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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andrew Whitehouse" data-source="post: 1371740" data-attributes="member: 3550">Day 13: December 5th, Wenderholm and WarkworthOn the 6th I was going on a pelagic to the Hauraki Gulf and was planning on staying in Warkworth overnight on 5th because it was near to Leigh where the boat was sailing from.  I headed up there via Wenderholm Regional Park just north of Waiwera and less than an hour from central Auckland.I got off the bus at the roadside in Waiwera around late morning.  On the nearby estuary I saw only the second Pacific Reef Heron of the trip, and there were plenty of White-faced Herons and Variable Oystercatchers (which really live up to their name here).  Then I walked along a trail through some good native forest to the main part of the reserve.  Tui and Kereru were very common, and I also found Silvereyes, Grey Warblers and Fantails in the forested and scrubby areas.  Better still was a very dark looking New Zealand Robin of the North Island form flitting along a track near to the main road.Around the car park the landscape was more open and marshy and Pukeko and Masked Lapwings were both very common and conspicuous, the former often with young in tow.  A bird that I'd struggled to see properly thus far was Sacred Kingfisher, but here they were quite easily seen, perching up on trees and telegraph wires.  I bumped into a few pairs of California Quails in this area, a species I'd missed when I was actually in California.  One pair had several young with them.  On the estuary by the car park I could see a few Pied Stilts, Little Shags and Paradise Shelduck.  Later, a Caspian Tern was resting on a sand bank as the tide rose.One of the main reasons I'd come to Wenderholm was to look for New Zealand Dotterel, and I soon found some on the small beach near the car park.  Eventually I found six here in a variety of plumages - some quite orangey underneath and others much plainer.  A species that is never plain is Eastern Rosella and I saw several around the river mouth.  This introduced Australian seems to have almost every conceivable colour in its plumage.My other target for the day was to likely to be much trickier than the dotterel.  I waited by the mangroves as the tide came up and eventually saw a movement.  It wasn't a long view but enough to see that this was a Banded Rail, with very conspicuous black and white stripes on the flanks.  Later I saw one flying quite high over the mangroves, when it looked surprisingly big.I then walked back to Waiwera to catch a bus up to Warkworth that I was booked on.  The bus was twenty minutes late and drove straight past me when it finally did arrive.  A few minutes later it came back down the road to pick me up, which I thought was rather impressive.  Something that's unlikely to happen in Britain I think.On arriving in Warkworth I checked into the Bridge House Hotel (which is a bit noisy) and went for a walk around the town.  Not expecting to see many birds I didn't have my bins with me, but on returning along the river bank I saw something interesting.  After scampering back to get my bins my suspicions were confirmed: a Little Black Shag.  This is rather a smart cormorant with irridescent silvery black upperparts.  A bird I was beginning to wonder if I'd catch up with, so a good one to run into.  Later in the evening I heard the first Morepork of the trip calling from the riverside woodland.Here's some 'captures':1&2. A couple of shots of Wenderholm from the top of the hill.  Most of the birds I mention can be seen in the relatively small area south of the river and by the car park, as shown in the first picture.3. Kereru4. California Quail and youngsters5. Sacred Kingfisher</blockquote>

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