Month: May 2018

We were happy to get some much needed sleep on the 13 hour flight to New Zealand. You know we were tired when we missed two of the three meals and didn’t take advantage of the free beer and wine. The plane left San Francisco at 11:00 pm on Saturday and landed at 9:00 am on Monday (we crossed the date line). Clay from Teakdecking picked us up at the Auckland airport and promptly offered to stop at Killarney Park so we could get our first New Zealand birds. In just 15 minutes we picked up six life birds: Eurasian Coot, Black-billed Gull, Red-billed Gull, Kelp Gull, Eurasian Blackbird and Song Thrush. It’s easy to get life birds when you travel halfway around the world. Although the Black Swan was not new to us, it was stunning nonetheless.

Mike and Clay dropped me off at the house in Dairy Flat where I was happy to nap while they went to the boatyard. After about an hour of sleep, my new friend Inez and I decided to walk the property and do a little birding. This was such a neat place with the dogs, goats, llama and birds. Inez enjoys photography so she manned the camera while I had the bins to add four more life birds: Spotted Dove, Grey Gerygone (Grey Warbler), New Zealand Fantail and Silvereye. The Silvereye is an adorable small green bird with peach underparts and a prominent white eyering. I was surprised to see a family of California Quail crossing the road. When Alex and Mike returned, Inez promptly announced ‘I’m a birder now’ which made my day.

At 5:30 a.m. the next morning we headed to Orams Marina in downtown Auckland. It was a stellar morning to enjoy the sunrise over the Sky Tower and an Americano from the local coffee shop.  Soon, it was time to leave for our business trip to Tauranga, about 3 1/2 hours away. Along the way we were able to stop briefly at the Miranda Birding Centre. Thousands of birds were on the sandbars and luckily there were scopes set up which gave us good looks at the Royal Spoonbill. Another nine life birds made this a great stop but it was the 1,000’s of Bar-tailed Godwit that we really wanted to see. March is the start of their annual migration of over 7,000 miles to Alaska, making this the longest non-stop flight undertaken by any bird. Some of the life birds in the ponds along the road were Paradise Shelduck, White-faced Heron, Australasian Swamphen and Pied Stilt.

On Wednesday, Inez and I took a birding tour with Habit Tours which we highly recommend. Our first stop was Tawharanui Regional Park where our guide, Tristan Cullen put us on many great birds. The first bird was the spectacularly colored Eastern Rosella in the parking lot trees.

The 2.5 mile walk through a variety of habitats presented an unbelievable 31 species. The best bird of the day was the endemic South Island Takahe! This is an enormous flightless rail with only an estimated 300 remaining in the world. The four individuals were unafraid and Inez took this photo with her cell phone.

Some of the other birds on this tour are: Gray Teal, Brown Teal, Variable Oystercatcher, Red-breasted Dotteral, and New Zealand Kaka. These photos taken by Inez of the New Zealand Bellbird and North Island Saddleback are my favorites of the trip.

Next, we had a truly delicious lunch provided by Habitat Tours which is probably the best meal I had in New Zealand. We enjoyed the meat pies, homemade salads and cookies while looking out at the stunning beach.

One more stop on the way out of the park where Tristan spotted a Buff-banded Rail, a bird rarely seen out in the open. Across from the pond, the meadow sheep taking advantage of the day’s beautiful weather showcased the amazing greenery.

After leaving the park, we stopped at a waterfall on the Matakana River. Our final stop was Parry Karui Park, home of the McKinney kauri tree estimated to be more than 800 years old. Tristan took us back to Dairy Flat in time for Mike and Alex to take us out for dinner and celebrate Inez’s birthday. Luckily, the rain stopped in Casablanca resulting in a brilliant double rainbow.

Our first three days in New Zealand were completely new and awe-inspiring with 40 life birds. Stay tuned for details about the rest of the trip.

Trip Birds:  53  Life Birds: 40

Next up: New Zealand Part Two