Chlidonias
Well-known member
around Auckland:
Tiritiri Matangi. Stay there if you can ($30 per person in a bunkhouse). The ferry doesn't go on Monday or Tuesday, so if you go across on Sunday you can stay till Wednesday with two public-free days in between. All the birds are very easy to find, the hardest being spotless crake and little spotted kiwi (the spotless crake is hard if water levels in the ponds are high, but otherwise not too difficult). When you're out at night you'll easily find little blue penguins on the tracks as well.
Mangere Sewage Ponds: loads of waders
Miranda: same
There's a "whale safari" boat out of Auckland with good chance for Bryde's whale and common dolphin.
The pelagic (seabird) boat only goes once or twice a month for part of the year (from just north of Auckland), and is very expensive (too expensive for me!) but is your only chance for NZ storm petrel.
The Auckland Museum is very good as well.
South Island:
There's a boat that goes out from Picton for king shag.
In Kaikoura the albatross boat goes out three times a day (6am, 9am and 1pm). Their website has a list of which birds they see on the recent trips. Each trip is only about 1.5 hours because as someone said earlier in the thread there's a trench right off-shore, but you will be pleased with the results. If you see cetaceans from this boat however it will only be at a distance (they are not allowed to approach them; although the dolphins sometimes ignore this!). The whale boat goes out several times a day, but sperm whales aren't all that interesting. (I'd recommend doing the whale boat in Auckland, and the albatross boat in Kaikoura). There are also helicopter and plane rides for whale-spotting; a dolphin swimming boat; and a seal swimming boat. The walk round the top of the cliffs, starting at the NZ fur seal colony, is good for cirl bunting.
Christchurch: go out on the boat on Akaroa Harbour for Hector's dolphins and white-flippered penguins.
For yellow-eyed penguin go to the colony at Moeraki (the town, just south of the Moeraki Boulders) when heading south to Dunedin from Chch. Follow the road that leads to the lighthouse, and then walk downhill from the car-park (on the other side of the style) to the hide.
For little blue penguins (which you'll have already seen on Tiritiri) go to Oamaru and watch them come ashore at night.
Dunedin: the Otago Museum is brilliant, there's an albatross colony (you need to pay to access it, so better to stand at the cliff at the edge of the car-park and watch them fly past; also loads of Stewart Island and spotted shags here too); various wildlife tour operators (e.g. Elm Wildlife Tours is probably the best) for yellow-eyed penguin etc. You should be able to find NZ sealions without too much trouble by yourself , e.g. at Aramoana.
On the way to Milford stop at the car-park by Homer Tunnel and look for rock wrens (best bird in NZ!), and go on a boat trip on the Sound for crested penguin and bottlenose dolphin.
At Okarito (just north of Franz Josef on the West Coast) there is a night tour for Okarito brown kiwi, which should almost guarantee you seeing that species. There are also kiwi tours on Stewart Island for southern brown kiwi and Trounson (in Northland) for North Island brown kiwi.
All these places you can find websites for by putting in the relevant search terms (saves me writing too much!
). Anything else?
Tiritiri Matangi. Stay there if you can ($30 per person in a bunkhouse). The ferry doesn't go on Monday or Tuesday, so if you go across on Sunday you can stay till Wednesday with two public-free days in between. All the birds are very easy to find, the hardest being spotless crake and little spotted kiwi (the spotless crake is hard if water levels in the ponds are high, but otherwise not too difficult). When you're out at night you'll easily find little blue penguins on the tracks as well.
Mangere Sewage Ponds: loads of waders
Miranda: same
There's a "whale safari" boat out of Auckland with good chance for Bryde's whale and common dolphin.
The pelagic (seabird) boat only goes once or twice a month for part of the year (from just north of Auckland), and is very expensive (too expensive for me!) but is your only chance for NZ storm petrel.
The Auckland Museum is very good as well.
South Island:
There's a boat that goes out from Picton for king shag.
In Kaikoura the albatross boat goes out three times a day (6am, 9am and 1pm). Their website has a list of which birds they see on the recent trips. Each trip is only about 1.5 hours because as someone said earlier in the thread there's a trench right off-shore, but you will be pleased with the results. If you see cetaceans from this boat however it will only be at a distance (they are not allowed to approach them; although the dolphins sometimes ignore this!). The whale boat goes out several times a day, but sperm whales aren't all that interesting. (I'd recommend doing the whale boat in Auckland, and the albatross boat in Kaikoura). There are also helicopter and plane rides for whale-spotting; a dolphin swimming boat; and a seal swimming boat. The walk round the top of the cliffs, starting at the NZ fur seal colony, is good for cirl bunting.
Christchurch: go out on the boat on Akaroa Harbour for Hector's dolphins and white-flippered penguins.
For yellow-eyed penguin go to the colony at Moeraki (the town, just south of the Moeraki Boulders) when heading south to Dunedin from Chch. Follow the road that leads to the lighthouse, and then walk downhill from the car-park (on the other side of the style) to the hide.
For little blue penguins (which you'll have already seen on Tiritiri) go to Oamaru and watch them come ashore at night.
Dunedin: the Otago Museum is brilliant, there's an albatross colony (you need to pay to access it, so better to stand at the cliff at the edge of the car-park and watch them fly past; also loads of Stewart Island and spotted shags here too); various wildlife tour operators (e.g. Elm Wildlife Tours is probably the best) for yellow-eyed penguin etc. You should be able to find NZ sealions without too much trouble by yourself , e.g. at Aramoana.
On the way to Milford stop at the car-park by Homer Tunnel and look for rock wrens (best bird in NZ!), and go on a boat trip on the Sound for crested penguin and bottlenose dolphin.
At Okarito (just north of Franz Josef on the West Coast) there is a night tour for Okarito brown kiwi, which should almost guarantee you seeing that species. There are also kiwi tours on Stewart Island for southern brown kiwi and Trounson (in Northland) for North Island brown kiwi.
All these places you can find websites for by putting in the relevant search terms (saves me writing too much!
). Anything else?
