Ha ha! I'm back!!

Sorry about the lack of posts in the last month or so but basically been on holiday. Firstly touring around the North Island and then a week in Australia.

So, the highlights of the North Island trip were watching Kingfisher from the hotel bar gardens in Whitiangia, which is on the Coromandel Peninsular, rifleman responding to pishing in the Tongariro National Park and going on a dolphin watching trip into the hauraki gulf (Auckland) and finding White Faced Storm Petrel (1st lifer of the year). We also saw laods of common dolphin as well as getting within 20 feet of 2 bryde's whales - absolutely fantastic.

The downsides were not being able to id cooks petrel, as extremely similar to pycrofts petrel, although the former is more numerous, and not being able to distinguish between flesh footed shearwater and black petrel due to sheer inexperience plus it didn't help that the boat trip was more interested in following dolphins and not sea birds!

I've also subsequently discovered that there was a shore plover and grey tailed tattler in napier, where we stopped for two nights, and there were loads of long tailed cuckoos in tongariro plus another birder, whilst at the national park, called in a morepork during the day through pishing!! Unbelievable.

Based in Auckland now, so hoping to get out on the NZ storm petrel pelagic soon, plus islands such as little barrier island and tiritiri matangi are only short boat rides away!! Both are great places for endemics.

I've sent Ian Mc a load of photos so hopefully these will appear soon, depending on his workload - Thanks Ian, much appreciated.

Happy new year to you too Iain. Thanks for sharing your travels in NZ with us all!
Henry.

Moved to the Abel Tasman National Park, which is in the NW corner of the South Island. Highlights included

Gannet being pursued by two shearwaters/ diving petrels (I was kayaking at the time so difficult to tell!)
White Fronted tern
Spotted Shag
Pied Stilt
Bar Tailed Godwit (34 + including one banded bird) - also a xmas day treat as new bird for my NZ list!
SIPO + VOC
Plus the elusive morepork calling every night but alas still didn't see it!

Managed to see Royal Northern and either a Black Browed/ Campbells Island Albatross on the return ferry along with fairy prion and fluttering shearwater plus a couple of unidentified albatross, arctic skua, gannet and 2 possible king shags but couldn't get enough on them .

Also had a small pod of common dolphin racing towards the front of the ferry to bow ride!!!!


-- Edited by Iain Johnson at 03:09, 2008-12-28

Saturday 20th - Wellington to Picton ferry

To get to the South Island, you either fly or take the ferry which docks at a place called Picton, which can be found at the bottom of the Queen Charlotte Sound in the Marlborough Sounds region. The ferry takes about 3 hours, and crosses the Cook Strait and therefore provide a short sea watching experience as the crossing of the strait only takes an hour and a half with the rest spent navigating the sound.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't great with limited visibility so only manage to see Fairy Prions, a few Fluttering Shearwaters and a Blue Penguin. Once in the sound, added White Fronted Terns, Fluttering Shearwaters, Gannet, 2 Acrtic Skua, Red billed and Black Backed Bulls and Pied Shags. King Shags can be found at the entrance to the sound but not on this occasion.

Then it was the short drive to Kaikoura!

Sunday 21st - Oceanwings Albatross Encounter

For the trip to run there must be a minimum of 3 people. I was booked on the 9am boat (didn't fancy the 6am) but due to only two people including myself booking for this departure, i had to move to another departure! So, I was all set for 6am after all

But I had to phone up at 5.30am to check whether the boat was sailing due to bad weather. I duly did this only to find out that the boat had been cancelled and we were all moved to the 9am departure, so back where I had started!

This boat did depart (it was the only boat to go out as the seas was too rough for the whale wtaching boats). Leaving the harbour was interesting as Kaikoura sits very close to the continental shelf hence why its a great place for whales and sea birds due to the nutrient rich waters. So as the seas hits the shallower shelf/ sea bed and reefs, some very large swells were created which our bath tub rode and crashed into like some giant roller coaster ride

Within minutes we were being followed by a Northern Giant Petrel, Salvins (Shy) Albatross and Cape Pigeons (Petrels). Gary, our skipper and ex fisherman/ expert pelagic birder, soon stopped the boat and before he had even put the ball of chum in the water, birds were just swooping in and landing right next to the boat. You could easily have grabed one for christmas dinner!! And we weren't even over the deep sea trench yet!!

When did move over the trench, the numbers increased still further and we also added another couple of species. The full list is as follows:

Wandering Albatross - Gibsons ssp
Salvins Albatross (ssp of Shy Albatross)
New Zealand White Capped Albatross (ssp of Shy Albatross) (Clements currently only recognises Shy Albatross)
Northern Royal Albatross
South Royal Albatross (Clements currently only recognises Royal Albatross and not each ssp)
Northern Giant Petrel
Cape Pigeon/ Petrel
Westland Black Petrel
White Chinned Petrel
Bullers Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Huttons Shearwaters (massive rafts of these sat on the water as they only breed in the mountains above Kaikoura)
Flesh Footed Shearwater
White Fronted tern
Black Backed Gull
Australian Gannet
Red Billed Gull

The previous day the trip had seen a grey backed storm petrel whilst the following day a grey faced petrel and wandering albatross of the antipodean ssp were seen. The trips normally record both gibsons and antipodean forms of wandering albatross on the trip.

The other notable birds missing were black browed albatross and fairy prion, both of which I have seen off Kaikoura previously from the whale watching trip in 2005.

The trip cost $80 (about £30) for three hours. Definitely do on the trip again, might not yield many more species but the photo opportunities are unbelievable. I'll be sending some through to Ian Mc in due course.





-- Edited by Iain Johnson at 03:01, 2008-12-28

Took two friends and their two children, who are visting from Sweden, to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday. Had a really good day.

First up was a family of Brown Teal (new bird for me this one) plus a pair of Paradise Shelduck. Tui were extremely vocal and started to provide brief views although I was confident that we would get better views of these stunning birds.

Continuing up the main track, we stopped off to check out the various information boards about the gold mine, which you can go inside with a guide, the bird song gully where you can listen to recordings of some of the endemics found in the reserve, the tank with the rare Wellington Green Skink and finally the Tuatara enclosure. These are ancient reptiles closely related to dinosaurs and not lizards. Couldn't find one though!

Then the birds started to appear in greater number including loads of Tui feeding on the nectar, giving my friends amazing close and confiding views plus a single Kaka taking food from a feeding station.

Carrying on, we came across two families of California Quail sitting on the main track, with loads of chicks running around. We reached the main feeding station just as more food was being put out and almost immediately 5 Kaka came swooping down and allowed us to get unbelieveably close, wth 3 feet plus a single Bellbird showed well. A quick check of the top reservoir revealed a pair of NZ Scaup, then we returned. A probably Stitchbird flew past us on the track, unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to confirm its id!

Carrying on An Eastern Rosella flew across us, plus fantails, Grey Warbler and Silvereyes all put in very confiding appearences! Plus we managed to find a Tuatara.

Off to Kapiti Island tomorrow (Friday) which is an island sanctuary north of Wellington and then the South Island xmas trip starts on Saturday. I'll probably return to Karori the week after for a Kiwi Tour.

Day trip to Auckland yesterday for a job interview. Highlights were an eastern rosella and sacred kingfisher in the city centre parks!!

Hello, weekend update!

Went to Otari-Wiltons Bush Reserve, which is very close to the centre of Wellington. Loads of Tui and quite a few NZ Pigeon and Grey Warbler. Only one Fantail though. An Eastern Rosella was a new bird for my NZ list and heard two shining cuckoo's - a very elusive species!

Nice spot thought, loads of native bush.

Later in the day, i was sat in a cafe at the bottom of the North Island, when a small, dark heron species flew over but typically I didn't have my bins with me so couldn't clinch the id. It was probably a reef heron, which according the county recorder are common along the coast and even breed on a tiny island in one of the bays. So will have to wander back one day and have a better look.

Got a trip to Kaikoura planned at christmas with christmas day being spent in the Abel Tasman national park so must get a spotlight for morepork (an endemic owl species and not something for the BBQ!!).

In case anyone has been inspired to have a holiday in NZ, possibly through my updates, I thought it might be worthwhile providing some logistical info!

My girlfriend and I flew out at different times and took different routes. She went via Dubai with Emirates.

I flew via the US (Los Angeles) with Virgin Atlantic and then on to NZ with Air NZ. All flights will involve at least one change somewhere, which potentially gives you the option of a few days birding on the way out and way home depending on how much time you have available. If you choose to fly around the world, then you could have a couple of stops in different countries and see a few more species.

one big advantage of flying via the USA is that they allow you to take 2 bags of 23kgs each (i.e. 46 kgs in total), which is quite a lot of luggage. If you were to fly via Dubai or Singapore then you would be restricted to one bag of 20kgs, quite a difference really, but worth double checking when you book. But my girlfriend got caught out by this!!

There wasn't a lot of diference in price, think it just depends on the season and what offers are available.

Most people fly into Auckland and leave via Christchurch. These are the two major airports in NZ. This also means that there are a lot of hire cars sat in Christchurch, which you might be able to get a better deal on if you intend to drive all the way up north!!

It may also be easier to fly between some birding destinations due to the distances involved, e.g. Auckland to Wellington is a 10 hour drive, and the ferry between the two island is 3 1/2 hours, whereas flying from Auckland to Nelson (top of south Island is about 1.5 hours).

-- Edited by Iain Johnson at 04:05, 2008-11-14

a late update from a trip to Napier last weekeend. Napier is on the east coast on north island and is one of the best wine producing regions in the world. we did a short bike ride around a few vineyards - very enjoyable!!

Anyway, highlights included black billed gull (relatively common here despite being globally endangered) 3 arctic skua (2 pale and 1 dark phase) chasing white fronted terns, caspian tern, white faced heron, common myna (very common) barbary dove, spur winged plover, australian harrier, gannet very close to the shore, pied stilt inc 3 on the beach!

also went to marineland where they have both blue and white flippered penguin. WF penguin is considered by some to be a race of blue penguin although others consider it to be a separate race. Anyway, gave me a chance to have a close up look at both races.

NZ pigeon was in the garden again this week as well!

Hi Iain, really enjoying reading what you're up to on the other side of the planet

I see you've seen a few species that we would see in Britain, Yellowhammer, Redpoll etc.
How about a list of birds we would see in Britain that you have seen over there?

Love the idea of a "Fluttering Shearwater" what a great name for a bird.

Cheers Dean.

Bit of sea watching this lunchtime as there are strong southerlies at the moment.

1 wandering albatross plus one large unidentified albatross (too far out to id)
Possibly up to 4 Northern Giant Petrel
Fluttering Shearwaters, several quite close in but loads further out.
8 Australian Gannet

Only got my bins with me so anything further out is just a 'bird'!!

Went to Mount Ruapehu this weekend for some skiiing and boarding. Nothing significant, plenty of Tui in the village of Ohakune along with a few NZ Pigeon, 1 Grey Warbler, Yellowhammer and Redpoll (a new NZ bird for me!). Morepork calling throughout the night!!

Plenty of Paradise Shelduck, Spur WInged Plover and Australian Magpie on the way home amongst all the fields with about 3 harriers inc one which flew along side the car briefly giving fantastic views.

There was quite a contrast between the village of Ohakune which is largely agricultural and the top of the mountain as its located in the Tongariro National park. The majority of the park is still the original rainforest and as you gain height, starts to thin leading to a rocky terrain owing to the fact that Rupahue is an active volcano. Its also the location for Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings.

Went for a walk in Eastbourne on saturday, which is on the other side of Wellington harbour and very close to the entrance leading to the Cook Strait - the water between the two islands and the cause of the winds in wellington itself!

We actually walked from Eastbourne to Pencarrow lighthouse.

NZ falcon and Bellbird were the highlights along with at least 6 Fluttering shearwater (very calm conditions) inc 2 feeding very close inshore allowing fantastic views.

Other birds inc silvereye (loads of these), grey warbler, chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch, skylark, back backed gull, red billed gull, variable oystercatcher and 1 australian gannet. Though I saw a penguin on the way back (we took a boat across the harbour for $20 - very pleasant).

More Tui on Sunday flying over the field where I was playing lacrosse!

Both the Cuckoo species (shining and long tailed) have arrived back in New Zealand but haven't connected with either yet, hopefully a matter of time. Unfortunately neither have the characteristic 'cuckoo' call, so been gening up!!

I've also found the NZ equivalent of the manchester forums which makes interesting reading, especially when people find red necked stint and its not a mega

Hi Iain

If you go to the albatross colony near Dunedin, seek out Vic Mills who works as a part-time warden there. He's an ex-Manchester resident - I think he used to teach art to Adam Davison.

Steve

Interesting to hear what your seeing out there, Iain. Are you planning on doing any pelagics? I read recently that Snares Island has more nesting seabirds than the whole of the British Isles put together.

went to watch the rugby (union) last night at the westpac stadium. Not the kind of place you would expect to many birds, especially those of open country!!

Sat on the pitch pre-game and even during the game were 3 or 4 yellowhammers!!

Wellington won BTW but it was hardly a convincing performance.

A quick walk around Oriental Bay on Tuesday (it was extremely windy). An australian Gannet, 100 plus Fluttering Shearwater, one variable oystercatcher and a dead blue penguin.

Went to Karori Wildlife Scantuary yesterday. Basically its a valley about 5 minutes drive from the centre of Wellington which houses two former reservoirs which fed Wellington. In 1991 they discovered that they lie on the live of a geological fault which could damage the dam and cause the water to escape flooding parts of Wellington. So they stopped using the reservoirs for the city's water.

A group of volunteers then started an ambitious project to restore the valley back to pre-settlement conditions by removing introduced plants and animals, e.g. stoats, rats and possums which have virtually destroyed the native bird populations. The process was complete when they installed a 9 km predator proof fence and started to introduce native species including Little Spotted Kiwi, Saddleback, Tui and Kaka (the parrot and not the Milan playmaker!).

There are alos tuatara (essentially an ancient lizard/ dinosaur) and weta (large grasshopper type insects).

So my girlfirend and I had a very pleasant walk around the tracks. Tui's are very common (so much so that you can see then in the suburbs) whilst Kaka flew overhead but we had amazing views at one of the many feeding stations. However, the first bird we saw inside the reserve was..........

A Chaffinch!!

We were also fortunate to see Stitchbird, Bellbird, fantail (can also be seen in suburban gardens), New Zealand Pigeon and NZ Scaup. Its a great reserve and one which I'll definately revisit. Its also a great place to spend a half day especially if you have only just rrived in NZ.