Bristol to Kagu ? (2 Viewers)

Larry Wheatland said:

Birding highlight of the year so far, and the first bird in quite a while to induce whooping and air-punching, was an Australasian Bittern seen yesterday at Mangarakau swamp, a site we stumbled upon in the far northwest of South Island. This site is accessible via c30km of unsealed road off to the west of the main Collingwood to Farewell Spit road, and I'd say it's probably a pretty good bet for this species, as they breed here and you can overlook the comparatively small area of optimum habitat from a hill. We had fairly prolonged flight views of one at around 1pm on a sunny windy day.

This site also produced my first Pipipi.

Apart from this we haven't really done much active birding, and have seen rather little, it becoming increasingly apparent how devoid this country has become of native landbirds other than at specific sites. Canaan Downs festival site on Takaka Hill (which is apparently near Bree) produced Morepork (heard) and a few New Zealand Robins around New Year's day. The Motueka area produced Double-banded Plovers, a Shining Bronze Cuckoo, and rather bizzarely, great views of Cirl Buntings feeding young from our parkup.

1277 Morepork
1278 PIPIPI
1279 AUSTRALASIAN BITTERN

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Hi folks and Happy New Year!

I was beginning to worry about you. you hadn't posted since Chrimbo and I was thinking something had happened.... Glad to discover that you appear to both still be in one piece!:t:

Great that you got the Bittern at last. What you say about the lack of native birds appears to confirm what I'd already heard; very sad. Hope you're still enjoying your time there mind.

Thanks Chowie. It may be tough work seeing the scarcer natives, but as you can see from the last photo below, there are some seriously good birds, otherwise surely we wouldn't have come across cartons of celebratory custard as large as this one, which we encountered at the edge of the festival site. Presumably it's for people who get lucky with Orange-fronted Parakeet or Takahe in Fiordland.

Recent highlight has been a family of New Zealand Falcons watched on the PuPu Hydro Walkway, which is 6km west of the main road just north of Takaka. As can be seen from the photos below, we were very close to a juvenile when it was brought an unfortunate Silvereye to eat. This site also produced 3 Tomtit, and we were woken up there in the night by a Morepork calling in the tree at the back of the van but still failed to see it.

Returning over Takaka Hill we visited Harwoods Hole, where Tomtit proved to be common, and we saw a couple of New Zealand Robins and 3 Riflemen. Rifleman is current holder of 2009's Sphere of the year award, last years hot contenders being Pygmy Wren-Babbler, Chestnut-headed Tesia, the pittas, and of course THE murrelet. We stopped at the river crossing just north of Motueka for great views of a Black-fronted Tern.

So off to a slow and unconventional start, but a couple of not so easy ones utb, and Bubble seems to be ok up hills when we put the heating on. Next we head back to Christchurch to pick up Kev, and we'll start trying for some of the other endemics and seabirds. It's a lovely hot day in Nelson at the mo.

1280 Tomtit
1281 NEW ZEALAND FALCON
1282 Rifleman

photos are:

1. daddy
2. junior with Silvereye
3. mummy being naughty and junior
4. Greater Custard and loon sp.

Hey Larry (nice shirt!!!!)

Seems to be going well! Excellent falcon pics, really nice. Saw your post asking about Rock Wren at Homer Tunnel - don't forget that the pair I saw seemed to live in the rocks adjacent to the meteorological station there and required no walking whatsoever - always a bonus!! Envious as always guys...

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Larry Wheatland said:

It's a lovely hot day in Nelson at the mo.

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I understand England is having the coldest winter in a very long time, so just to make all of you over there feel better Nelson today was 26 degrees. Christchurch was 35.7 degrees.

Lovely shots of the falcons Larry.

birdboybowley said:

Hey Larry (nice shirt!!!!
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Thanks Ads, I bought it in Thailand cos I figured it might come in handy for camouflage when sneaking up on Corncrakes in Yellow Flag Iris bogs on Benbecula one day. Obviously.

Chlidonias - they may be having a cold one back in the UK but they're also having a Glaucous-winged Gull, so I supose that'll warm them up a bit. Can I bother you with stupid questions about where I might see things over here if we're too useless to find them ourselves?

snow finch and a late greeting

Hi guys

Finally got around to wishing you a happy new year. I hope it's all going well. By the way, we were up in the Pyrenees on a trip a couple of days ago with about twenty Snowfinch around the car and about 100 around all together. Top birding it was, stunning snow, Alpine Accentors, etc. and a great way to start the year's birding.

I'll try and save you a few...

Larry Wheatland said:

Chlidonias - ..... Can I bother you with stupid questions about where I might see things over here if we're too useless to find them ourselves?

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Ask away. If I can help then I will...

Kaikoura and over Arthur's Pass

We came over Lewis Pass on our return to Christchurch, which produced Kaka, Pipipi, several Riflemen and some New Zealand Robins and Tomtits.

The first place we went with Kev was the small wetland reserve on the way to Sumner behind the Mitre Ten Mega, where it was a delight to watch Kev's face as the ticks started streaming in, and great to see some of the birds that we had got quite used to through his eyes. At this site we had views of a sleeping teal that only raised it's head twice, but appeared to be a male Chestnut Teal in transitional plumage. We lost it when the group of ducks flew that it was with, and could not confirm that it wasn't a hybrid on the views we got of it. Any locals know this bird?

The Kaikoura experience with Albatross Encounters is well covered by many trip reports, including some on Birdforum, and there are some great photos on eg Birdboybowley's and Andrew Whitehouse's reports. Even so, I wasn't prepared for how amazing an experience it was to be so close to the albatrosses on such a small boat. We had 7 species of albatross (if you slice them thinly enough) around the boat. The commonest were Salvin's, White-capped and Gibson's, with a few Northern Royal and Southern Royal, and one each of Campbell and Buller's. The Campbell's eyes were amazing, and it felt to me like looking into the face of a lion or something. We were possibly a bit unucky not to see any Antipodean or Snowy Albatrosses, so we may have to do the trip again, which at 80$NZ is very much worth it.

Other seabirds seen included Westland and White-chinned Petrels, the amazing Cape Petrels, Little Penguin, and plenty of squabbling Northern Giant Petrels. Hutton's Shearwaters were numerous, and we saw a few Flesh-footed Shearwaters and one Humpback Whale.

The next day saw us battling up Hawdon valley from the Hawdon Shelter, at times walking into horizontal driving sleet. We found the trek up to the area for Orange-crowned Parakeets was quite gruelling, constantly over boulders with several crossings of fast flowing water, and scrambling through dense vegetation on banks. Thanks to PMs from 2 very thoughtfull BFers, we had directions to what was a hotspot for this species a couple of years ago. There are thought to be between 100 and 200 birds left, at low densities over 4 sites, and this bird is certainly one of the hardest of the NZ endemics to find. One of the people who PMed me with directions had tried 4 times and dipped every time, so we weren't too hopeful! Morale was pretty low, and I could sense dissent among the 2 saner elements of our 3 strong team.

We didn't encounter many parakeets at all, and most were unidentifiable flyovers, but eventually got onto a mixed feeding flock of birds comprising pipipis, fantails, and Riflemen that contained 3 Yellow-crowned Parakeets for us to scrutinise thoroughly. The forehead bands of these birds sometimes looked vaguely orangish, and I was worried that even if we did connect with a real OFP we wouldn't be sure of it. We got rather lost trying to find the right trap line, so just headed blindly into the forest in the end and miraculously hit a trap line right by the trap with the number on it that we were told about! We then spent about an hour searching along tha trap line into the forest but it all seemed rather hopeless. Shortly after we turned back, I was just explaining to Kev how weird it was how many birds had appeared on this trip just after we had given up on them, when a parakeet flew into a tree a few metres away giving us all a clear view....BANG!! We couldn't believe it. Anyone searching for these birds should know that the real thing is actually quite distinctive. After the sighting, Kev's celebratory throw of the hat ended up with it stuck i a tree so we needed to use sticks to get it down. That was one bird I very much didn't expect to see on this trip. Good luck to all who go, and PM me for directions, I can probably at least get you to within 5m of where we saw ours! Kev has just reminded me to mention that he saw Orange-fronted Parakeet before Tui, which might not sit too well with some of the locals!!

The weather has since then got very very bad, so we missed out on trying for Rock Wren at Otira Gorge. We had great views of a Kea though at Arthur's Pass village, which luckily thought stuff on the car next to our van was tastier than our windscreen wipers. We are now in Westport, and have found Weka reasonably common this side of the mountains, and very tame too. Amazing birds. Wow. Still on a major buzz from the 'keet I can tell you!

1283 Kaka
1284 NORTHERN GIANT PETREL
1285 Northern Royal Albatross
1286 Southern Royal Albatross
1287 Salvin's Albatross
1288 CAPE PETREL
1289 WESTLAND PETREL
1290 White-chinned Petrel
1291 Orange-fronted Parakeet
1292 KEA
1293 WEKA

Oh wow that's an amazing post! Mouthwatering stuff! All those great sea birds: I remember reading BBB's account and now it's confirmed that this is clearly an amazing pelagic to do. A whole hatful of close up ticks await. Did Nicky get any good pics?

And as for the Parakeet and other natives, all I can say is well done for sheer persistence! I sometimes think I give up too easily when the going gets tough, but if there's one thing I've learnt about you Larry is that you 'earn' your birds, and how...

Well done mate and hear's to more great birds!:t:

You lucky ?!**?ing ?!**!??!?!*** !!

Kaikoura

Hello,

Kaikoura is a top spot for sea birds.
I was there twice.
Northern + Southern Royal Albatross, Gibson + Antipodean Wandering Albatross, Artic Skua, Northern + Southern Giant Petrel, schwimming Little Blue Penguin and so on.


Best regards
Dieter

Larry Wheatland said:

The Kaikoura experience with Albatross Encounters is well covered by many trip reports, including some on Birdforum, and there are some great photos on eg Birdboybowley's and Andrew Whitehouse's reports. Even so, I wasn't prepared for how amazing an experience it was to be so close to the albatrosses on such a small boat. We had 7 species of albatross (if you slice them thinly enough) around the boat. The commonest were Salvin's, White-capped and Gibson's, with a few Northern Royal and Southern Royal, and one each of Campbell and Buller's. The Campbell's eyes were amazing, and it felt to me like looking into the face of a lion or something. We were possibly a bit unucky not to see any Antipodean or Snowy Albatrosses, so we may have to do the trip again, which at 80$NZ is very much worth it.

Other seabirds seen included Westland and White-chinned Petrels, the amazing Cape Petrels, Little Penguin, and plenty of squabbling Northern Giant Petrels. Hutton's Shearwaters were numerous, and we saw a few Flesh-footed Shearwaters and one Humpback Whale.

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you might not believe me Larry but I tend to find that winter is even better for albatrosses at Kaikoura!! You need to put up with more inclement weather but I've had up to 50 albatrosses round the boat at one time

GS Kiwi

As we were on a roll we thought we'd try for another real toughie, and have tried a couple of sites for Great Spotted Kiwi since the last post. First we tried Scot's beach camping area at the southern end of the Heaphy Track, as a BFer PMd me with the gen that he saw a couple there a couple of years ago, and thought it was better than the more well known site at Bullock Creek rd near Punakaiki. We tried 2 nights and we failed to see or hear any, but did see possums in the campground, which may not be a good sign, and there was no sign of any predator control methods. This area was particularly bad for sandflies. We did have some luck though, flushing a Morepork while it was still light and seeing it perch nearby.

During the day we visited Moria Gate at the end of the 14km track to the Oparara Arch parking area. We scanned upstream from the bridge immediately beyond the parking area and Kev noticed that 2 dollops on a fallen log were sleeping Blue Duck, a welcome addition to the trip list, and very smart birds indeed. There seemed to be lots of predator control in this area, so maybe it could be a good spot to try for GS Kiwi , which at least used to occur there ? We also had no luck with any of the moa species that used to occur at this site.

Last night we tried the Bullock Creek site for GS Kiwi. During the day this seemed very promising, as there were several Yellow-crowned Parakeets, and other species present included Kaka, Pipipi, New Zealand Robin and Tomtit.. There was also a highly amusing moment when one could observe Nicky chasing a Weka that had run off with our washing-up sponge. I only searched for kiwi for the first couple of hours, and then gave up after hearing nothing that I thought might be one. The whole area was absolutely swarming with possums, and I saw 2 stoats in that time, one of which nearly ran over my foot. There were even feral goats up here. Again there was no sign of any control methods.

I'm hoping that the kiwi are still at these sites, and maybe they don't call at this time of year (can anyone confirm this?) or I'm too crap to notice their sounds (can anyone confirm this?) or is it looking bad for this species. What's being done to save these birds? Does anyone know of any other sites to try, or are these really the best ones? And can you stop laughing Ads, cos it's not funny. Oh, and we haven't made it to the snowline yet Stephen, but I think that Snowfinch might be the one European passerine that they forgot to introduce over here, so do please keep your ones happy.

1294 Blue Duck

Photos

some more of Nicky's photos

Check the name on the sign behind us in the last photo. Maybe if we feel like duding it up in digs instead of camping, then this place we passed en route could be just the spot for us!

1. Cape Petrel
2. Campbell Albatross
3. New Zealand Scaup
4. Morepork
5. Stringers on tour

That pic of the Campbell's is stunning! Look at the little droplets of water on its back? The Cape Petrel looks like it's practically sitting on the end of the camera lens! And then there's the spooky Morepork.

Great camera you've got there Nicky, plus you've clearly got the 'knack' of taking these sorts of pics, which is more than I've got...

Northwest Nelson is the stronghold for great spotteds (over half the total population occurs there). If you had a spare week or so you could walk the Heaphy Track: lots of hikers see them along there. But seriously if you have the time I'd try a couple more nights at Scott's Beach or the surrounding areas (and keep at it - lots of people who do eventually find them don't get them until way way after midnight, so don't turn in too early).
Further south, Lake Brunner southeast of Greymouth is supposed to also be good for great spotteds. Try the Arnold River loop track near Moana where many people have success.
It really is just luck with these birds if you're not using tapes (which I don't). They call all year round because the calls are for territorial purposes and for pairs to keep in contact with each other. But there are nights where you just don't hear anything. It doesn't mean there are no kiwi around - just that they can't be bothered calling!

NW South Island

We're now back in Christchurch for the amazing World Buskers Festival having completed a mini tour of the westside. The longer I'm in this country the more obsessed with Kiwi I'm becoming. Is this normal doctor?

Having made a mess of looking for Great Spots we thought we'd head south to look for it's southerly neighbour, Okarito Brown Kiwi. This is thought to be the rarest Kiwi ,with a population of around 250 individuals inhabiting it's tiny original range. This population only survives because eggs are removed and the chicks reared in captivity to be released when they are large enough to survive in their predator-filled homeland. Apparently it only needs 2 stoats per square km before kiwi can no longer breed, so at some sites (eg where we were looking for Great Spots) only progressively fewer old birds remain. Luckily for us, unlike with GS Kiwi, any idiot with 60 bucks can see Okarito Brown Kiwi, thanks to Ian Cooper's Okarito based Kiwi Tours, which has a very high success rate of seeing one.

On our way to Okarito we overnighted at Lake Kaniere, where we had great views of a New Zealand Fernbird in the small marsh by the road c300m north of the campsite at the nort end of the lake. Ian's tour was highly informative, and we learnt a lot about looking for kiwi, though it did look after awhile that we were going to be among the very few that fail to find one with him! We eventually got brief but good views of one, much to our relief. Note that it was hard enough to find one even though Ian was radio tracking them, and has huge experience of every tiny noise in the woods. That's how hard they are to find if you should attempt it yourself. We only heard 2 others call distantly during the 3 or more hours we were out there searching.

While in this general area we visited Franz Joseph Glacier, which produced a New Zealand Falcon, and great views through Kev's scope of a Long-tailed Cuckoo which took a very long time to locate as it called in the canopy in the forest south of the carpark. The Fox Glacier produced a Kea.

Armed with good site gen from Ian, we returned to Bullock Creek road for another go at GS Kiwi, this time trying the right hand fork of the Cave Creek track when reaching the memorial plaque. Before setting off from the carpark we met a two-man tour led by top bloke Brent from Wrybill Bird Tours. They had similar site gen and we teamed up for the search. We all gave up around midnight, but just before we did, we heard a distant pair of Great Spotted Kiwi calling. An eerie sound, and better than nothing. Brent informed us, as Chlidonias has mentioned above, that the north end of the Heaphy track is probably the best area to look for this species. Particularly around Gouland Downs, c25km walk from the north end. There are predator control methods here. I hope we have time to try this at some point, as GS Kiwi is surely in many ways New Zealand's most spectacular bird.

On our way back over Arthur's Pass we stopped to look for Rock Wren at Otira Gorge. It took us well over an hour to reach the "scree bowl" at the top end of the valley, and we only spent about an hour in suitable habitat, mostly searching the east side of the bowl. We had no luck, but this bird famously requires more time than this to find. The only birds we saw up here were a single Kea and a couple of New Zealand Pipits. We camped at Arthur's pass which produced a few more Kea

1295 New Zealand Fernbird
1296 LONG-TAILED CUCKOO
1297 OKARITO BROWN KIWI
1298 GREAT SPOTTED KIWI

what will 1300 for the trip be I wonder?

Whilst we were coming back from our walk up to the glacier we came across a crazed English birder by the name of Larry. I've come across this type of behaviour in England before and I've been accused of it myself many times but I wonder what the locals thought of this? Here's the photographic evidence...

Great effort in Punakaiki. Thanks for coming out on my kiwi tour in Okarito. It's not easy looking for kiwi as you found out. I am glad you got to see BZ in the bush for a little while. Ian, Okarito Kiwi Tours