6 January. Marlborough Sound & Blumine Island.
The twin attractions of Marlborough Sound and Blumine Island, almost legendary in birding circles - Marlborough Sound for the highly localised New Zealand King Shag, Blumine for being just about the only locality offering a reasonable chance of Orange-fronted Parakeet.
And to see either, no choice but to take a boat. Several companies operate out of Picton into the neighbouring area, but only two - E-ko and Cougar - offer a drop-off on Blumine Island. I had contacted Cougar some time earlier and all was arranged, with the caveat that they couldn't land on Blumine if too windy (no wharf, beach landing only).
Day of departure, blue skies, no wind, calm sea …. no worries I thought. Wrong! Cougar said they didn't want to go, suggesting wind was forecast for later in the day. This was a major spanner in the works - it was really today or never, strong winds really were forecast for subsequent days! Popped over to the E-ko office, all of 50 metres away, and news there was far more positive - "perfect conditions for Blumine" they said. Yay, they had a half dozen folk heading for another island and they could take me to Blumine and pick me up two hours later or five hours later, my choice. I gambled on the shorter option. And, after a quick chat with the skipper, no problem with New Zealand King Shag, they would stop off at favoured roost points en route. Top marks to E-ko, less than 20 minutes later I was onboard motoring out of the harbour.
Little did I know this about to turn into one of the best days of the trip! Little Blue Penguin as we headed out into the open sound, Pied Cormorant and Spotted Shag also. Bit of history and culture as we chugged along the coast, plenty of common birds too (White-fronted Terns, etc). All too soon, we were heading for a small rocky headland, some rather bold black and white birds roosting on one boulder, New Zealand King Shags! Endemic to this single body of coastal water, the total population of New Zealand King Shags is just a few hundred birds and all breed on a handful of rocky islets within Marlborough Sound. And here we were, five of these dandy birds in front of us. I moved up onto the bow of the boat, in we slowly drifted, excellent stuff, nice views.
Onward, next stop Blumine Island. Not far short of the island, fins appeared in the water, a pod of cetaceans ahead. 'Darn', I thought', glancing at the other tourists 'we'll end up half an hour sitting with dolphins, eating up my time on Blumine.' As we headed their way, my thoughts changed somewhat, 'mighty big fins … oh jeepers, that's not dolphins!'
At this stage, even the skipper was quite excited - in front of us was a pod of Orca! The skipper commented that he'd been operating on these waters for over seven years and this was only the fourth time he'd seen Orcas. So a red letter day, and it just got better and better - almost an hour we stayed with them, the four Orcas frequently coming right up and under our boat, diving then reappearing, one time even breaching. And then, the cream on the cake, the big female dived and then suddenly surfaced alongside our boat with a shark in her mouth! She dropped it in front of the youngster also present, this adolescent then taking control of the shark, cruising alongside mother, shark in its mouth, blood oozing. What an experience!
As the hour mark approached, the skipper announced it time to move on, New Zealand environmental regulations do not permit operators to remain with any cetaceans for more than one hour.
Due to the extended time with these Orcas, the skipper suggested a change of itinerary to the other tourists - we all go to Blumine rather than their original island some distance further. No complaints from anybody aboard, so 10 minutes later I was jumping off the front of the boat into Blumine Island, slopes of lush forests rising above. E-ko guy suggested the best place for the Orange-fronted Parakeets would be right next to where we landed, a bushy area adjacent to a sandwich-sized patch of grass. Off the other tourists went for a hike, next to the beach I stayed. Silvereyes and New Zealand Bellbirds in roving flocks, quite a few Tui and New Zealand Fantails, two Yellowheads, four South Island Tomtits, a nice mix. New Zealand Pigeons flying over, then the stars of the island - feeding quietly in a low tree barely a metre or so back from the beach, a pair of Orange-fronted Parakeets. It is a honour to see these birds - away from Blumine and three other small predator-free islands, the remaining population is now restricted to just four valleys on South Island, the numbers probably less than 100 individuals and continuing to decline.
I completed my short visit to Blumine Island with a walk on the beach to watch several Weka strolling along, then pausing for a few butterflies - one New Zealand Red Admiral, one Coastal Copper and eight Small Whites.
Returning to Picton early afternoon, I then decided to tweak my itinerary. I was scheduled to leave South Island two days later, but having seen all I was likely to see on South Island, I popped into Bluebridge ferry office to see if I could change my ticket. Good folk there, though the ferry was fully booked for days, they put me on standby and, low and behold, I got a place on the very next ferry!
So 2pm, onboard I went, very much looking forward to another crossing of the Cook Strait. Smaller numbers of shearwaters than on the crossing two weeks earlier, but amply compensated by an impressive albatross showing, both Cook's and Northern Giant Petrels and, once again, loads of Fairy Prions.
In total:
Southern Royal Albatross - 10
White-capped Albatross - 45+
Salvin's Albatross - 8
Northern Giant Petrel - 1
Cook's Petrel - 1
Fairy Prion - 80+
White-chinned Petrel - 4
Buller's Shearwater - 10
Sooty Shearwater - 1
Fluttering Shearwater - 40+
Australasian Gannet - 25
Arctic Skua - 2
Kelp Gull - com
Red-billed Gull - sev
White-fronted Tern - sev
Back on North Island, I set off on the long drive north, my aim to get as far as possible. Tired somewhere near Hunterville, I turned off and stopped at the DOC campsite at Simpson's Reserve. Already dark, I put up my tent to the backdrop of calling Moreporks.