New Zealand No.8
We have now departed from our 2 night stay on Kapiti Island and we decided to drive out to Ruatiti Valley to search for the Blue Duck.
Views taking of the Ruatiti Valley with foxgloves
growing along the road sides
We flushed a Swamp Harrier from the road side.
When we arrived at the Ruatiti Valley, the road ran along the river, but at a height and you could only look down from the top of the valley onto the river. We found a family of 4 Blue Ducks swimming in the river but far to high up to photograph. We drove further along the road and a friendly local told us where we could drive to to be level with the river. This area was called Ruatiti Domaine, and we drove there and parked close to the river. We had a quick look from the car and were surprised to see a Blue Duck within 10 metres of the car. We crept out of the car to the river and as we were watching, it came towards us and stood on some rocks close to the shore. Stunning views.
Blue Duck Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos
Blue Duck at Ruatiti Domaine
Blue Duck is endemic to New Zealand and is classified as endangered with an estimated population of 2,500 - 3,000 birds with a maximum of 1,200 pairs. Females are especially vulnerable to stoats while nesting. In one study area, clutches of eggs lasted on average just nine days before being destroyed by stoats.
We now had a drive to Miranda where we had booked into the Bird Observatory for one night stay,
to have another look at the Wrybill which is the main winter roost area.
Two Welcome Swallows were resting at Miranda.
Wrybill Hymenolaimus Malacorhynchos
Wrybill's at Miranda
Wrybill was covered on an earlier blog on South Island. It is the only bird in the world whose bill is bent sideways and this is because in the shingly gravelly area on South Island where it breeds alongside the braided fast flowing rivers , the Wrybill's beak is the perfect shape for finding food.
On our second day at Miranda we counted 80 Wrybills.
Buff Banded Rail Hypotaenidia philippensis
Buff-banded Rail at Miranda.
Buff-banded Rail has a large range throughout Australia, S.W.Pacific including the Philippines and New Zealand and it has numerous subspecies. On this trip this was our only sighting.
White-fronted Tern Sterna striata
White-fronted Tern are present in both Australia and New Zealand. They are more abundant in New Zealand, and live around the entire coastline, but in Australia they have a much more restricted range.
We now travelled to the northern end of North Island, this
shows the Bay of Islands.
We stayed at Kerikeri for one night, and went out with Detlaf Davies
and had a superb view of the Northern Brown Kiwi, again view by
and had a superb view of the Northern Brown Kiwi, again view by
torch, so no photographs. Many thanks to Detlaf for putting us up
for the night and also taking us out during the night for the Kiwis.
This picture shows the historic Stonehouse at Kerikeri.
This picture shows the historic Stonehouse at Kerikeri.
On the journey north we stopped of at Waipu Cove to see
the New Zealand race of Fairy Tern, unfortunately although present
the New Zealand race of Fairy Tern, unfortunately although present
in reasonable numbers they kept to the opposite side of the channel.
New Zealand Dotterel (also known as Northern Red-breasted Plover) Charadrius aquilonius
New Zealand Dotterel in transitional plumage at Waipu Cove
New Zealand Dotterel, the bulk of the population on the east coast between North Cape and East Cape. It is considered to be near threatened with a total of 2,075 were counted during the 2011 breeding season. Again predators to the nests are the chief cause to its decline.
We saw 10 New Zealand Dotterels at Waipu Cove.
Variable Oystercatcher good numbers were present at Waipu Cove.
Next stop was Helena Bay
River at Helena Bay with around 50 Brown Teals were present,
Brown Teal Anas chlorotis
Pair of Brown Teal on the river at Helena Bay.
Female Brown Teal with 3 full grown young on the river.
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica bauer
Eastern race bauer of the Bar-tailed Godwit on Omaha Beach.
Bar-tailed Godwit of the eastern race bauer
Far more barring on the rump.
The eastern race of the Bar-tailed Godwit has an exceptional migration. In the Autumn they leave Alaska fly south over the Pacific direct to New Zealand, a distance of 11,000 kilometers over 11 days without stopping, a world record for a bird. When they return to Alaska for the breeding season, they fly over the coastal areas so they can break their flight to rest and feed, so that they are in good condition for breeding when they arrive in Alaska.
Bottlenose plant in flower.
We were now staying near Auckland for the final part of our trip.
We decided to visit the Gannet colony which is near Muriwai beach.
In this area, the beach is of black sand.
Australasian Gannet Mortus serrator
The Gannet colony at Muriwai Beach.
Australasian Gannets at Muriwai Beach
Australasian Gannet - Most gannetries are around the North Island with the largest mainland gannetry is situated at Cape Kidnappers with around 5,000 breeding pairs. The New Zealand total population is around 50,000 pairs and it continues to increase at around 2% p.a.
