip to NZ -
the results of that are set out below. I hope this may help the other RFI
requesters. My trip was a family holiday, with hopefully some birding thrown
in. We had 2 weeks in the south and central areas of north island, travelling
roughly: Sydney-Wellington-Napier-Gisborne-East Cape-Rotorua-Lake
Taupo-Auckland-Sydney. I work for the Australian arm of an NZ based company,
so have made a few trips before, but I am primarily acquainted with Wellington
(Airport-City mostly), but I have previously squeezed in trips to Karori
Sanctuary, the area just to the north of Wellington (Porirua, Judgeford where
we have some friends) and Marlborough Sound. Thus, I have already seen some of
the endemics, especially the easier ones!
I referred heavily to Heather and Robertson in drawing up my list of possibles.
Info on sites to visit was obtained from several sources, including the
responses to my RFI - many thanks to all those who did. (I may not have
thanked you personally - if I neglected to do that, apologies - it was the
result of my PC losing power in late December and I only got up and running
again just after New Year.) I worked out that (excluding seabirds) my
itinerary could score me up to 15 new endemics and a whole lot of non-lifers
for my NZ list - however, the new endemic list included 2 species of kiwi,
Kokako, Blue Duck, NZ Falcon and 2 parakeets, so it wasn't going to be easy.
In the end I got 8 endemics, plus 1 that I only heard, and I added about 30 to
my NZ list, but quite a lot of those were introduced species such as Rook,
Pheasant and Myna, with an overall count of 90, plus a few possibles that I
couldn't be sure of.
Probably one of the most common native birds of the trip was the Australasian
Harrier - they do seem to be just about everywhere and have clearly adapted
very well to being the most common diurnal raptor - one sees them not only in
the areas one would expect to see them in Australia, but also cruising over
forested hillsides (much as I have seen Red Kites operate in the UK), estuaries
(Whistling Kite or Osprey), open farmland as well as swamps and reedbeds. One
of my research sources commented that if the UK ever runs out of finches, they
could get some from NZ - I'd add Song Thrush and Blackbird to that too as they
seemed to be everywhere we went. The other common natives which I haven't
picked out specifically below are Grey Warbler, Fantail and Tui as I did seem
to see or hear them in most places I went.
We arrived in Wellington on the afternoon of 7 Jan, and were ferried to our
friends' house in Judgeford, arriving at about 4pm. First NZ bird was - (drum
roll......) House Sparrow (bit of a let down), followed by Starling (even
worse!), then Black Backed and Red Billed gulls. We spent 4 days using this
house as a base and visiting Wellington. It is on a bush/lifestyle block and
has good birds - plenty of Tui (at least 5 feeding on the flax plants), NZ
Pigeon, Fantail and Grey Warbler, Harrier, Pukeko, Masked Lapwing, Kingfisher,
Shining Cuckoo (seen several times) and a large colony of House Sparrows. What
I thought was interesting about the sparrows was the fact that they had
eschewed the house itself and had built a large communal nest (which looked a
bit like a soccer ball made from grass) in the top of one of the trees on the
property.
I managed an early morning visit to Pauahatanui Inlet where I was dive bombed
by Pied Stilts, and saw a pair of Banded Dotterel, a pair of Shoveler, plenty
of shags and a good selection of "english finches". The main estuary itself
harboured a large flock of Paradise Duck (I counted 50 one day), loads of Black
Swans, about 15 Royal Spoonbill and at least 6 Caspian Tern, both sorts of
Oystercatcher, some Canada and Feral Geese. I found it odd to look out at this
(and several similar, likely looking estuaries) and not see many waders,
although Ohiwa and Miranda made up for that.
On 10 January, we spent the afternoon at Karori Sanctuary. I have been before,
but it was a good intro to NZ birds for my wife and kids as, although wild, the
birds are used to people. They have successfully introduced Hihi (Stitchbirds)
and we saw a good number (tick), although only a fleeting glimpse of a male.
The feeder at the start of the Beech Track seemed very popular. Further up
this track (the easy option, not the steep one) we got very good views of an NZ
Robin, and at the hairpin bend on this track was a parent Robin with a begging
fledgling. We also saw more Hihi on this track. There were plenty of Kaka at
the feeders, and a pair of Saddleback on the gentle track that leads down from
the dam; Brown Teal at the upstream end of the lower dam and NZ Scaup in
several places, including one with 6 ducklings at the top dam. This was my 4th
visit (in daylight) and I still haven't seen one of their Weka (nor did I see
one during the rest of the trip.) Someone had reported a White Heron on the
wetland, but all I saw was a White Faced, so I wonder if there had been a
misinterpretation
11 Jan - drove from Wellington to Napier, getting to Napier early evening. Not
much seen in transit except my first Rooks, Barbary Doves and Mynas (boo!) for
NZ. Spent plenty of time checking out terns at the docks and beaches, but I
think that they were all White Fronts. I suspect that it was a bit early for
Black Fronted Terns to have moved up from South Island.
12 Jan - morning on the Cape Kidnappers trip to see the Gannet colony. We did
the trip that goes along the beach by tractor. There were a few adventures
with this (a couple of recent landslips to be negotiated) but we still had
plenty of time with the gannets and their delightful smell! Also saw plenty of
WF terns, a Reef Egret and Variable Oystercatcher during the drive and communed
with a very inquisitive NZ pipit as we waited for the tractors to clear a
particularly rough patch at one point. A fascinating view of some live geology
as well as seeing the gannets up close.
We were later back into Napier than planned, so I couldn't fit in any time at
Ahuriri Wetlands - they looked quite good as we drove past, but we wanted to
get to Gisborne in good time that afternoon as the forecast was not enticing
and it's a windy old road. I got a glimpse of NZ Dabchick (would have been a
tick, but not a good enough view) at Lake Tutira. Near Gisborne, I saw a male
Pheasant and Peafowl (the latter just grubbing about on the wooded margin of a
paddock away from any settlement, so I presume that they were feral).
13 Jan - to Eastland for 2 days, staying at Hicks bay. Stopped at Tolaga Bay
for lunch, where I saw a Whitehead (tick) in the bush area near the very long
wharf. There was a largish pond at Te Puia Springs that was seething with
Paradise Shelduck - well over 100 - plus 2 NZ Scaup, lots of Shoveler, Grey
Duck and Mallard. An NZ Pigeon sat above our heads eating berries as we had
afternoon tea.
Around the Hicks Bay Motel were plenty of Tui, and a very tame Bellbird. On 14
January we went to East Cape and climbed up to the lighthouse (736 steps
according to my daughter!) I had a good look at East Island, but it was
mid-afternoon and there wasn't much about apart from gannets, a few "Fluttons
"shearwaters, one largish pteradroma petrel (presume Grey Faced as East Island
is a breeding station) and a grey/white petrel that was too far off to even
think about an ID - much as I would have liked it to be a Black Winged or Cooks
Petrel.
That evening, there was a big feeding flock of seabirds just off Hicks Bay,
where we were staying. Putting the 'scope onto this group, I could easily pick
out more Gannets, WF Tern and Common Diving Petrel - the latter just bombing
into my field of view and plunging in to the water - very spectacular. There
were a three Jaegers harassing the mob - one looked like Pomarine to me - very
much more thickset than the other two, which I took to be Arctics. Heard my
first Moreporks calling that evening (four from various directions, but not
close enough to find with a torch)
15 Jan - to Rotorua along the coast road. We stopped for lunch at Ohiwa
Harbour, where there were loads of waders - Bar Tailed Godwit, Pied Stilt, a
couple of Turnstone, one Golden Plover, Double Banded and several NZ Dotterel
(tick). I got good views of these as they came quite close to the shoreline.
There was also a Black Billed Gull trying (with its Red Billed mates) to cadge
a few crusts from our lunch. There were also three or four Caspian Tern, a very
busy Kingfisher and plenty of duck. I didn't have time to walk along the spit
to get a better view of other waders in the roost, which looked well populated
so probably hid a few more goodies as well. There was one bigger looking bird
at the back, but had its head well hidden - so possibly a curlew, probably not!
and several very small birds at the front of the pack - possibly Red Necked
Stint?
When we arrived at Rotorua, there was a strong SWly blowing, so lots of the
waterbirds had got themselves tucked in tight against the lee shore. We saw
loads of NZ Scaup, plus I got a very good look at an NZ Dabchick (definite
tick), which cleared up the one I thought I saw previously. Spent 16 Jan doing
Rotorua touristy things, but I did see a very well marked Redpoll as we walked
around the pools of boiling mud and steaming water!
17 Jan - That morning I got up early and visited Lake Ngahwena (on Hwy 5, where
Hwy 30 joins) which was a recommended site for Fernbird - I was there (in the
mist) by 6:10 and within 10 minutes I had seen three Fernbird (tick) making
their rather funny hollow sounding chip call from inside a straggly shrub at
the south end of the car park. Not long after that, they disappeared back into
the reeds so I could hear but not see them . I walked up the track to Rainbow
Mountain (opposite the car park for the lake) and saw the more common bush
birds, plus a Whitehead - the mist got thicker so I headed home for a cuppa and
breakfast. We visited Rainbow Springs, which has some nice captive birds and
then Okere Falls (very scenic and I think would be good early morning) before
heading on to Taupo, where we spent 3 nights. From our Taupo unit, we could
see lots of Black Swan, Scaup and various colour phases of Little Shag, ranging
from the normal Pied colour scheme we see in Australia, to birds with just a
white face. NZ Dabchick appeared every so often in the bay near our unit and I
also saw them near where the Waikato River drains out of the lake.
Visited Whakapapa NP and Mt Ruapehu on 18 Jan - it started off started alright
but by the time we reached the cafe at the top of the chairlift it was a total
white out, so we didn't stay long. We went back and did a couple of short
walks around Whakapapa village, where we saw a family of Rifleman
(Riflemen?)(tick), which are delightful little birds. My wife saw the first
and said "I've just seen a very small, round bird in that bush" - one doesn't
realise quite how small they are until you see them against a "regular" small
bird - in my case a Silvereye. I scanned the Whakapapaiti Stream at several
locations around the village and on the road back towards Taupo for Blue Duck
(which the ranger said have been on the stream in the last few weeks) but no
luck there. At a waterfall on the road out (forgot the name!) we did see a
Tomtit. We also looked at several sites for the Duck on the Tongariro River on
our way home, but not a sausage.
19 Jan - it rained quite heavily in the morning, but we did a Taupo lake
cruise. The plan was to visit Pureora Forest Park that afternoon (the forecast
was for clearing weather) but as we drove in that direction, the weather got
worse, so we pushed on to Waitomo Caves and a walk around the Kiwi House at
Otorohanga. This was very good as we got a good look at some of the harder to
see birds and saw some South Island species, watched them feed the kiwi (a
delightful looking mixture including shredded ox heart (in convenient worm
shaped strips!) and tofu.) Great fish and chips at Te Kuiti on the way home.
20 Jan - to Auckland, the long way, via Pureora Forest Park and Miranda. At
the former, we did several short walks (including the Forest Tower and Totara
Walk (near the Ranger station) at which we saw NZ Pigeon, Whitehead, Rifleman,
NZ Robin, Kaka, and Yellow Crowned Parakeet (tick). At the tower, I could hear
what I assume were Long Tailed Cuckoo - there were several birds calling loudly
but none seemed to want to move from their hiding spot, (so that's 1/2 a tick).
Several covey of California Quail were running about on the road near the
Buried Forest, but there was no sign of the Kokako that has a territory along
that road (per the rangers).
After a longish cross country drive, we arrived at Miranda at about the worst
possible time - a pretty warm afternoon and the tide almost right out, but as I
only had one shot at this site, we went to the hide anyway. Grubbing about
just in front were 2 Wrybill (tick) and a Terek Sandpiper. There was a Banded
Rail in the mangroves next to the gate that leads from the road to the hide and
a Sharp Tailed Sandpiper on the ponds next to the road. Lots of birds, but all
way off and difficult (impossible) to ID with the heat shimmer coming off the
mud unless one could get a bit higher up. From a slightly more elevated
position to the north of the Shorebird Centre, I picked up a Golden Plover,
lots of Pied Stilts and Oystercatchers, Bar Tailed Godwits, Lesser Knot, Banded
Dotterel, Caspian and WF Tern.
We spent the last 2 days around Auckland but did not have enough time to visit
Tiritiri Matangi (I'm saving that for another visit!) - in particular we
visited Rangitoto Island, for an interesting 1/2 day tour around the volcanic
rubble that makes up the island. From the ferry, I saw several Blue Penguin on
the way out and back in, and also a dark phase Arctic Skua harassing a Black
Backed Gull - the skua looked as big as (or even slightly bigger than) the
gull, so I initially thought it was a Brown, but then I realised that Brown
Skua don't occur that far north in summer and the bird was a dark chocolately
colour with a darker cap, so that Arctic was more likely. Plenty of terns
around, but again all seemed to be White Fronted apart from one noticeably
smaller individual with a yellow bill, but it was gone before I got a good
look. That was it for birding - we flew back to Sydney on Sunday afternoon
after going up the Skytower and doing a bit of shopping in the morning.
All in all, I had a good trip both as a tourist and birding wise. My future
trips to NZ will only get harder from a birding perspective I suspect, but I am
already looking forward when I can start planning a visit to South Island for
Kea, Rock Wren, Yellowhead and various penguins!
Cheers
Tom Wilson
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