"GREAT SHEARWATER!!!!!"

Well many people think I’m mad, and after today you can probably add another ten people to that list!  I’ve been harping on about great shearwaters ever since Sav’s jammy spotting of one off Kaikoura last week, and things got a whole lot jammier today!

It started off rather civilised, with a venison pie for breakfast, then boarding the water taxi to Ulva Island.  The showers held off, and we had fantastic views of everything we needed to see.  We walked across to Boulder Beach, getting great views of yellowhead, both red- and yellow-crowned parakeets, brown creeper, and all the other usual bush birds.  Then on the return we got nice views of several South Island saddlebacks, so all boxes ticked and a nice lunch near the jetty.

We were then picked up by Aurora Charters at 1230 hrs, with Ty Jenkinson at the helm, and headed out towards Wreck Reef, checking out a few spots for penguins etc.  The weather was pretty lively with a good 3+m swell running and probably 25+ knots of wind.  So things were looking good as we arrived at Wreck Reef with clouds of white-capped and Buller’s albatrosses following, and at least several Southern Royal albs.  Almost the first bird to turn up next was a broad-billed prion which showed pretty well, coming in to the back of the boat and making several sweeps.  Then a Southern giant petrel came in, followed by Cape petrels and several Northern giant petrels.

However, the excitement was still to come.  I got a glimpse of something a long way off coming in towards us and called it realising it was something different.  It didn’t need to get very close at all before I yelled ‘white-headed petrel!”.  The bird came straight towards us and made several sweeps, flying around the bow of the boat and then disappearing.  Not long afterwards perhaps another bird appeared also from downwind.  I felt a little better having been the only one to have spotted the bird from the ferry yesterday, but now everyone else had seen it now!  Things went a little quiet for a while until Matt spotted a little shearwater which clearly had to be a Sub-antarctic little shearwater.  Again a bit of a lull until we spotted a bird coming in from downwind again.  This time it was something really good, and glimpsing it over a wave all I got was a dark cap and pale collar, enough to shout ‘GREAT SHEARWATER!’ at the top of my lungs.  Everyone was out and looking for the bird and it came right into the boat, making several passes before heading upwind and landing on the water.  It then ended up doing several VERY close passes within metres of the boat giving extended views.  What a stunner!  I’m afraid that at this point I lost all composure and screamed and yelled at the top of my lungs rather unashamedly!  To think after all the angst that we actually had one in front of us here...man!!  With the multiple Australian sightings there is clearly something going on with this species at the moment.

The bird disappeared, the rain arrived and we decided to head back towards home, but passed another TWO white-headed petrels on the way...ridiculous!  So is there any time better than now to get out on the water...I think not!  A few beers were had in celebration back at the South Sea Hotel, before a cracking dinner!

Albatrosses following

White-headed petrel

White-headed petrel

Southern Royal albatross coming in

Southern Royal alb

GREAT SHEARWATER!

GREAT SHEARWATER!

GREAT SHEARWATER!

Just to prove we were in NZ with a white-capped albert

GREAT SHEARWATER!

GREAT SHEARWATER!

Bird of the day – ?? (I forgot to ask...but has to be GREAT SHEARWATER!), ha! South Island saddleback x1, little blue penguin x1, white-capped albatross x1 (NO great shearwater??!!)

Day total – Seen = 46; new for the trip = 12; total for the trip to date = 87

Hailing all kiwi

Another brisk but fine morning as we made our way strategically to ‘Miles Better Pies’ to get lunch...it was only 0800 hrs, but you have to have priorities in life.  The smoked chicken and cranberry sandwiches are also pretty wicked!  So laden with more baked goods we headed south towards Bluff – apparently the start of Highway 1, although most people not from Bluff could actually consider it the end of Highway 1...purely semantics.

We made a stop at a wetland along the way, and although there was a biting wind we managed a brief glimpse of a Baillon’s (marsh) crake, some nice views of grey teal and other waterfowl, and heard fernbird.  Further on we started to encounter squally showers and by the time we reached the coast there was a pretty nasty wind whipping the shores.  At McCracken’s Rest we saw thousands of sooty shearwaters moving along the coast, with a brief sighting of a Hector’s dolphin in rough conditions...a good stop for an apple pie though.

We then carried on through to Riverton, where it was high tide, and had our lunch overlooking the estuary.  Black swan and mallards were the only thing close by, but distant Royal spoonbills could be seen sheltering from the buffeting winds.

Near Invercargill we checked out a few estuarine spots with some nice views of pied stilt, South Island oystercatcher, spotted shag, and a couple of flocks of Royal spoonbill.  The weather was getting worse, with heavy squally showers coming through, so we hit another couple of spots around Awarua Bay, getting a black-fronted tern and a few other bits and bobs, but not a lot else.

We checked in for the ferry, and then boarded on time.  It was going to be a little bumpy, and there was plenty of spray which made birding from the back deck pretty difficult.  There were good numbers of Buller’s and white-capped albatross, and sooty shearwaters, with a few fairy prion and common diving-petrel.  However, the bird of the crossing was a white-headed petrel which gave brief views, but was missed by all except Brent...aaagghhh!!!

We arrived in Oban, quickly moved our bags across to the kiwi boat, and headed out with Zane on the kiwi watching trip.  We spotted a couple of little blue penguins on the way, more Stewart Island shags, and arriving at the jetty near Ocean Beach the weather seemed to be holding.  Ha!  It start to hail shortly after we began the walk, but we were rewarded with outstanding views of at least 5 kiwi (including several young birds and two large females) and we even heard a male calling in the forest nearby.  An unbelievable experience even if it was cold, and we hadn’t even had dinner!

We arrived back into Oban, checked in to our accommodation, had some sandwiches and celebratory drinks and then off to bed.

Southern brown kiwi feeding on the beach

Bird of the day – Southern brown kiwi x2, Buller’s albatross x1

Day total – Seen = 57 + 2H (fernbird, South Island tomtit); two Brent only – white-headed petrel, fairy prion); new for the trip = 22; total for the trip to date = 75

Dirty little robin

After a drizzly night it was a surprise to awake to a promising morning.  Autumn was certainly in the air, but light fluffy clouds clung to the sides of the mountains, and sunshine poked through in places.  More fresh snow was evident, but as we headed to the pie shop we knew it was going to be a great day!  Miles Better Pies in Te Anau really is a great spot to grab some lunch, and with the axles of the Hyundai groaning under the weight of apple pies, we headed back up towards the Homer Tunnel.

It was a gorgeous morning, the cloud, the cool crisp air, and the hope that we may see some more new birds.  A group of bulls were being moved along the road, and with Lily having successfully photographed almost every magnificent animal as we navigated through the ‘flock’ we continued on.  Passing the spot we had seen the falcons yesterday we scanned the countryside, but no luck.

Heading on to Knob’s Flat we again stopped briefly and had bellbirds, rifleman, tomtit and grey warbler right there in the carpark.  A very friendly male robin that was banded even took time out of his busy schedule to perch on my camera, and feeling that wasn’t enough even left his little calling card...guess at least he wasn’t an emu!  Interesting to watch the bellbirds and tomtits feeding on the Coprosma fruits.

Further along we made another stop on the edge of some beautiful forest and had brown creeper, fantail, tomtit, and bellbird, and great views of yellow-crowned parakeet.  It seemed that the forests were even more birdy than when I was last here in November.  We then did the beautiful walk at Cascade Creek, which is like walking through some elfin dream with thick mosses on every tree and stump, lichens, ferns, etc.  Again it was very birdy with rifleman and tomtits everywhere, and lots of yellow-crowned parakeets, and at one stage a bird feeding less than 2m away!  The sunlight filtering through the canopy and warming us as we stood on the shore of Lake Gunn was a nice touch.

Carrying on we then checked almost every section of the Upper Hollyford River for blue duck...not a sausage...not even a duck sausage!  We made a lot of stops and scanned a lot of the river, but the spots I have seen them before were empty, as were every other place we looked at...sometimes you just can’t win!  Nevermind, it was a gorgeous day to be out and the scenery was magnificent with the fresh snow dusting the tops catching the sun.

We checked the Homer Tunnel carpark for any errant kea, but there were none (they must have been reformed), and then headed back down into town.  A fairly uneventful trip, until passing our falcon spot, when Jean thought she spied something...it turned out not to be a falcon, but from that spot I found an adult male, possibly the same bird as yesterday, in the top of a beech tree.  Again scope views of a fantastic little bird, making this the third day in a row we have seen NZ falcon...not too shabby!

We headed on into Te Anau, had a rest before dinner again at the Fat Duck Cafe...another feast!

The dirty little robin...

Looking up from the Eglinton

Looking up from the Eglinton

The beautiful Eglinton Valley

Bird of the day – Rifleman x1, tomtit x1, SI robin x1 (specifically the little guy that pooped on my camera!)

Day total – Seen = 24 + 2H(kaka, dunnock); new for the trip = 3; total for the trip to date = 53

Fruiting madness and a double falcon day

So up and off south, with the aim of heading through to Te Anau, seeing what the weather was like and maybe making a run for rock wren if it looked ok.  Leaving a drizzly Omarama things we headed through making a quick stop to check out a local riverbed, before then passing though the stunning Lindis Pass.  Weather was picking up all the time, and with golden tussocks and gob-smacking scenery it was all looking promising.  We made a few brief stops along the way for coffee, fuel and scenery, before taking lunch at the just before Te Anau.

The weather had certainly improved, so I decided it was better to head into the Eglinton and try for the often very weather dependent rock wren whilst it held off from the wetting stuff.  We had hardly entered the Eglinton Valley before a shape on a dead beech tree beside the road caught my eye, and almost pulling a perfect hand-brake turn pulled back alongside a stonking female falcon.  She flew down across the road in front of us, and disappeared into the long grass, before appearing again and flying to a small bush.  Whatever she had gone for she was unsuccessful, but we pulled along parallel with her, and through the scope had really nice views of what must have been another bird of the year.  She was dive-bombed by a small male falcon, who then disappeared off down the valley, but sure gave a great display of the size dimorphism these birds have.

She then did another couple of short flights, before flying across to the other side of the valley, landing in the top of a beech tree.  Not bad, three falcons in the first two days of a tour!

So we headed onwards, making a couple of other quick stops.  One included some superb views of male and female tomtit, black fantail, and grey warbler, and some of the most heavily laden Coprosma bushes I have ever seen.  It seems to be a really good year for fruiting plants!

At Homer tunnel there were no kea in the carpark (secretly pleased based on the hire care insurance excess!), and we headed up the loop track.  After a full circuit and no sight nor sound it was time to settle in.  Part way along the trail I heard the characteristic call a little way off, and after perhaps 8 minutes or so a rock wren finally showed itself.  We had great views of two birds, one a banded bird part of an Otago University study.  In the end both flew right past us, so very happy campers, and we even had a flying kea.  Checking the Hollyford on the way out, no sign of any blue duck, but we will give it a good bash tomorrow as well.

Awesome dinner as per usual at the Fat Duck in Te Anau...

Autumn colours in the Kawerau Valley

Sweet briar 'hip'

Sweet briar 'hip' with rain drops

Mmmmmm....wine!

Mmmmm....hic....hic....

Bog pine in fruit

Coprosma fruiting madness

Coprosma fruiting madness

Stars of the day...rock wren

Stars of the day...rock wren

Bird of the day – Rock wren x2, SI tomtit (female) x1

Day total – Seen = 24 + 2H(kaka, dunnock); new for the trip = 3; total for the trip to date = 53

Falcon and black stilt on day one of a tour??!!

Well the last week has been a hectic one!  I continued with some of my contract bird survey and report writing work on Monday and Tuesday, visiting some stunning spots in Central Hawkes Bay.  Wednesday through to Saturday morning was spent packing up the house, moving across the road into Mum and Dad’s place which we are renting from them (thanks Mum and Dad!), and packing the rest of our stuff into a shipping container for storage.  My own extremely optimistic target of having everything moved by Friday was never going to eventuate, despite a fair bit of pre-packing by Adel and having Mum and Dad to help!  So we finally finished packing the last of it Saturday late morning, had some meetings midday, and then I flew to Christchurch late afternoon to start a tour the next day....phew!  Will have to remember to never agree to start a tour the day after moving house again!

Anyway, the flights to Christchurch were a good chance to catch up on some sleep, and then spent the evening catching up with Aaron and Sarah in Christchurch.  Thanks for a lovely dinner guys!  I must say despite seeing the footage on TV and knowing what had been happening in the city since the big quake in February, I was still shocked to see Army/Police barricades around the central city, and the degree of damage to house, walls, buildings and roads.

Although the forecast was not looking promising, we left Christchurch this morning with positive thoughts, and someone must have lived a privileged life, as the weather held all day, and was actually quite warm in parts.  We headed south through to Ashburton, and then inland towards Omarama.  Our main targets were the special birds of the Mackenzie Basin, with black stilt of course being the key species.  The Mackenzie Basin has amazing scenery any time of the year, but with the autumn colours coming through it was even more beautiful.  This was to be Day One of a seven day Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ tour around the bottom of the South and Stewart Islands.

We made a couple of quick stops along the way, before grabbing some lunch in Lake Tekapo, and then heading up Mount John armed with enough paper napkins to mop up even the most monumental of food spills!  Despite a cool breeze and predominantly cloudy conditions, the views were stunning.  As we slowly made our way up the road towards the top, scanning for chukar, a bird perched on a rocky outcrop only 50m or so away caught my eye, and at the same time Lily said ‘What’s that over there?’...the answer came pretty quickly...it was a NZ falcon!  Not a bad start to the tour, with a beautiful juvenile female falcon there right in front of us.  We got great views of it perched in the stiff breeze for several minutes, before it took flight and headed out in front of us, giving lovely flight views as well...what more could you ask for, except perhaps a great shearwater (read here)!!!

Heading up the road a little further, within literally 100m we had a small covey of around 8 chukor within 30m of the road.  There were several juveniles still not quite fully feather amongst them, and they feed on the tussock and grass seeds, completely at ease with us despite the close proximity.  They really are stunning birds up close, and especially so with sun peeping through the clouds, with the colours of the tussocks and grasses against their grey and fawn feathers.  Having had great views, we headed to the top, parked in the carpark and admired the views, and then slowly made our way back down, parking with the spectacular Lake Tekapo in front of us as a backdrop for lunch.

After lunch we headed through to Glentanner, with the target bird keenly in our sights.  We had hardly edged through the gate before I had one in the bins, and driving to the edge of the lake we had a pair within 60m.  Several other adults could be seen further around, and after spending around an hour at the site, we had a minimum count of nine birds...probably around 10% of the wild population!  Statistics like this make you a little uneasy!  The initial pair we had seen obviously felt that 60m was a little bit far for us to be admiring them from, and at one stage they moved to within about 20m of us, feeding casually in small pools and lakeside muddy margins – awesome!

We spotted a few more new birds – banded dotterel, NZ scaup, Pacific black duck,etc. and then headed back, and onwards to Lake Benmore.  We made a brief stop at Lake Poaka, seeing huge numbers of Canada geese and another black stilt, and then down to the Lake Benmore where we had lovely views of crested grebe and tried (unsuccessfully) for Baillon’s crake.  We had to miss something I guess!

We arrived into Omarama and checked into the great Ahuriri Motels (Rose and Tom really look after us), before a nice dinner and couple of wines at the Wrinkly Rams.  All in all a very nice first day with some stunning birds!

Merino sheep in tussocks in the Mackenzie Basin

One of the nine black stilt seen at Glentanner

Sweet briar 'hips'

Toetoe along the Ohau channel

Toetoe along the Ohau channel

Toetoe along the Ohau channel

Reflecting on toetoe along the Ohau channel

Bird of the day – black stilt x2, white-faced heron x1

Day total – Seen = 38 + 1H (pipit); new for the trip = 39; total for the trip to date = 39