A year birding Oz & NZ (1 Viewer)

1. Sandfly Bay
2-4. bull Hooker's Sea Lion

More Sea Lions:
1. female
2 & 3. subadult male
4. Pied Stilt

1. view from Taiaroa Head
and from the feeders at Okoronui Sanctuary:
2. Silvereye
3. Bellbird
4. Tui

Glad to have you back!

foresttwitcher said:

Glad to have you back!

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That's just about it from me, but cheers Pete!

08/07/12
A fairly uneventful day as I made my way up to Christchurch for my flight back to Oz. At sunrise I visited Katiti Point again in the hope of seeing the Penguins leaving the colony, but there was absolutely no sign. Originally my plan was to only make a morning visit, so I was extremely glad that I'd decided to push on the previous evening as missing out on this species would've be gutting! There were a few Stewart Island Shags flying past, and New Zealand Fur Seals were hauled out in the next bay along.
The drive north took longer than expected, and I didn't get any further opportunities to stop off. After dropping the campervan off I got a lift to the airport where I slept for the night, before flying back to Brisbane early the next morning.
I absolutely loved New Zealand. A return visit would offer relatively few new species, but it's something I'd definitely like to do - the combination of awesome scenery and brilliant birds (albeit a fairly small selection of them....) makes for the type of birding I like :t:

09/07/12 - the end
After returning to Australia I had one day to sort things out before heading back to the UK. In the end I decided to finish the trip as I'd started it - sat around UQ Lakes enjoying the tame wildlife! This was a nice opportunity to 'say goodbye' to all the local species that I'd got so used to seeing over the past year, and after a few hours here I set off to collect the rest of my luggage and head of to the airport - feeling pretty sorry to be leaving at this point!

As a sort of wrap up - Australia is an incredible destination. The country is packed with special species, many of which are amazingly tame which will ensure you have many, many memorable wildlife encounters. It's impossible to pick out a single highlight from platypuses, cassowaries, BBP Kingfishers, fairy-wrens, marsupials, 'scary' snakes, snorkelling on the GBR, albatrosses, cockatoos etc. so I'll just say that all in all it was an amazing trip, and the best bit of 'wildlife-ing' I've ever done :t:
I hope some people may find this report useful.

And four finals photos:
1 & 2. Katiti Point (there are some Fur Seals in the second if you look hard enough....)
And back at UQ Lakes:
3. Purple Swamphen
4. Masked Lapwing

Thanks for reading guys :t:

A thoroughly entertaining read,with some great images too. Thanks,

Thomas

STS said:

A thoroughly entertaining read,with some great images too. Thanks,

Thomas

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Cheers Thomas, glad it was of interest :t:

What a fabulously detailed trip report!!! Can't wait to visit!!