Advice and questions: Visiting New Zealand June to early August (1 Viewer)

Hey folk,

I have been tentatively selected to participate in a NSF research fellowship in New Zealand from about June 10 to August 8th. During that time, I will be mostly at the University of Otago working on a couple of different projects relating to seal evolution. Might also spend two weeks in collections in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, although this is more up in the air

I have never been to New Zealand before, and am hoping to get a bunch of lifers, particularly the 6 endemic families.

That said, I have found very few trip reports for winter, which generally appears to not be the best time for birding. I have some questions regarding birding during this time (and will probably post more questions as time goes by).

1. First off, how is the winter birding? I know the south island gets snow in the interior, so weather seems like an issue. What species are really difficult (or just can't be accessed) at this time of year and not worth going after.

2. Also, from what I have read, Kiwi's are less vocal at this time of year. Are my odds significantly worsened for this group of species?

3. Where are the endemic/australasian shorebirds at this time of year? I know a lot of species breed in the interior, but I assume they move to the coast during winter. Are there good shorebird sites near Dunedin?

4. Are there any "don't miss highlights" of austral winter New Zealand birding? I know NZ gets vagrant seals and penguins at this time of year, but how regular are they, and are there any key locations for them?

Thanks for any help with these questions

1) winter birding is much the same as other times of the year really. NZ doesn't have the extreme differences in weather that some places do. For the South Island the east coast has the rainy season in winter while the West Coast is largely dry in winter (their rains are mostly in the spring). But the old adage of "four seasons in one day" holds true at any time of year. About the only thing you need to worry about is snow closing the passes (eg Arthurs and Lewis Passes between the east and west coasts) but even that shouldn't hold you up too long. The road to Milford Sound might also get closed due to avalanches or slips. In the North Island the Desert Road often gets closed due to winter snow. About the only resident land-bird I can think of that winter makes difficult is the rock wren, and even that can be gettable at the Homer Tunnel site if you're lucky. The king shag is also pretty unattainable in winter due to the only boat company not going in winter (although there is a mail delivery boat which you can ride along on, but obviously it isn't after birds so you may or may not get the king shag on the trip). Oh also winter weather can make the regular seabird boat trips (eg off Otago Peninsula or Kaikoura, and also the ferry to Tiritiri Matangi) a bit chancy.

2) kiwi are equally hard at any time of year - it's just a lot colder out at night in winter!! On the other hand it gets dark a lot earlier which is handy.

3) wrybills, black-fronted terns etc winter on the coast. Black stilts either stay put or winter at random spots around the coast. There are quite a few good shorebird spots around the Otago Peninsula but I can't remember names off the top of my head. However in winter you won't get many species (most waders in NZ are migrants here over the summer).

4) now is the time for vagrant penguins. There aren't any particularly reliable spots but they often end up at places like the Otago peninsula, Banks Peninsula, Kaikoura. If you can get up to Miranda by Auckland that's where a large majority of the wrybills winter which is pretty neat.

Thanks for the responses Chlidonias

I am actually find missing out on most of the wintering shorebirds...I have birded during appropriate seasons in Japan, North America, Britain, and South Africa, so have most of the regular long distance migrating shorebirds.

My tentative game plan is to probably spend a week on North Island, and do South Island as weekend/long weekend trips. I am definitely hitting up Titiri Matangi, Ulva Island, Kaikoura, and Otago sites, the latter three as weekend/long weekend trips. Everything else is still up in the air. With limited time in winter, where would you suggest I focus my attention?

OH...one last question for now

Tuatara...will they be hibernating my entire trip? Seems like a night walk has decent chances of producing one at Tiri Matangi, assuming they are active!

For the North Island its probably best to stick with the top part. Tiritiri Matangi is quiet (visitor-wise) in winter, so no problem getting a bed in the bunkhouse. The ferry doesn't run on Monday/Tuesday I think it is so if you go across on Sunday you get two whole days free of anyone else except the few others staying there (check the days though in case I remembered them wrong). The more days you can get there the better. Kokako can be difficult to find sometimes. I saw almost everything on the island on my first day (kokako within ten minutes of arrival) but the little spotted kiwi took me three nights (!!!). You're not likely to get tuatara in winter but it depends on the weather; they don't really hibernate properly so on warm days they will still come out and bask. I saw one at night on Tiritiri in September so you might be in luck.

Go up to Trounson (about an hour and a half [?] north of Auckland) for North Island brown kiwi; and to Miranda about an hour south of Auckland for the wintering wrybills. Sometimes you get black stilt at Miranda too, and there's been a shore plover there for a while as well. In Auckland there are a lot of wrybills that winter at Mangere Treatment Plant, and that is also where you can get NZ dotterel and NZ dabchick.

On the South Island the obvious places are Kaikoura and Stewart Island. If you don't mind tours then see the Okarito kiwi (on the West Coast) with Ian Cooper at Okarito Kiwi Tours; and southern brown kiwi on Stewart Island (either by yourself or with a tour). Best yellow-eyed penguin hide is at Katiki Point at Moeraki, and little blue penguins at Oamaru. For kea the most convenient places are Arthurs Pass Village and the Fox Glacier car park. For Hector's dolphin the best place is Akaroa Harbour with Black Cat Cruises.

Hey Chlidonias,

Thanks for all the help so far.

By any chance, do you know if there is an official checklist somewhere online on the mammals of New Zealand (including exotics?)

I have found one for birds, but so far am mostly getting wikipedia pages, which beyond not wanting to rely on wikipedia, do not include non-native species. I know there are only two extant bats plus marine mammals, but would like to see what non-natives exist.

Would love to try for some of the bats while I am in New Zealand, but I imagine they might make the Kiwis look easy

Brush-tailed possum
Red-necked (Bennett's) wallaby
Tammar wallaby
Parma wallaby
Brush-tailed rock wallaby
Swamp wallaby

Brown rat
Black rat
Polynesian rat (kiore)
House mouse

European rabbit
European hare

European hedgehog

Feral cat
Stoat
Weasel
Ferret

Feral horse
Feral pig
Feral goat
Himalayan tahr
Chamois
Red deer
Wapiti
Fallow deer
White-tailed deer
Sika
Sambar
Rusa
Moose (probably extinct)


I think that's the lot off the top of my head.

The bats will be hibernating while you are here.

If only EAPSI was a spring/fall program

bumping the thread....what's happening with your trip Mysticete? Is it on or off?

It's still on....in Michigan right now and leave on Saturday for a very long flight to New Zealand. On the plus side I have two weeks of research trips in Australia, which means I get to do some birding in Adelaide and Sydney. On the negative side, I have so much work to do that I have had to scale back my birding plans. Still hoping to hit up Tiri Tiri Matangi and Ulva Island, and I have a free day in Wellington before my orientation that will allow me to hit up Zealandia, but otherwise my birding opportunities are going to be really limited

well there's always bad news with good I guess. So long as you can hit the main sites for a lot of the endemics, which would at the least be Tiritiri and Ulva. Definitely try to get to Kaikoura as well of course for the albatross boat. If driving its about 5 hours between Dunedin and Christchurch and then about 2 hours to Kaikoura, so you could do it as a long-drive overnighter if it comes to that. And just hope the weather will be alright for the boat to go out!

yeah I have also considered just taking a flight to Christchurch and driving up...perhaps less stressful in the long run

Chlidonias said:

For the North Island its probably best to stick with the top part. Tiritiri Matangi is quiet (visitor-wise) in winter, so no problem getting a bed in the bunkhouse. The ferry doesn't run on Monday/Tuesday I think it is so if you go across on Sunday you get two whole days free of anyone else except the few others staying there (check the days though in case I remembered them wrong).

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Is it all year that the ferry doesn't run on Monday/Tuesday to Tiritiri Matangi or just in the winter? I wouldn't mind a trip there some time, but I wouldn't want to turn up in Auckland and find that the ferry isn't running!

Allen S. Moore said:

Is it all year that the ferry doesn't run on Monday/Tuesday to Tiritiri Matangi or just in the winter? I wouldn't mind a trip there some time, but I wouldn't want to turn up in Auckland and find that the ferry isn't running!

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December to mid-January the ferry runs every day (i.e. for about a month and a half over the Christmas period), all the rest of the year it runs Wednesday to Sunday (but also on public holidays if they fall on Monday or Tuesday).

The Tiritiri website has all the information you need for getting there, staying there, birds, etc etc: http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/

In peak times you would want to book the ferry in advance; in quieter months you can just turn up at the kiosk at the docks. If staying you need to book the accommodation well in advance during summer especially. In winter less people stay there, but you still need to book in advance (you can't just decide on the day to stay).

any idea on how early to book in winter? still feeling out my schedule, but I am visiting museum collections in Auckland, so it might be best to visit then

if you're planning on staying overnight(s) then book it as soon as your schedule is firm. It is quiet in winter but you also do get whole teams of people going over there for various studies or for volunteer purposes so there's still some potential for missing out.

If just a day-trip then it doesn't really matter when you book; in winter the ferry will never be full. But I would book it anyway as soon as you can, just so you can feel secure about it. Read the terms and conditions of the ferry company (accessed through the Tiritiri website I linked above) because there will be something in there about the ability to reschedule if your plans change.

If you're staying on the island, book the accommodation first and the ferry second because otherwise if you find the accommodation is full (it only sleeps 15 people) then you'd then need to go back and reschedule the ferry trip.

Well I am now in New Zealand...landed into Wellington at around 8:00 am yesterday, and after depositing my luggage at the hotel (who remarkably enough had a room to put me in at 9:00 am), I headed off to Zealandia via the free shuttle at the Wellington I-site (which was a bit of a walk, but the front desk help were clueless on how to get there using any method except taxi). This was my first day of birding in New Zealand, and was done to at least partly keep me on my feet and adjust to the new time zone (only partly successful...I was in bed not long after 8 exhausted, and woke up at 2 with only fitful sleep until shortly before 6)

Anyway, I spent a whole day here, and was fairly successful. I only dipped on New Zealand Falcon and unfortunately only got crappy views of Stitchbird.

Lifers in Zealandia were the following (I am excluding widely ranging/introduced species I have seen elsewhere)

Paradise Shelduck

Brown Teal (a major target here as the population seems a bit healthier than the one on Tiri Tiri Matangi = a pair were hanging out near shore on the lower reservoir)

New Zealand Scaup (at the upper reservoir)

New Zealand Pigeon

New Zealand Kaka

Red-crowned Parakeet (apparently a bit more difficult lately...House Sparrows have been gobbling up the millet put out for them, meaning they spend less time at their feeding station than in the past - had one unbanded individual at the feeding station, and 3 other birds on the Swamp Trail

Whitehead

Stitchbird (two birds briefly seen near their feeding area, but neither stuck around long and kept far away and in cover)

North Island Saddleback

Silvereye

Grey Gerygone/Warbler

Tui

New Zealand Bellbird

New Zealand Robin (one of my favorite birds now...so confiding and completely fearless of people)

New Zealand Fantail = seen many times but often in bad light or flying away...hopefully get better views later

Not seen in Zealandia but also lifers, Variable Oystercatcher and Red-billed Gull while driving through Wellington

So 4 new families and 17 new birds species today...not bad

Oh...and probably the highlight of me for the trip....TUATARA...one sunning itself outside of it's burrow entrance.

Today is orientation however we are doing a brief 2 hour trip as a group to Zealandia...so maybe another shot at Stitchbird or New Zealand Falcon

Mysticete said:

Well I am now in New Zealand...landed into Wellington at around 8:00 am yesterday, and after depositing my luggage at the hotel (who remarkably enough had a room to put me in at 9:00 am), I headed off to Zealandia via the free shuttle at the Wellington I-site (which was a bit of a walk, but the front desk help were clueless on how to get there using any method except taxi). This was my first day of birding in New Zealand, and was done to at least partly keep me on my feet and adjust to the new time zone (only partly successful...I was in bed not long after 8 exhausted, and woke up at 2 with only fitful sleep until shortly before 6)

Anyway, I spent a whole day here, and was fairly successful. I only dipped on New Zealand Falcon and unfortunately only got crappy views of Stitchbird.

Today is orientation however we are doing a brief 2 hour trip as a group to Zealandia...so maybe another shot at Stitchbird or New Zealand Falcon

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I didn't know there was a free shuttle! I wonder if that's new? I either catch the closest bus (a few minutes walk) or walk from the botanic gardens (which is quite a bit longer!).

You'll see plenty of stitchbirds on Tiritiri if you watch one of the feeding stations there, so don't worry.

Perhaps a bit late if your orientation visit is today, but while the falcons can appear anywhere a good spot to keep an eye out is the pine trees and around the little clearing (Tui Terrace on the map I think).

Went to Zealandia again...got good looks at Fantails this time. Saw much less as I was with a good sized group, and we had an hour and a half to tour the park, so was a bit rushed. No falcon, although again I was rushed and also didn't have my bins, as I didn't realize we would not have time to stop off at the hotel before hand.

Tomorrow we are on a sight-seeing tour...not expecting any lifers, but perhaps if we pull into any coastal sights I can get some more waterbirds.

P.S. Yes, there is now a free shuttle that picks up and drops off people. The three sites are Te Papa, the I-site visitor info center, and I think the top of the cable car. Seemed to get good use while I was there.

falcons always seem to be hit-and-miss. If you get to Lake Tekapo they are pretty reliable(ish) there.