New Zealand; Day 3 - Arthur's Pass National Park & Okarito

  The priority for the day, and only target, was the New Zealand Rockwren, or South Island Wren in the Otira Valley. From my campsite I headed straight there and began to work the area between the car park and the bridge, but with no joy. There was some success however, with my first Pipipi of the trip, with a nice showy group next to the trail.

  After a short trip down to the village of Arthurs Pass for some breakfast, I continued exploring the area past the bridge, since I was told that the scree slopes in this area were the best place to check and not down below the bridge. Frustrated by having wasted a morning, I spent the next three hours here but again found nothing, with no sight or sound of the Rockwren. In the end I had to leave at 14:00 to have time to complete my drive to my next destination.

  Still the morning was not a complete loss as I was able to watch some excellent Kea action when returning to Arthurs Pass. Around 10 birds were hanging around, and they were very confiding and full of character. One small bush on the ground had three Kea in it, and they were pouncing on any food left out in the open, and generally just causing chaos.

  The drive in the afternoon took me along the West Coast Road, which was truly stunning. Along the way I stopped off at some sewage stink pits, where there were a few waterbirds, including my first New Zealand Scaup, Pacific Black Duck and Grey Teal of the trip. There was also another tick a small group of four South Island Oystercatcher that flew south down the beach.

  My destination for the night was the small town of Okarito, surrounded by pristine forest. There were a few birds to try to see here, and since I arrived with some daylight left, I had a chance to check for my first one in a small marsh on the edge of the lake here; the New Zealand Fernbird. With a little persuasion, I managed to get one bird to come out of the vegetation for me, so that was one problem I did not have to worry about in the morning.

The evening plan was to go on a tour to look for the Okarito Kiwi, but alas, fate was not in my favour. An hour before the tour I found myself locked out of the car, with the engine still running. Fortunately, I had the keys still with me, and although the buttons were not responding to the car I could use the manual key to open it. Or I could of done, had the manual key actually been cut, which it wasn’t. So I had to call out a mechanic to open the car for me, which meant I missed the Kiwi tour. Ian, the guide, had suggested if the mechanic came quickly I could find them in the woods and join them, but I could not locate them when I tried. A shame, but these things do happen on birding trip.

Species List:
Arthur’s Pass National Park: Californian Quail, Kea, New Zealand Bellbird, Pipipi, Tomtit, Silvereye, Lesser Redpoll,
Hokitika Water Treatment Plant: Canada Goose, Black Swan, Paradise Shelduck, Australasian Shoveler, Pacific Black Duck, Mallard, Grey Teal, New Zealand Scaup, Australasian Swamphen, South Island Oystercatcher, Black-billed Gull, Kelp Gull, Great Cormorant, Yellowhammer,
Okarito: Variable Oystercatcher, New Zealand Fantail, New Zealand Fernbird, Lesser Redpoll,