A day of two wrens

We were up early, and in the van almost before the sun was up…mind you 7am is not really that early a start for a birding tour!  We had a big drive this morning from Wanaka to Te Anau to start with.  We made a couple of quick stops along the way, but the weather was holding, although a little cooler than it has been, and we wanted to get through to our location for rock wren whilst it was still holding.  The forecast suggested there might be afternoon rain, so always good to get things early.  As we drove a stretch of Lake Wakatipu we spotted a falcon perched on a power pole, and turning around had great views of the bird perched there, and got some nice pics as well.

We grabbed some lunch at Miles Better Pies in Te Anau – and of course much of the lunch was scoffed over the next while as we drove out towards Milford Sound.  We made a couple of quick scenic stops and then arrived at out location for rock wren.  The sun was still shining, there was almost no wind, and conditions couldn’t have been better.  We had hardly been amongst the alpine terrain for more than two minutes when we heard a characteristic little high pitched call in amongst the boulders and vegetation.  We focussed our attention in the general area, but nothing was moving.  Then a little blur just down the hill and si we moved slightly and could hear a bird possibly two calling much closer.  Then we saw two birds flitting off along end edge and standing up on a couple of rocks.  We had great views of one of the birds, probably a juvenile fledged this season, the other possibly an adult female.  But there was still one calling back where they had come from, and so we headed back to that spot and found a male bird in pretty nice plumage.  It showed really well for several minutes, jumping up onto the top of rocks and feeding in amongst vegetation.  So all up we had at least three birds, with outstanding close views of them – all within about 20 minutes of arriving.  You cannot ask for any better than that!  We spent another 20 minutes or so enjoying the scenery and checking out the rest of the area, and then decided we should make the most of the time in our pockets and head to Milford Sound whilst the weather was holding.

So we headed back to the van, chomped through  the remaining lunch and then drove through to Milford Sound.  It was still pretty nice through in the Sound, with a little high cloud just masking the top of Mitre Peak, but otherwise warm.  We had checked all the rivers for ducks of the blue variety on the way, but nothing.  We spent a little time admiring the scenery and then slowly headed back through to a couple of forest spots.  Of course eyes were on the rivers again as we checked for more ducks, but still nothing.  But the scenery and beautiful weather made up for that.

We stopped at a view point and enjoyed more spectacular views, and then at a forest walk where we admired beautiful big beech trees just festooned with mosses – mosses on branches, on trunks, carpeting the ground – just beautiful.  And there were rifleman everywhere – you could just hear them calling all over the place, and we had some really nice views.  We also had a few South Island robin around and got nice close views of them, and a black morph fantail, our first of the trip.

But, it was soon time to start heading back towards Te Anau.  We enjoyed the scenery as we drove slowly back towards town, checked in to our accommodation, and had a little time before dinner.  As usual dinner was another pretty delicious affair!

Day total – Seen = 38 + 1 heard (yellow-crowned parakeet); new for the trip = 1; total for the trip to date = 147

Bird of the day – Rock wren x5

A falcon sits up on a power pole surveying the land

A young rock wren hunts for food

Same young rock wren sitting...on a rock!

An adult male rock wren about to take flight...or attack

The rock wren searchers

Beautiful alpine country

A young rifleman blends in to the tree festooned in mosses, lichens and epiphytes

A young rifleman, probably a male

A South Island robin perches looking on

Black morph New Zealand fantail

Mossy forests

We were up and off relatively early, seeing that last night was an easy one!  We headed on up to the Franz Josef glacier viewpoint, and wandered up to the little viewing area.  The glacier was still just visible, but it is amazing to look back at where it was just 10 years ago – it certainly is receding fast.  The info panel there has where they thought it might be in 2100 and it is already well past there!  We saw a few birds along the way – tomtit, brown creeper, and lots of silvereyes feeding in the sunny areas.

We then headed on south, passing through some remarkable scenery.  Just spectacular country and even nicer in the sunshine.  We stopped near Fox Glacier for a fantastic view of Mt Tasman and Mt Cook – not a cloud in the sky to hide them today.  We then grabbed some lunch and carried on south, keeping a sharp eye out for falcon.

We stopped at a forest trail and walked through beautiful temperate rainforest, with mosses, ferns and lichens hanging from every branch.  The trail took us down to the beach and we enjoyed the sunshine on the beach and some even paddled in the cool Tasman Sea.  The ever present sand flies were about and keen on a snack, and so were we!  So we headed back to the van and ate our lunch in the sun.  A falcon called nearby, but we didn’t manage to see it – but this was the sixth falcon for the trip so far.

After lunch we carried on south, stopping at a few viewpoints and scenic spots, and then did another forest walk in the afternoon.  We hadn’t even got more than a few feet into the trail and already had awesome views of rifleman, tomtit and grey warbler, and shortly a small group of brown creeper.  We kept our ears peeled and a few minutes later we heard our target – yellowhead!  We headed down the track a little and in the end had beaut views of two birds feeding up in the canopy.  Pretty happy with that, we started to head back towards the carpark, and had another two yellowhead, this time just a few metres away and eye level!  Excellent.  We watched them feed, hanging from mossy branches, and throwing moss here and there as they fed on insects.  As they disappeared we carried on, seeing more rifleman, and back at the van carried on towards Wanaka.  We made a couple of quick stops to admire scenery, and then pulled into our accommodation in Wanaka.  An awesome meal of Mexican was enjoyed by all, and then a nice early night…it is going to be a relatively early start in the morning!

Day total – Seen = 31 + 3 (NZ falcon, kaka, yellow-crowned parakeet); new for the trip = 1; total for the trip to date = 146

Bird of the day –  Yellowhead x5

Morning sun breaks over the peaks at Franz Josef

The diminishing Franz Josef glacier 

Last look at the Glacier?

Mt Tasman on the left, Mt Cook on the right

Looking south along the beach, a beaut West Coast beach

Closeup of filmy ferns

Beautiful mosses

A walk in the woods

Crossing the bridge after the walk

Lake Hawea in the late afternoon

Okarito kiwi KRAZINESS!

We had a little sleep in this morning, and luckily as we woke the sun was shining and all was looking good.  We packed the van and then headed through to have a quick look for blue duck in a few spots.  As we got into the mountains there was a little drizzle and some very low cloud, but as we punched through on to the West Coast we left both behind, but a ceiling of grey remained.  Luckily though as we got closer to the coast this burnt off and we were again in sunshine.

We made a few quick stops along the way, and pulling into a little town for a toilet stop we found a few ferals – a couple of chcikens and two guinea fowl!  Some fodder for the cameras at least!  We carried on and made a quick stop at a sewage ponds, where we scanned the waterfowl in case there was anything of great interest.  Nice views of a range of ducks – some good looking grey duck, lots of scaup, and a few shovelor…but no Australian vagrants!

We carried on and grabbed some lunch, filled with fuel, and then drove to a lovely little lake where we spotted a great egret as it flew to a new position on the lake shore.  We ate lunch in the sun and then did a short walk through some beautiful forest.  It was a little quiet at first, but we soon tracked down a tomtit and a small flock of brown creeper who came in and gave great views.  They really are stunning little fellas, with real character.  We carried on back to the van and then headed southwards through more spectacular scenery.  A few quick scenic stops along the way, and then a stop in a wetland area to see if we could rustle up a fernbird.  We wandered around, not hearing a single squeak from a fernbird!  We persisted, and eventually heard one distantly, but it appeared to not to want to come in.  We decided enough was enough, and headed on to Franz Josef to our accommodation.  We checked in and had a little relax, and then headed to an early dinner in town.

After dinner we grabbed our things, and headed back out.  We decided to give the fernbird another go…and still nothing!  Until finally we had birds reacting, and then got pretty decent views of one of them scurrying about in the vegetation.  Great!  We then carried on and headed to meet Ian Cooper at Okarito at his place.  He gave us a run down of the Okarito kiwi – the rarest of the five species of kiwi with just around 400 birds – and then a briefing on what we were going to do.  We then jumped back in the vehicle and headed out to his spot.  We chatted and organised ourselves and then headed out.  He checked the location of the pair we were going to focus on, and adjust our plans slightly.  We then got into position, and as the light faded, a big old moon – not quite full – came up and the morepork started calling.  We waited and as we did so the mosquitos came out with a vengeance…but we were prepared.  We waited and then all of a sudden as it was almost to dark to see without a torch, there was a female kiwi right in front of us.  About 10m away was a burrow that the pair has been excavating, and the female had just arrived.  She set about messing around and kicking dirt out, and then the male arrived.  Unseen, he gave about four little quiet calls, and then stepped into view.  The pair interacted with each other for a few moments, and then she disappeared down into the burrow, and we watched him for a little while.  He then disappeared down into the burrow, a tight squeeze still as his legs flicked back dirt and he appeared to almost slide down into the burrow with feet extended backwards – very amusing to watch.  All was quiet for about 8-10 minutes and then all of a sudden a female and then a male called about 70-80m away.  All of a sudden the pair came rushing out of the burrow and off up the hill towards the neighbouring pair, disappearing into the bush!  Wow – what an experience – to see a pair of kiwi, at their burrow and interacting like they had is just an unforgettable experience!  Ian Cooper had done us proud!

We headed back to the carpark, patted each other on the back, and then headed back to the motel, pulling in to the carpark at 9:58pm – now that has to be a record!

Day total – Seen = 38 + 3 heard (variable oystercatcher, morepork, rifleman); new for the trip = 2; total for the trip to date = 145

Bird of the day –  Okarito kiwi x5

The mighty Waimakiriri River

A nice bit of beech forest in the sunshine

Looking up into beech forest

A blue duck-less spot - but worth a try

Beautiful country

What a specimen - feral chicken!

Guinea fowl - crippling views!

Another feral looking bashful

Small details, a sundew in a ditch

Catching up with kea

After a good nights sleep we were up and on the road relatively early.  First stop was a lookout overview of Kaikoura township, somewhere we hadn’t had time to visit during the busy preceding day.  The sun was shining and although a little crisper than the temperature had been the day promised to be another stunning one.  We glimpsed a couple of cirl buntings flying past, but none would stop and perch were we could see them, but two dunnocks (our first of the trip) sat on power lines for us to see well.

We then headed south along the spectacular coastline.  We made a couple of stops for scenery and at one point several dolphin swimming boats were just offshore surrounded by leaping dusky dolphins.  Awesome.  Carrying on we left the coast and headed slightly inland, tracking south towards Christchurch.  We stopped in at the Christchurch Antarctic Centre and picked up Nigel Milius, a new guide coming to join us for the last week of the tour, and then headed inland. And of course, what time did we hit Sheffield – the home of the World famous Sheffield Pie Shop – lunch time!  The que was out the door, but we managed to fight our way in, grabbed some lunch and then headed on up the road to a picnic spot to munch on the pies.  And as usual they were a crowd pleaser!

Carrying on up we started to get into the beautiful scenery of the foothills of Southern Alps.  The sun was still shining, but as we moved in land and higher the temperature slowly dropped.  We were keeping eyes peeled for New Zealand falcon, and anything else, but not to be seen.  We again made a couple of scenic stops, seeing our first great crested grebe, some obviously migrating post-breeding banded dotterel, and a few other bits and bobs.

As we arrived into Arthur’s Pass it didn’t take long to find a kea, but we decided to move on up and find some that weren’t hanging around café tables waiting for scraps!  We got up to a site where we had a spectacular view…and there was no kea.  But a few minutes later one flew in and we got to enjoy watching it up to its usual antics.  And then it flew off and showed us its lovely red underwing.  We decided to head back to another spot and go for a forest walk.  We enjoyed the beautiful moss covered beech forest, and saw a lot of rifleman, with really lovely close views.  Our first brown creeper of the trip also came in for a look to investigate us, and our first South Island robin also.

We then headed on to our accommodation and checked in.  Located in a beautiful valley with extensive views we had some down time and a chance to rest up before dinner.  We had a relatively early dinner and then headed out to a spot to listen for great spotted kiwi.  Unfortunately there was a light drizzle falling, but luckily it eased a little.  As it got darker we heard a distant paid calling – first the female then the male, and then a bit later another male calling, and then another female a bit closer, before another pair called – possibly the same as the first.  Although none were close, it was great to realise there a good few birds running round on the hillsides.

After just over an hour, we decided to head on back to the accommodation, driving the road slowly and keeping eyes peeled just in case.  Everyone slept well!

Day total – Seen = 42 + 1 leader only (black-fronted tern) + 1 heard (great-spotted kiwi); new for the trip = 5; total for the trip to date = 141

Bird of the day – Kea x5 

A kea shuffles its wings showing off part of its underwing