As light broke over the mountains I headed back down to the delta at the north end of Lake Pukaki to try once again to find the Wrybill. Alas it was not possible to find any, and I ended up leaving without the bird. That said, it was a very pleasant morning to be out birding, with a low mist hanging over the marsh, and the light reflecting from the glaciers on Mount Cook. The birds were similar to the previous day, with Black Stilts being daft once again, and plenty of Two-banded Plover running around everywhere.
By 10:30 I set off on my three-hour drive to the coast.
After 10 hours the previous day, it was a struggle to get back into the car and
do it again, but it had to be done. There were a few short stops on the way at
a few small water bodies outside the town of Twizel. Here there were hundreds
of New Zealand Scaups, and I had a New Zealand Falcon come charging through
well, which is just my second of the trip.
The coastal town of Oamaru was the destination for the
afternoon. I started in the harbour hoping to find the Otago Shag here, which I
did fairly easily with a few birds drying their wings on the breakwater.
Additionally, there were my first Spotted Shags of the trip and a small group
of Australian Pied Cormorants, all mostly roosting on the decrepit pier on the
south side of the harbour. Confiding Silver Gulls were also nice to see, having
mostly seen Black-billed Gulls in the recent days.
But the undoubted highlight here was just outside the
harbour breakwater, with Hectors Dolphin, the worlds smallest dolphin and
endemic to New Zealand. As I was walking up the breakwater I saw the fin
protrude from the water, completely rounded at the top and not pointed,
indicating it could only be this species. This first individual was so close I
could see the profile of the animal as it submerged, but sadly none came this
close again. In the end I spent an hour watching their dorsal fins emerge from
the waves at varying distances, but sometimes quite close. This was a species I
had really wanted to see here in New Zealand, and I was thrilled to have made
it happen.
For the late afternoon and until the evening, I went to the
Penguin viewpoint at Bushy Beach. From here it is possible to watch the
Yellow-eyed Penguin as they come into their breeding colony in the vegetated
cliffs there. However this was not until later, so I kept myself busy scanning
the sea. Although not super lively, I had a Royal Spoonbill, three Shy
Albatross, an Australian Gannet, a Sooty Shearwater and a Fluttering Shearwater
during the hours I spent there. But perhaps the highlight was the roost movement
of Shag with 483 Spotted Shag heading south, and 76 Otago Shag heading north.
Then at just approaching 08:00, the first Yellow-eyed
Penguin came up onto the beach and started to waddle towards the forest. This
first individual spent some time pottering about and not doing much, allowing
for extended views, which is more than can be said for the second bird which
made a dash straight up the beach. We were viewing from a respected distance up
the cliff, but through the scope the views were really excellent. A brilliant
end to the day, before driving the 90 minutes south to the town of Dunedin to
meet Ben, my old university housemate.
Lake Pukaki – Tasman Delta: Canada Goose, Black Swan, Paradise Shelduck, Mallard, Grey Teal, Great Crested Grebe, Black Stilt, Masked Lapwing, Double-banded Plover, Black-billed Gull, Kelp Gull, Caspian Tern, Black-fronted Tern, Little Pied Cormorant, Great Cormorant, White-faced Heron, Swamp Harrier, Australian Magpie, Eurasian Skylark, Welcome Swallow, Silvereye, New Zealand Pipit, Lesser Redpoll, European Goldfinch,
Twizel: Canada Goose, Black Swan, Paradise Shelduck, Mallard, New Zealand Scaup, Great Crested Grebe, Eurasian Coot, Little Pied Cormorant, Swamp Harrier, New Zealand Falcon, Welcome Swallow, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, House Sparrow, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Goldfinch,
Oamaru: Paradise Shelduck, Feral Pigeon, Variable Oystercatcher, Masked Lapwing, Parasitic Jaeger, Silver Gull, Black-billed Gull, Kelp Gull, Caspian Tern, Black-fronted Tern, White-fronted Tern, Yellow-eyed Penguin, Shy Albatross, Sooty Shearwater, Fluttering Shearwater, Australasian Gannet, Little Pied Cormorant, Spotted Shag, Australian Pied Cormorant, Otago Shag, White-faced Heron, Royal Spoonbill, Swamp Harrier, Grey Gerygone, Australian Magpie, Welcome Swallow, Silvereye, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, Dunnock, House Sparrow, European Goldfinch,
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