Page 22 - Dainfern Precinct Living 8 2021

BIRDING

Three Southern Red-breasted Plovers skies and icy wind.
(NZ Dotterels), hundreds of Bar-tailed Almost immediately, I
Godwits, Red Knots, a few Ruddy was rewarded with great
Turnstones, a Terek Sandpiper and sightings of the shorebird,
a few Wrybills caught our attention. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper,
This last mentioned species, a small four of which were located
plover, sports a very peculiar bill – the at the Stilt ponds close to
final segment before the tip curves to the Shorebird Centre.
the right, always without exception to
the right. Later in the morning, on
our way to Auckland, the
capital, we made a Whitehead (AR)
slight detour to Island
Block Road at the Meremere Our landing half-an-hour later was
Power Station site south of Mercer followed by a trek along the Wattle
and were elated to enjoy fabulous Track up to the visitors centre and
sightings of the uncommon lighthouse, where we received
and difficult-to-find Australasian directions to the bunkhouse, our
Bittern. We then travelled beyond overnight accommodation that would
Auckland further north to Gulf be spent with several researchers.
Harbour, an hour’s drive, for a After a short briefing, we commenced
recce of the departure point for
the following morning’s trip to
the island of Tiri Tiri Matangi.
Takahe (AR)
We spent the night on the beach
The weather eventually became in Orewa Motor Park.
intolerable, so we called it a day and
checked into the Miranda Holiday Probably the best day of the entire
Park for our overnight stay. This motor trip, from a birding perspective, saw us
park provided excellent facilities, depart from Gulf Harbour midmorning
including a natural thermal pool in fair weather for Tiri Tiri Matangi.
(38°C). During supper, it poured with This predator-free island has for many
rain. years provided a safe haven and
suitable habitat for a continuous and
The next morning, while Des and ever-increasing population of endemic
his wife, Kirsty, set off on a short NZ bird species that are endangered
run, Maureen and I luxuriated in the on the mainland and, indeed, some of
warmth of the mineral pool before which were moving perilously close to
setting out into a day of overcast almost-certain extinction. Little Spotted Kiwi (AR)
our birding at noon. A tame avian
reception committee seen at the shop
was our first target bird acquaintance,
in the form of a handful of the
extremely rare Takahe foraging
about. This fairly large Gallinule
family species was, until 1948,
thought to be extinct until a certain
Dr G B Orbell discovered a small
population high up in the Murchison
Mountains overlooking the western
shores of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland.
A substantial portion of this remote
population of Takahe was captured
by the DOC and released on Tiri Tiri
as part of a very successful breeding
Collapsed Caves programme.
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DPL