Windy Sounds

A late start this morning to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Waikawa Bay.  The sun was shining but the wind was still blowing.  We headed down to the Picton Marina head out on the Dolphin Watch Ecotours trip out onto Queen Charlotte Sound.  We headed out into the strong winds, but due to the narrow Queen Charlotte Sound the waves weren’t too big.  We headed past a couple of likely spots of King shag, our target bird this morning, but nothing, so kept heading out.  As we got out a little further we spotted a King shag in the water and had really nice close views of him sitting in the water.

We then headed off out further and spotting a few fluttering shearwaters and gannets, decided we would head on out to White Rocks.  It was pretty bumpy and a lot of spray, but we made it out to White Rocks and had great views of about 40 King shags roosting on the rocks.  Having satiated everyone’s need for good views, we headed back into Motuara Island where we had a short walk up to the watering hole.  There were a few saddleback calling around the place, but with a howling wind nothing made itself obvious, although we did get nice views of pigeon, bellbird, and South Island robin.  Lots of onion orchids in flower on the sides of the track.

We then headed slowly back up the sound, spotting probably the same King shag on the way, as well as a bunch of spotted shags, and other bits and bobs.  We had a nice sheltered scone and coffee watching a nesting colony of pied and spotted shags, before heading back in to Picton.

We then hit the road and headed south, and checked out the Waihopai Valley.  We ate our lunch on the side of the road searching for the resident black kite (having not heard any news of the bird being around for a while).  There were plenty of harriers around the place, but no sign of the kite for a while...until it spiralled up over some trees near us and then right over the top of us.  Brilliant!  Fantastic views of the bird as it headed off up the valley.

We then carried on to Lake Grassmere where we had great views of a couple of wrybill and several stonking male banded dotterels, then off towards Kaikoura.  Brief stop at Ohau Point for spotted shags in breeding plumage and on nests, plus a few furry marine mammals on the rocks, and then checked into the accommodation.  Fish and chips for dinner and then out to look for little owl on the local roads.  Success with great views of a bird on a fence ahead of us for a minute or so.  Great!

Bird of the day – TBA

Day total – Seen = 50 + 1 heard (peafowl); new for the trip = 7; total for the trip to date = 135

Onion orchid on Motuara Island

The whole plant

Black kite!

Bruce taking photos of birds!

Planes, trains, and automobiles...and ferries!

So it was an easy start to the day...but that was to be about all that was easy today!  We headed to a bakery and grabbed breakfast and lunch and then off through to Lake Horowhenua near Levin.  The wind was fair honking, so we found some shelter and scanned the lake edges for anything good.  Got a nice flock of little black shags, plus most feral mongrel ducks known to man, but nothing of great note.

We then made a trail towards Wellington making a quick stop at some local sewage ponds on the way.  Always worth a quick look at a sewage pond!  We had great views of black-fronted dotterel, dabchick, and then headed further south.  All was still looking good for the day...except as we drove I got a text message to say our Interisland ferry was cancelled!  Clearly a NZ$53 million refit hadn’t quite included any engine maintenance!  Quickly making a few calls we thought we were booked on to a midday-ish ferry with Bluebridge, so with a little time up our sleeve we thought it was worth a quick look at Plimmerton as a shore plover had been seen at there yesterday.  We pulled up and as the tide was nearly in, headed along the shoreline thinking it couldn’t be too hard to find it if it was here.  Well several hundred metres down the shore there was still no sign!  After several drives and stops we ended up conceding and heading for the ferry.

Arriving at the Bluebridge checkin we sat and waited, and waited, and waited, and then as the luggage truck headed for the ferry we were finally told that it was full!  What the!?  So more hurried phone calls and a visit to the Interisland ferry found that we should have definitely had a place on the Bluebridge ferry but they had obviously done the dirty and over sold and bumped us.  So there was nothing left but to wait for the 6:25pm Interisland ferry which was running at least an hour late!

So we headed back to Plimmerton to look for the shore plover again...but same result.  We checked in early for the ferry, saw a few spotted shags and fluttering shearwaters, and then finally departed on dark for Picton, arriving in just after 11pm.  What a day!

                                                                                                                                                                                          

Bird of the day – TBA

Day total – Seen = 36 + 1 heard (dunnock); new for the trip = 1; total for the trip to date = 128

Ah, nothing quite like sewage ponds

Searched and searched, and this was the only sign we saw of shore plover...ha ha ha...I kill me!

I said great knot (not great Scott)!!

We were up at 0540 (yes! 05401!!) and headed out in the rain to try our luck with bittern.  We headed to an area on the southern shore of Lake Taupo, and as we slowly headed down a road I spotted one moving quite quickly for cover.  Unfortunately, due to the rain on the windows it wasn’t possible to see the bird from the back and within seconds it had disappeared never to be seen again.  We did hear at least 3-4 different males booming which was a real treat, but didn’t manage to find one despite checking a bunch of different places.  We were so close to one male booming that you could hear the inhale before the boom which was pretty cool.

We then headed back and packed the vehicle, and headed on to a site to find fernbird.  We had fantastic views of a bird for several minutes as he sat still in the open branches of a bush would you believe it!  We then headed south towards Ruatiti to spend some time looking for blue duck.  Approaching the river it became apparent that the rain we had been having had had an effect on the water levels and the river was higher than it normally is this time of year.  We stopped at every spot you could look down into the river, and not a blue duck to be seen!  Don’t think I’ve ever searched so much of the river for so little effect!  We got to the bridge over the river and managed to spot a duck right up at the end of the river.  Grabbing the scopes we got onto the bird as it fed in the fast flow, before hauling out on a rock for a bit.  A couple of shining-bronze cuckoos were a slight distraction, but when another rain shower came through I was suddenly standing in the rain alone!

We headed down to the Domain for a spot of lunch and then checked the area for more ducks, but not a one to be seen.  We heard a couple of robins from the camping area, and there were whitehead, bellbird, and fantails zipping around the place to keep us occupied.

We then decided to head for Foxton Beach to have a look at the Manawatu Estuary where Sav had found a great knot the previous day.  We drove through the very scenic (and they were caught actually taking photos through the van window as we drove would you believe it!) Parapara’s towards Wanganui, with the odd rain storm coming through.  We arrived at the Manawatu Estuary to find the tide right in and the godwit and knot out on the mudflats gathering in a flock.  It didn’t take long and the great knot was spotted, being pretty obvious with big black spots still present on the breast.  A stunning bird and clearly bigger with a longer drooping bill than the red knots.  Love it when a plan comes together...still no rooks though!  We took some time to check out the wrybill properly as well, as they are pretty approachable here and had great views of them in the scope just a few metres away.

We then decided to head for Feilding to our Motel, where we checked in, had a breather before dinner and then had a dinner in town with Sav and Jody.

Bird of the day – Blue duck x6, shining-bronze cuckoo x1, Australasian bittern x1

Day total – Seen =56 + 4 heard (Australasian bittern, common pheasant, NI robin, whitehead); new for the trip = 2; total for the trip to date = 127

The 'good' were watching the blue duck...

But what is this guy doing?  Is he botanising??!!  This is a BIRDING tour! ;)

The duck that was watched by some...

Great knot (left) with group of red knot

A bit closer

Great knot again

It was all going so well

So we were up, yet another bakery stop, and then on the road with a light drizzle (the weather that is).  We headed across the Napier-Taupo highway with pie crumbs flying, and contented snores starting to erupt, when I spied what looked like a duck shaped object on a rock as we went over a bridge.  Managing to do a u-turn a few kilometres down the road, we came back to the bridge and yes there it was, a blue duck sitting on a rock just downstream of the bridge.  We parked on the side of the road, being a little distracted by a shining bronze cuckoo calling nearby and getting a quick view of it, before heading onto the bridge and getting quick views of the bird as it took to the water and headed downstream.  Nice!  In the hundreds of trips along this road this is the first time I’ve seen a blue duck here, although a small population does exist in the area.

We then headed on for Boundary Stream and did one of the walks getting good views of the usual forest birds including rifleman, tomtit, robin, whitehead, and grey warbler.  A quiet falcon call had me going as I finished a pit-stop at the bathroom, but never called again.  We headed off along the trail and first heard a falcon pair making a few noises, and then saw the male circle out and around and then over us, giving really nice views before heading off.

On the way back we kept an ear out for kokako, but not much there, but with eyes to the ground managed to find several small colonies of spider orchids in flower.  Great little things and possibly at least two different species.

Things were going oh so well!  We headed down to Napier, where the weather was dry and warm, and decided to see if we could find some bittern.  The first stop had a lot of potential, until we realised there was somebody working on the tree plantings, and there was certainly no bittern to be seen.  There were a few ducks and Royal spoonbill as a consolation prize though!  So we headed on to a couple of other local spots looking for bittern and perhaps a chance at the little egret...ha!  Luck seemed to have run out with not a sniff of a brown streaky thing or a small white thing!  Things couldn’t get any worse...until we got to the Te Aute rookery (which had been active a few weeks before) to find empty nests where there had obviously been a spot of rook ‘control’ recently.  Not a one!  The words ‘I can smell victory’ kept resonating in my head for the rest of the afternoon!  At least until we got to Anderson Park and found the three plumed whistling ducks happily lined up on the pond edge...thank goodness!

So we called past Westshore, grabbed a black-fronted dotterel on the trot and then headed for Turangi, where it started to rain...

Bird of the day – blue duck x2, plumed whistling duck x1, NZ falcon x3, black-fronted dotterel x1

Day total – Seen = 59 + 2 heard (long-tailed cuckoo, redpoll); new for  the trip = 6; total for the trip to date = 125

Napier-Taupo blue duck

Male tomtit at Boundary Stream

Male NZ falcon heading off to hunt

NZ pigeon wondering where that falcon went

Mallards, cute as ducklings, ugly as adults (at least the scruffy ones in NZ)

The saviours of the day, the plumed whistling ducks at Anderson Park

What! No bittern?

So it was a bakery stop first thing...pies for breakfast (these guys are slipping into the kiwi way of life far too easily), and then on the road.  We stopped in at Whangamarino to check out the bittern spot, and I was aghast when after almost an hour we hadn’t found a single one!  The water levels were up quite a bit, and I just don’t think there was enough cover for the birds to hide away in.  So despite seeing more white-faced herons than you could shake a stick at, a few ducks and miscellaneous other things there was no bittern.  We drove slowly along other likely spots, but still no luck, so it was time to put the foot down and head through to Pureora.

We got through to Pureora Forest after lunch and ate our sandwiches in one of the picnic areas overlooking the forest edge.  Robins and tomtits were singing away, and lots of whitehead, but the yellow-crowned parakeets gave us the merry run around.  Saw quite a few flying around, but just couldn’t nail one perched and in the scope.  There were also a few Eastern rosellas around which was a little disappointing, especially when they DID stop and show themselves!  Did get great views of kaka flying over though with lots of birds in the area.

We then headed to the forest tower and headed up to see what we could spy.  Robins and rifleman around the area were nice, and several more kaka.  Pretty quiet on the long-tailed cuckoo front, with the first bird heard calling after we had left the tower.  So we drove the roads trying to get close to it, and saw it fly, so drove further and then had fantastic scope views for about ten minutes.  The bird sat right in the top of a tree calling and gave great views...very weird for a long-tailed cuckoo!

We then headed back down the road, checking out a few other spots, before heading for Taupo, getting coot on the way.  Also a few scaup, black swan, and shoveler which was nice.

Bird of the day – Long-tailed cuckoo x4, rifleman x1, kaka x1, chaffinch (it’s getting worse, where do we get these people!)

Day total – Seen = 57 + 1 heard (common pheasant, Indian peafowl, dunnock); new for the trip = 6; total for the trip to date = 119

Scoping the long-tailed cuckoo