They all came back...

So it was another earlyish morning, leaving the accommodation just after seven and heading down towards the coast and then along to Bluff.  The weather looked ok, but was fairly overcast, although with almost no wind.  We kept our eyes peeled for little owl along the way, but nothing, but there were lots of black-billed gulls in the fields beside the roads, and of course the usual introductions.

We made a quick stop on the coast for Hector’s dolphins, seeing at least 5 or so animals out in the waves, with a relatively calm sea.  However, views this morning certainly didn’t beat out ‘flying’ dolphins from the West Coast.  We then headed through to Wakapatu Beach, where there was an errant shore plover several years ago, but it hasn’t been seen for more than a year.  However, we did see about ten banded dotterel, and scanned the small flock of white-fronted terns for any Arctic terns – several were reported from here a few days ago.  Alas, the conditions were very calm, with only about 30-40 white-fronted terns and certainly no Arctic terns amongst them.  Nevermind.

We then made for Bluff, checking in to the ferry terminal, and awaiting the departure of the ferry, which happened ahead of schedule and the ferry actually left port five minutes early!  Don’t be late!  We saw our first Stewart Island shag pretty soon after leaving the wharf, but the calm conditions didn’t bode well for much else.  However, we did start to encounter a lot of common diving petrels, and in the end had a couple of white-capped albatross and several Cape petrels.  As we came through the Muttonbird Islands (taking a detour) we also had several brown skua flying over the islands.

As we slowed and approached Half Moon Bay and the wharf I spied a Fiordland crested penguin on the shore, and most of the group got onto it before it disappeared behind rocks...BVD (better views desired)!  We grabbed our gear and headed up to the South Seas Hotel, checked in quickly, had our lunch at the picnic tables out front and then headed along to Golden Bay.

Our water taxi was there waiting and we zipped across to Ulva Island seeing a couple of little penguins on the way.  The rain was holding off for the moment, and our main target bird was yellowhead.  We headed up through the beaut forest, ears pricked, and within seconds had South Island saddleback, South Island robin, red-crowned parakeet, South Island kaka, and had heard tui, bellbird, brown creeper, etc.  We continued along quietly trying to listen out for the tell-tale staccato call of the yellowhead, but nothing for quite sometime.  I had heard they were being a little difficult out here this summer, so I was getting a little nervous.  They are cracking birds, and efforts to see them in subsequent days would be a little difficult with regards to logisitics.  And then as the beads of sweat were starting to form, I heard the call.  We moved quickly along the track towards where they were calling and ended up with stunning views of at least three different birds, including one stonking male with really ‘glowing’ plumage.  In reality we had probably only be on the island for about 40 minutes, but it seemed like a long time!

We continued to watch these birds and then headed out along the track, and ambled leisurely along a couple of the beaches.  Weka were about, and we found several with tiny chicks, lots of kaka low down and on the ground, and pretty much everything else in abundance.  As the drizzle started we were all heading back towards the wharf anyway, and by 1730 we were all back there as our water taxi arrived to take us back.  Despite all heading off in different directions...they all came back!

We headed up to the accommodation for dinner...what a great dinner.  The South Sea Hotel does an awesome dinner with some really beautiful food – if you are staying on Stewart Island you really need to dine there at least once.

After dinner we jumped aboard Phillip Smith’s boat, to head out to Ocean Beach to see Stewart Island brown kiwi.  Phillip has been doing these tours for many years now and really has it down pat.  It has got to be one of the most surreal and enthralling birding experiences in New Zealand, seeing these birds feeding on the beach on sandhoppers and other invertebrates...and this is exactly how it happened.  Just fantastic.  I took my camera along for the first time, and even at max ISO (12800) the images were not really that sharp, but decided to take some video.  From what I can see I got some superb results, so hopefully can load some of it to this blog when I get some software to edit it.  We saw at least 3-4 birds over the course of the evening before heading back to the boat and homewards...a long day but one that will take some beating!

Distinctive plumage of the juvenile 'jackbird' South Island saddleback

Cute as can be, very young weka chick

Rubbish photo...but we got it!!!

South Island kaka feeding

Boulder Beach, Ulva Island

Hey, what are you looking at?

Feeding Stewart Island brown kiwi (no flash used)

Bird of the day – Southern (Stewart Island) brown kiwi x6

Day total – Seen = 56 + 1 heard (South Island tomtit); new for the trip = 4; total for the trip to date = 154

Rock wren in the rain

Blustery winds and gathering clouds greeted us this morning, so I was keen to get away and get to Homer Tunnel ASAP!  My intention was to head directly there unless we saw something of interest...I had forgotten about the existence of the ‘Kingston Flyer’ steam engine, which was of course noted by Malcolm and John as we approached Kingston.  Suitably hijacked, we quickly headed to the yard to see it and another steam engine (I’m surprised that was not bird of the day for them!).

We then carried on through to Te Anau – a bit of a hike, but the ‘Miles Better’ pie shop was worth it, and we grabbed and ran, heading for Homer Tunnel.  The rain started as we got closer, and by the time we got to the tunnel it was very persistent rain, not looking like easing at all!  Several kea were in the carpark as usual, and three of us braved the elements, whilst the rest digested pies and sandwiches and watched for any wild gesticulations from the safety of the van.  They were also successful in fending off the kea thankfully.

After about an hour and a half, several laps of the track, NO rock wren and a great deal damper, Malcolm suddenly exclaimed “There’s a bird on a rock!”, upon being asked “Where?!” he said there on that rock...  Hmmm...there were probably 389 rocks in the direction he was looking, but the rock wren was luckily pretty obvious and I ran towards the bus waving madly.  The troops ran up to where we were by which time the bird had come slightly closer, and was now joined by its mate.  Everyone got stonking views of both birds, right down to a couple of metres, if that.  They gradually bobbed their way up the slope, and disappeared, having been visible for the best part of almost 10 minutes.  I couldn’t believe our luck, thinking that the rain had snookered us!  Good eyes Malcolm!

So we headed back to the van, removed our wet gear, and then decided to head down towards Milford Sound, as the rain was still coming down, making forest birding a little worthless.  We checked out the misty views and waterfalls around the end of the Fiord, swatted a few sandflies, and grabbed a coffee and then headed back out towards Te Anau.  Wed stopped at a couple of places on the way, with a forest walk with a little less rain.  Managed to get views of rifleman up in the canopy and several tomtits, but the area was fairly quiet with things hunkering down after the rain.  Heard kaka, robin, and yellow-crowned parakeet.  We also stopped further down the Eglinton Valley for a small flock of black-fronted terns hawking over the grassland.  Nice views of them obviously catching inverts.

Then into town and dinner, checklist, blog, and bed!

The wet and bedraggled, but happy, bunch - thumbs up for the rock wren!

Beaut beech (Nothofagus sp.) forest

Moss, moss and more moss...do you think it rains a lot here?

The gorgeous Eglinton Valley

Bird of the day –
Rock wren x6

Day total –
Seen = 34 + 6 heard (Kaka, yellow-crowned parakeet, brown creeper, fantail, bellbird, robin); new for the trip = 1; total for the trip to date = 150

Hunting for Hector

Well we had a leisurely breakfast after the late night and then headed up to check out Franz Josef glacier.  Any rain we had had the previous day had well and truly gone with a nice blue sky with some puffy clouds around the tops of the mountains.  Great views up the valley towards the glacier, with a lot of tomtit singing, and fly over kea.  Also a lot of greenhood orchids (Pterstylis sp.) in flower along the sides of the track.

We then headed slowly south through beautiful podocarp forest and along a spectacular coastline.  We made several stops along the way, including one to see Hector’s dolphins.  Having missed them in both the Marlborough Sounds and near Kaikoura, Barbara was beginning to think they were a myth, and upon approaching every body of water (including lakes) has been jokingly asking me if there were any Hector’s dolphins around...ha!  Well, there they were in all their glory finally in front of us.  They were obviously very actively feeding, and were also surfing in the waves and jumping clear out of the water.  So we had really nice views of probably almost 10 of these little guys.

We then headed to Jackson Bay to have lunch.  On the way a road-kill Fiordland crested penguin was a sad reminder that these birds nest in this area, so as we headed along the shore we scanned for our next target.  Having lunch overlooking the bay we had a reef egret fly past and a few spotted shags, but no Fiordland crested.  We enjoyed a cup of coffee/tea as we ate our lunch, and then headed slowly back along the shore northwards, stopping at a few spots.  I managed to see something and stopped the van and malcolm was first on to the penguin...a single FC penguin was feeding and swimming just out from the shore.  However, he was taking quite long dives and being rather unpredictable so we didn’t get the scope onto it.  There will be more...hopefully.

We carried on towardsHaast Pass, making a stop in some pakihi wetland to search for fernbird, had had some really stunning views of a pair which seemed to think they were invisible when perching on bare branches right up out in the open.  Great extended views of these dinky little birds, showing their bedraggled tail and everything well.  A quick coffee to-go stop at Haast and then a quick stop at the Haast Sewage works (still nothing except a couple of grallards and grey duck) and then up to the Pass where we did a short walk through the beautiful beech (Nothofagus sp.) forest.  Heard a lot of rifleman and glimpsed the odd one, and a few brown creeper heard and tomtit heard and seen.

Then carried on down to Wanaka where we overnighted.  Early night for all including me!

Greenhood orchid (Pterostylis sp) were common on the side of the track

Art 'Hunting for Hector'

Beautiful West Coast pakihi swamp...full of fernbird...and mosquitos!

Beech (Nothofagus sp) forest at Haast Pass

Bird of the day – Fiordland crested penguin x1, South Island tomtit x3, Hector’s dolphin x2

Day total – Seen = 40 + 2 heard (Morepork, brown creepr); new for the trip = 1; total for the trip to date = 149

Okarito calling

This morning we awoke to rain, good ol’ light wetting West Coast rain!  We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed down to Pancake Rocks, where the rain eased off and we made our way around the walkway looking at the unique limestone formations.  There were lots of white-fronted terns and red-billed gulls nesting out on the stacks, and good numbers of spotted shags roosting on the stacks and fishing out in the waves.  Silvereyes, bellbird, and the odd grey warbler could be seen and heard, and a very friendly weka was acting as usher at the doorway to the information centre.

We then made our way steadily along the coast, through Greymouth, and as the rain came down again decided it really wasn’t worth getting soaked looking for things that would be much more easily seen (and frequently) over the coming days in nicer weather.  So we headed into Hokitika to take a look around, have a coffee, and then lunch.

After lunch we headed southwards again, with the skies gradually starting to brighten, and so we called in to Lake Mahinapua to take a look.  As usual nothing on the lake, but we did have a very curious family of weka (mum, dad and the three kids) and our first brown creeper and South Island tomtit.  As the skies got ever clearer we headed south again, getting nice views of great crested grebe (the Australasian subspecies) along the way.  We arrived into Franz Josef around 4pm, checked in and then headed for dinner, before heading out to Okarito to go out with Ian Cooper from Okarito Kiwi Tours...

I’ve just got in...and boy was it a long night!  In the end we saw several birds REALLY well, but it took a long time.  They were within several metres of the track on several occasions, but just wouldn’t show.  We had calls from both males and females from just 20-25m away several times, and the tension was high.  However, perseverance by Ian and we finally all had excellent views.  Thanks heaps for the hard work and an excellent night Ian!

We headed home knackered, but happy – three out of four targeted kiwi seen, with the fourth being heard.  Not too shabby!  Time for a beer and bed.

Marauding weka about to attack

Young weka looking wet and bedraggled after the wet morning

Bird of the day – Okarito kiwi x6 (for once everyone agrees!)

Day total – Seen = 44 + 2 heard (Morepork, South Island robin); new for the trip = 4; total for the trip to date = 148

Good Will Bunting and Pie-bill Tours!

Well the search for New Zealand’s ultimate pie continued today.  We may have to change our name from Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ, to New Zealand Pie Adventures (or Lynn quickly quipped Piebill Tours)!  Who would have thought that such pastry-cased gastronomic delicacies could shape the face of a birding tour!  All thanks to Ruth.

The morning began with a drive along the Kaikoura Peninsula and a great view from the lookout.  The characteristic song of a male cirl bunting drew my attention, and we briefly had it perched in the top of a pine in the scope – Art was up first being the North American who needed this for his life list.  Luckily Art got the bird before the little devil decided to fly and we lost it, but I managed to find a young male that stayed put for quite some time enabling excellent views, love it when a plan comes together.  We’d spent a bit of time looking for this species, and got it in the end.

We then headed slowly down the coast, a beautiful drive on a perfect sunny morning.  We spotted a small group of dusky dolphins off the coast, but they were a little distant and nothing like we had seen the day before from the boat.  So we carried and probably 10kms before St Anne’s Lagoon spotted a pair of Cape Barren geese in a paddock beside the road.  I turned around and we got a nice view of these birds which seem to be increasing slowly in number and being found further afield each year.  We carried on to St Anne’s and found another five birds, as well as common coot, grey teal, scaup, and shoveler.  No big flocks of Paridise duck yet though.  Along the lake shore we also found a species of dragonfly and red damselfly, and then a little later a yellow admiral butterfly.

Carrying on southwards the tummies were obviously starting to rumble.  Ruth had already been doing her research and realising we were going to be going through Sheffield, started canvassing the others with regards to the famous ‘Sheffield Pie Shop’.  This was despite the fact we had already bought lunch at a bakery in Kaikoura!  Malcolm and Lynn (who are from Sheffield, UK) of course had to have the obligatory photo beside the road sign, and then we rolled up to the pie shop.  I’m sure they must get bus loads of tourists, but the look on the faces of the people serving suggested they hadn’t had ravenous birders descend on them lately.  With the axles of the Ford Transit groaning under the weight of pastry goods, we headed towards Arthur’s Pass.  I don’t think we had even got out of the town limits and all that was left was pastry crumbs.

As we crossed the Waimakariri River a couple of black-fronted terns flew over the bridge in front of us, so we made a quick stop to get a look at them, before headed up to the Otira Viaduct lookout.  We hadn’t even stopped the vehicle and a friendly kea was seen.  So we spent a very enjoyable lunch break watching the antics of this bird, listening to it call, and enjoying the awesome scenery.  The bird eventually flew off and we could hear it and another bird calling to each other up the valley.

We then headed on through to Punakaiki with a quick stop at Rapahoe over looking the sea.  On the way we had a family of weka with about 6 chicks dash across the road in front of us at an intersection, so we got really nice views of them.  At Rapahoe there were a few spotted shags, but nothing out of the ordinary.  However, we were very pleased to see the rain that had been forecast was not in evidence and instead there was quite a bit of blue sky poking through.  Checking into Punakaiki we had a break and then dinner.  Then it was time to head out to give great-spotted kiwi a go – two chances, slim and none.  But we were rewarded with fantastic views of a female morepork that showed evidence of incubation with a worn patch on her belly feathers.  She almost tried to land on my head at one stage!  We did hear a kiwi call about 100m away, but only the once.  Unfortunately, as usual lots of common brush-tailed possums in the area, and we did see a few weka as well.  A big day of driving, but some beaut scenery and nice views of things along the way.

The famous 'Sheffield Pie Shop'...just follow the trail of pie crumbs.

Castle Hill on the road through to Arthur's Pass

Otira Viaduct from the lookout

Lynn getting a good look at a kea

"Cor, look at the bill on that thing!"

A very friendly kea

Time for more food...even though we'd only just gorged on pies an hour before!

Bird of the day – Steak and Mushroom Pie x1 (Ruth oh Ruth...again!), kea x5

Day total – Seen = 52 + 3 heard (great-spotted kiwi, South Island kaka, grey warbler); new for the trip = 4; total for the trip to date = 144