The last week or so....

I have been working away lately so not getting a lot of time to blog, below are a few shots from the last couple of weeks. No apologies for more Red Kite photos, what are you supposed to do when they keep flying over your head.

Getting a rare sight - Grey Partridge

How could you ever get fed up photographing these?

I also watched a curious meeting between a Muntjac and a Fox, hope I have the Deer right, the Muntjac just seemed curious as to what the Fox was up to.It was the Fox who moved first.

New Zealand

Tiri Tiri Matangi Island 


This site had been planned for a must see for quite some time, not only was it full of endemics but it was a spectacular island and glad to say my wife Christine came along with me as well. The trip cost 66 dollars each, around £38.00 sterling and the crossing to the island from Auckland took around 1 hour 15 minutes via another port of call Gulf Harbour.

On the way Buller’s Shearwater were numerous and good numbers of Arctic Skua’s were present harrying the plentiful White Fronted Terns.
On arrival you first have to go through the procedures of what you can and can’t do as it is such a sensitive eco system, once completed, there were probably around 170 of us, your off on your own.

Walking along with a large group of people was not ideal for seeing birds, so at the first chance we detoured off on one of the marked trails, immediately we started seeing birds. First one then another Fantail made themselves known, very approachable and I soon realised why they were sticking with us like cattle. As we walked in the low grass we were disturbing Moths, the Fantails were then picking them off around our legs at their leisure, this went on for around a 100 metres before both birds disappeared. 

Fantail

Still in exotic woodland we moved on, I got brief glimpses of a New Zealand Robin before coming across 3 Saddlebacks, these again were very approachable, we then saw a rather close Bellbird along with a number of Brown Quail. Everything we had seen so far seemed to have no fear of people, the whole island is predator free so there does not seem to be a natural alert and awareness. Other than the occasional Australasian Harrier overhead, there is nothing to trouble them.

Saddleback

Bellbird

One of the birds which the island holds is Kokako, its other name is Blue Wattled Crow, this was going to be the hard one and so it proved, we covered a lot of ground but unfortunately it was not to be. I heard later that the large group that we detoured from had spectacular views, sod’s law. 

Time was marching on so we headed for the visitor centre, this was spectacular to say the least, Australasian Harriers overhead, Takahe walking around, more Bellbirds and Saddlebacks with Tui’s monopolising the feeders. A New Zealand Pigeon then dropped in, up close they are big, a good size larger than our Woodie and nowhere near as common, in the whole trip I saw around 6.

Takahe

Tui

Big boy -New Zealand Pigeon

After refreshments and rattling off god knows how many frames we left and entered another trail, we quickly located Whitehead (lots) and then came across Stitchbirds, another one that I was after, the males are nice. 

Coming to a gap I then got good views of a New Zealand Robin, these were another must see bird, same shape as ours, perhaps a little larger and seems to stand more upright.

New Zealand Robin

Stitchbird

Rounding a corner I then got Kakariki (Red Crowned Parakeet), this was harder to get close to than the 4 Eastern Rosellas that we had seen earlier. 

It was getting close so we made our way back to the boat for a 3.30pm pick up; 5 hours had passed very very quickly, always the case when you’re having a good time. If you miss the boat, and it leaves dead on 3.30pm, your there until the next day unless you want to savage your wallet.

A passing finale was 2 Fernbirds creeping around just about viewable, these make Groppers look showy; Fernbirds are hard to see tending to stick to deep cover. A final look at the Blue Penguin nest box was an end to a cracking trip.

You can also arrange to stay overnight to catch up with Little Spotted Kiwi, next time….

Catching Up

Of late I have been working away and have been lucky enough to catch up with some good birds, below are some from the last week or 2.There’s always a twig in the way…..

Falstebo no - England 9 of 12 Common Buzzards seen thermalling

Odd Chiffy?

This was the other week at Barking Bay

New Zealand

Waitakere Ranges and Omaha 



Waitakere



The park and ranges are not far from Auckland, in fact less than 30 minutes away, it has a visitor centre full of goodies overlooking a vast sub-tropical forest. Of the fauna one of the many attractions is the Kauri Tree, they are quite simply enormous both in girth, similar to my waistline nowadays, and in height. Like Redwoods they are staggering to observe as many have their own little ecological system up higher with a number of other fauna growing out of them, the trees in the park are about a 1000 years old but some can be double that.

There are a number of walks you can go on, from short ones which myself and Shaun were doing around an hour, to all day walks, the interior is very dense, if you leave the footpath you can become disorientated and lost, people have.
As we started our walk the first birds that gave themselves up were Sulphar Crested Cockatoo, an Australian introduction, as with most Parrots they were heard before we saw them, they are loud.

Tom Tit

Grey Warbler

Going deeper I got onto a Fernbird in an open marsh section, trying to get a photo of this proved impossible, I then had brief views of a Rifleman and then as we moved on a Grey Warbler. The density 

of the habitat made it very hard to get onto anything, tantalizing glimpses and then gone.

The best bird by far and one that I have not seen came as we exited the forest, a pair of Tom Tits, although a common endemic I had missed them on the first trip in 2007, the male in particular was a little cracker. The photos I got of him were not great as I forgot to up the ISO for the umpteenth time, never less there not too bad.

New Zealand Pigeon - bigger than our Woodie significantly

A New Zealand Pigeon was outside as we drew up near the car finished the walk off, not a lot of species seen; New Zealand doesn’t have a big list of birds but just enjoyable walking through the Forest. 

Omaha 



My daughter and Shaun had booked this up for 4 days for a getaway break for us all, the house was stunning, right next to a 2 mile beach that had no one on it, and at the end of the beach was a Bird Reserve, exceptionally stunning .The reserve was a breeding site for New Zealand Dotterel and Fairy Tern, both very rare and endangered, unfortunately both had bred and moved on as we were now starting Autumn. 2 days in and I headed down the beach for a walk, Gannet, Banded Dotterel, Arctic Skua and Caspian Tern were all seen on the way, I did find 4 NZ Dotterel but these were feeding distantly out at low tide when I got to the end. Amongst them were Bar Tailed Godwits, Banded Dotterel and both Oyc’s,after a good look round I then headed back, age, 70 odd degrees and all the gear I was carrying, camera, bins, backpack and telescope was taking its toll. It used to be so easy when all I had was bins.

The endless beach

What beach's are for, fun - Erin and Shaun

Banded Dotterel

Caspian Tern

The next day I grabbed an hour at dawn and walked inland and found a lake, a proper little oasis, this held a number of Waterfowl, no fewer than 14 Brown Teal which is a rarity, 4 Australian Shoveler, 10 Grey Duck, a pair of Paradise Shelduck and Pukeko’s everywhere. 

Silvereyes and Fantails were everywhere as usual and a White Faced Heron put on a good show for the camera.

Brown Teal 

Grey Duck

White Faced Heron

Australasian Shoveler

During the stay I also went and saw Auckland Blues play at Eden Park, for those that know me I am a big Rugby fan having followed Saracens for years, this visit was a Fathers day present from my daughter. Glad to say that the Blues won, comparing it to the English game and there is no doubt that there is more tenacity at the breakdown, I think that this comes from a naturally strong and athletic people. 

Eden Park

Try time

Great to watch and a marvelous atmosphere so a big thank you to my daughter Julie and Shaun and the company of Jeff and Danni. 

New Zealand

Miranda Shorebird Centre 



This was one of the places that I really wanted to visit having heard, both from the internet and word of mouth it was a must see when you’re in NZ.
Armed with my daughters Suzuki Swift I set out at dawn from Auckland and in little over an hour I was driving down the coast road at Miranda, the centre was still closed so I explored further up the coast.

I had not checked the Tides but it was quite obvious from the number of Variable and Pied Oystercatchers piling in that I had got very lucky indeed.
After going through these, Pied Stilts and Bar Tailed Godwit were also present I headed back down the coast road to the car park which I had passed earlier, waders were coming in thick and fast to the shallow pools.

Ringed Variable

Walking out to the 1st hide produced Pacific Golden Plover and a single Marsh Sandpiper amongst the hordes of Stilts arriving, had a good look at the P G Plovers as some were well into summer plumage, or as it was autumn were they losing it, the latter most likely. 

Pacific Golden Plovers

Moving on to the hide and many Terns were assembled, these included mostly White Fronted but there were also 33 Caspian’s present, dwarfing all were 4 Royal Spoonbills. Black Billed Gulls were also present in numbers and White Faced Herons were also very common. Out in the Firth of Thames I counted at least 10 Arctic Skuas doing the usual, ambushing Terns. 

The view

All the time I was watching a variety of waders were flying overhead in behind me, the pools were calling so I headed there pronto, I also met a very nice couple on the way who knew of Suttons Lane, Hornchurch just round the corner from me, it’s a small world and if you’re reading this, hello to you both. 

When I arrived there must have been upwards of 4000 waders at roost, 2000 of these at least were Wrybill, a bird that I have never seen, similar to winter plumed Sanderlings with the obvious difference of a horizontally curved bill. Going through the rest produced 3 Sharp Tailed Sandpipers and around 40 Banded Dotterel, another which was on want to see list having only seen them very distantly on the previous visit of 2007.

Wrybill in the foreground with 2 Sharp Tailed Sandpipers on the mud.

Lesser Knot

The remainder was made up off large numbers of Stilts, Bar Tailed Godwits and around 600 Lesser Knot, these were cracking looking birds in partial summer plumage, again a 1st. 

In the end I didn’t get any further than the pools but quite simply enjoyed what I was looking at in front of me, I stayed for at least 4 hours until the tide turned and got some photos as they left.

Wrybill 

Wrybill and Banded Dotterel

Pied Stilt

Banded Dotterel

Hoping I have got this one right -New Zealand Dotterel, only 1700 left in NZ

Lesser Knot

To finish off the day I visited the centre, could easily have emptied the wallet in there but behaved myself, until the next time…..