• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Canterbury Year List 2025 (1 Viewer)

timsg80

Gregor Tims
I arrived back in Canterbury in New Zealand on the 2nd of January and I’ve decided to make another attempt at seeing 100 species here this year. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here in 2025 as it’s dependent on work, but trying to see 100 species is giving me a good excuse to get out and about exploring the region!

January 2nd, Ladbrooks, near Lincoln
1. House Sparrow
2. European Goldfinch
3. European Greenfinch
4. Dunnock
5. Eurasian Blackbird
6. Song Thrush
7. Eurasian Skylark
8. Swamp Harrier
9. Masked Lapwing
10. Ring-necked Pheasant
11. Yellowhammer
12. Welcome Swallow
13. Australian Magpie
14. New Zealand Bellbird
15. Sacred Kingfisher
16. Little Pied Cormorant
17. Kelp Gull
18. Australasian Swamphen
19. Mallard

January 7th, Papanui, Christchurch
20. European Starling
21. Silvereye
22. Silver Gull
23. Feral Pigeon

Travis Wetland, Christchurch
24. Common Chaffinch
25. White-faced Heron
26. New Zealand Fantail
27. Royal Spoonbill
28. Great Cormorant
29. Pied Stilt
30. Grey Teal
31. Australasian Shoveler
32. Paradise Shelduck
33. Black Swan
34. Canada Goose

January 9th, Styx Mill, Christchurch
35. New Zealand Scaup
36. Eurasian Coot
37. Shining Bronze Cuckoo (Canterbury tick!)
38. Grey Gerygone

Hornby, Christchurch
39. Black-billed Gull

January 10th, Papanui, Christchurch
40. Redpoll

Hagley Park, Christchurch
41. New Zealand Pigeon

January 13th, Ashley River Estuary, Waimakariri
42. Australian Pied Cormorant
43. White-fronted Tern
44. Bar-tailed Godwit
45. Double-banded Plover
46. Variable Oystercatcher
47. South Island Pied Oystercatcher
48. Black-fronted Tern
49. Caspian Tern
50. Australasian Gannet
51. Spotted Shag

Kaiapoi Lakes, Christchurch
52. Great Crested Grebe

January 16th, Travis Wetland, Christchurch
53. Little Black Cormorant

Ladbrooks, near Lincoln
54. California Quail

Still some reasonably easy ones to get around Christchurch, so hopefully a few to come in the next few days! I’ll be in Akaroa for the weekend, which should bring some native songbirds.
 
January 17th, Lake Ellesmere
55. Wrybill
56. Red-necked Stint

Just a quick stop while my girlfriend had an appointment nearby - I’ll be back to try for more migratory waders as soon as possible!

Halswell Creamery Reserve
57. Mute Swan

January 18th, Akaroa
58. Tuī

Hinewai Reserve, Banks Peninsula
59. Tomtit
60. Pipipi

Fisherman’s Bay Gardens
61. Northern Giant Petrel
62. Hutton’s Shearwater

A couple of native birds missed and I’d have hoped for a couple more seabirds passing Akaroa Head in the evening, but we had a fantastic view of 3 Hector’s Dolphins feeding just offshore and a quartet of New Zealand Fur Seals including a young pup. I’ll be back to Banks Peninsula as soon as possible!
 
21st January, Marshland, Christchurch
63. African Collared Dove

Back to Christchurch and back to the introduced species! The population in this part of Christchurch is now accepted as self-sustaining and wild, so it is technically a dodgy Canterbury tick for me ;)

There are still a few more introduced species to get within the city, but I’ve got my eye on some rare shorebirds to the north and south of the city should I get some free time this week!
 
23rd January, Ashley Estuary, Waimakariri
64. Little Egret (New Zealand tick)
65. Red Knot (Canterbury tick)

Pegasus Wetland, Waimakariri
66. Greylag Goose
67. Black-fronted Dotterel

Third time lucky on the Little Egret! And nice to finally find the Knots there as well. Sadly I missed the Terek Sandpiper again but it has been there since October and will hopefully stay for a while yet.
 
4th February, Ashley Estuary, Waimakariri
71. Common Tern (New Zealand tick)

Brilliant to get another rarity at Ashley Estuary! It was a challenge to find this in a huge flock of White-fronted Terns but really satisfying to find the smaller and darker Common Tern amongst them. I’ve still had no luck on the Terek Sandpiper there, but I will keep trying! Also no luck on the Black Stilt, but this shouldn’t be too hard elsewhere later in the year. There are at least 3 hybrid Pied-Black Stilts at the estuary which makes things complicated. I also saw a great candidate for a ‘pure’ Pacific Black Duck, but these do appear to be extinct in the Greater Christchurch region now sadly, with almost every bird showing Mallard traits. ‘Pure’ Mallards are actually rare as well now - and hybrids are well and truly abundant.

Some fantastic waders have been seen around Lake Ellesmere recently - it’s always a challenge to find birds there, but hopefully I’ll have some luck over the weekend!
 

Attachments

  • b76f5c50-be13-4068-a38b-07aeee681530.jpeg
    b76f5c50-be13-4068-a38b-07aeee681530.jpeg
    398.3 KB · Views: 3

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top