New Zealand; Day 7 - Fiordland National Park

  From our base in Lumsden we drove the final hour to the town of Te Anu, the gateway town to the Fiordland National Park. Frustratingly, as we began to approach the town it became apparent that the weather was not going to be on our side, and upon arriving in Te Anu, the downpour started. Initially we spent some time around the town itself hoping it would pass, but sadly it did not. With little else to do, I persuaded Ben it might be worth heading into the park to search for the Blue Duck on the rivers, since it would be quiet and there might be some activity. So that’s what we did…

  Sadly the rain did not let up, and after driving an hour along the Milford Road to the locations I wanted to check, it quickly became clear that the rain had turned the normal torrent of a river into something else, with gallons of water gushing past. It seemed that searching for the Blue Duck was a futile endeavour, and we did not stick at it for long. The rain continued to hammer down, so we decided to head to the Cascade Creek Campsite, the last campsite on the Milford Road where we had hoped to stay the night.

  After about an hour waiting at the Campsite we decided that it was probably worth heading back to Te Anu, where we might at least be able to find somewhere warm and dry to sit out the storm, hoping that it might clear up later in the day. It was as we were leaving the site that the day finally turned around, not the weather but the birds. On the fringes of the campsite, I spotted a Weka lurking between the parked cars, so we quickly jumped out in the rain to inspect this key trip target. And what a bird it was, extremely confiding and behaving extremely comically, removing logs from the fire pits and flicking away leaflitter as it foraged. An absolutely outstanding bird for its character, one of the highlights in New Zealand.

  After returning to Te Anu, the weather quickly began to pick up, and so after some afternoon snacks we returned up the Milford Road to the Cascade Creek campsite to stay for the night. The rain continued to hold off, until just a little after dark, although it remained quite gloomy throughout. Even though we arrived at the campsite quite late, we still found time for a short walk. The Weka was once again out on patrol, so we enjoyed its antics a bit more. The walk did not yield anything particularly spectacular, but we did see a pair of Rifleman and a confiding South Island Robin came bounding along the path to greet us as we walked up.

  Helpfully the forecast for tomorrow is much better, so that kept our spirits high after a very frustrating day. We spent the evening watching Long-tailed Wattled Bats fly above the forest, the first time I have seen bats here in New Zealand. 

Species List:
Fiordland National Park: Pacific Black Duck, New Zealand Scaup, Feral Pigeon, Weka, Masked Lapwing, Little Pied Cormorant, Kea, Rifleman, Tui, New Zealand Bellbird, Grey Gerygone, New Zealand Fantail, Tomtit, South Island Robin, Welcome Swallow, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, House Sparrow, Eurasian Chaffinch, European Goldfinch,