Peat bog slog

Thanks to our nation's wonderful education system, coupled with my own laziness, it has been a while since my last post, and indeed, a while since I've been birding at all. Instead of dealing with the withdrawal symptoms and moving on with my life, I made an impulsive decision last night to head south to Lake Ngaroto to see the migrant cattle egrets that make this lake their home during the winter months. This meant putting all exam study on hold, convincing my parents it was just a "study break", and bracing myself for a concentrated hit of that agonising torture so cleverly disguised as a public transport system. Despite these Herculean trials, I made it to McFalls Road, where the (very friendly, despite my previous rant) bus driver dropped me. I would be on foot from here.

I meandered uphill onto the fittingly named "Lake Road", scanning both sides of the road with my binoculars for a glimpse of the birds. A friend said that they were at a effluent pond on the other end of the road, so that was my first port of call. After a decent trudge, I arrived at the aforementioned poo pond, only to be filled with righteous indignation! These birds had moved! How dare they?

Now feeling quite affronted, I walked to the end of the road and again checked all the paddocks for the egrets, seeing skylarks, yellowhammers, stilts, swallows and plovers, but absolutely no Cattle Egrets. I trekked back to the other end of the road, STILL seeing no species of heron whatsoever, and gave up.

Nursing the deep wound of "dipping", I realised that my bus wouldn't arrive for another 3 hours, I wandered, fairly aimlessly, down State Highway 3 until my (allegedly) sharp eyes spotted a predator-proof fence. Curiosity aroused, I walked down the hill to take a look. Turns out it was Lake Serpentine, which was a predator proofed peat bog. Not only that, but it was free AND had a toilet. I was well and truly convinced and went in.

Considering the time of day, birdlife at the lake was good, with lots of fantails and grey warblers in the bush. The walking tracks were a little bit flooded, so my woefully inadequate trainers turned into sponges, but as I moved around the lake I started ticking off many an interesting bird. A new mallard family started off the walk, and plentiful introduced passerines bulked out my total. Chaffinches, dunnocks and silvereyes were all predictably numerous, as well as skylarks and swallows. A pair of rather irate Spotless Crakes were an unexpected bonus, and a lonely Grey Teal on the lake kept things interesting. I talked to a volunteer checking the tracking tunnels and she said that she has often seen bittern and fernbirds, but today was not my lucky day (as was becoming rapidly apparent!). She told me about the Wetland Trusts plan to reintroduce KIWI to the site, which will be exciting, and she is expecting the other wetland birds to grow in number once they begin breeding at the site.

I had a good 3 hours birding at the lake before I had to leave to wave down a bus (or so I thought...). I walked once more around the lake before heading off, crossing the road and waiting for the bus.

2:10 - No bus. Not entirely unexpected.
2:15 - Still no bus. I've told myself not to worry until 2:20.
2:20 - A definite lack of buses. Slightly concerned. It has also started raining.
2:30 - Now raining heavily. Thanks to a small tree I am getting only slightly saturated.
2:40 - Just saw the bus... going the WRONG WAY. Must have read the timetable wrong. Oh well, any minute now.
3:00 - I am now quite cold, and my trainers seem to have absorbed several times their weight.
3:15 - FINALLY A BUS.

Anyway, after about 80 minutes I dried myself off and typed up this post using the bus WiFi.

EDIT: Thanks to late buses and my own ineptitude, I didn't get home until 5.

That's birding for you.

Whangamarino Verywetland

Just got back from a pleasant afternoon's birding at Whangamarino with another birder my age, Michael. We started off at my local poo ponds in Ngaruawahia, where we were able to tick the more common waterfowl such as Mallards, Black Swans, Australasian Shovelers and Grey Teal, as well as a whole bunch of easy-to-get passerines (perching birds) and the elegant Pied Stilts. I left the Oxidation Ponds with a total of 30 species under my belt, including some which I'd nabbed earlier in the day on Kereru Road, Glen Massey, such as NZ Bellbird and NZ Pipit. We headed up State Highway 1, and after a little trouble with a stubborn SatNav, we made it to Mangatawhiri.

Ngaruawahia Sewage Ponds

For about 8 months of the year, most birders wouldn't look twice at a place like Mangatawhiri. But interestingly enough, during winter it is home to one of New Zealand's newest species, the Galah. For some reason, every year Galah migrate south from Ponui Island in the Hauraki Gulf to this one spot to feast on the leftover maize stubble after harvesting. They were introduced about 50 years ago, and have really put this tiny village on the map for winter Waikato birdwatchers. Anyway, that was my main target species for the day, so off we went. After fruitlessly scanning the maize fields, we ignored the usual spot and went up Mangatawhiri Rd to the old Castle Cafe. Despite my seeming bird-blindness, Michael spotted three sitting very pretty in a pine tree, and eventually I saw them. Galah was my first and only lifer of the day, while Michael, the more experienced birder, just witnessed my delight at seeing this rare and beautiful bird, number 34 for the day.

My awful photo of a Galah - blame the camera!

After a rubbish photo, we headed south down Falls Road, where we stopped at the lookout right in the south-east corner of the 7200 hectare wetland. Here we checked for bittern and crakes, but the flats below were much too flooded for these cryptic and secretive species. We headed north again to the main Falls Road walkway. Pressed for time, we raced down the path until...prrrp... the soft, bubbling call of the reticent Spotless Crake tickled our ears. Tick. It didn't stop there, and after some coaxing from our recordings we managed to pinpoint at least FIVE crakes all around us! This is a definite high count for me, as previously I had one shaky record from the Whangamarino west ponds. Ears pricked, Michael managed to also pick out a Dunnock singing in the distance, rather special for the Waikato region although I know anyone south of Taupo will be chuckling at this!

The view from the Falls Rd Lookout

Tired and hungry, we headed back home via Island Block Road, and on the way heard our last birds for the day, a few Fernbirds at Coal Bucket Marsh, on the west side of the wetland, leaving us on a respectable 40 species in a few hours of fairly relaxed birding.

The moon rising over the West Ponds

Trying out new gear at the local poo ponds

After long hours of squinting through 8-power binoculars, of struggling to make out identification marks from 100 metres away, of following the flight of a bird over the ocean only to find it was an insect a few centimetres from my face, it arrived. At last, I had a scope! While it had nothing on the thousand-dollar, sleek, smooth spotting scopes I had dreamed about, this one was mine. It wasn't perfect, but considering the low price tag the Celestron Ultima 80mm was my choice, which I haven't regretted at all.

Of course, it arrived on a Monday, so I had to wait out 5 days of virtual scopelessness before I could try it out. It was worth the wait, though, and I managed to convince my parents to take me down to the Ngaruawahia Wastewater Treatment Plant so I could see how it performed. Naturally, it was windy and raining, and I would have to set it up on lumpy, muddy ground at an angle, so this was a trial by fire for my new scope.

The scope really exceeded my expectations, and I could get a beautifully clear picture even at 60x magnification. Stability was an issue, as was the fence blocking my view, but even at >100m I could see some stunning Australian Shoveler and Grey Teal amongst the more common Mallards. While there weren't any mega vagrants or anything, I managed to bump my NGA WTP life list up to 35, which I was very pleased with. Now all that remains is to convince whoever is in charge of the plant to let me in...

All in all it was a good half hour (before we had to leave), and although the location was hardly exotic it was a good field test for a great budget scope.

Ngaruawahia to Miranda

Hello everyone! I must confess, I promised an article about my local sewage pond in my last post, but I've been too lazy to actually get around to writing one. However, today's birding, I think, warrants a post. In light of the recent Australian Shelduck sighting at Miranda, me and a few birdnerd friends decided to have a go at 'twitching' this rarity. So to avoid wasting half a day, I got up insanely early (7:30am, because it is a weekend after all) and walked up the road for a bit of a quick bird. I saw almost nothing, as winter has driven the kingfishers and rosellas to warmer places (where I want to be!) and there was no sign of the Sulphur-crested cockatoos. Regardless, it was a nice walk and I still racked up 20 species in 20 minutes, a count not to be sniffed at. Unless, like me, you had a cold, yet another joy of birding in autumn. I left Glen Massey on 23, thanks to a few other birds hanging around the garden, and moved on to the Ngaruawahia Wastewater Treatment Plant (Told you it would get a mention!). I climbed over the gate scouted out the area and saw another few good birds, including lots of black swans, shoveler, Grey Teal and Pied Stilt (New birds for the location). It was still chilly, and by the time I got back in the car I could no longer feel my toes. Oh well. I met up with my friends in Gordonton, and we drove to Kaiaua, briefly stopping at Mangatawhiri to look for Galah (no luck). On to Kaiaua quarry lakes, where we picked up some waterfowl and we had some good *ahem* cormorants by the lake. Along the terribly named "Seabird coast" (It was actually famous for shorebirds) I got my first lifer of the day, Fluttering Shearwater. Laugh all you like, but this 'bogey bird' had been haunting me for months. Everyone seemed to see them in their thousands but me.

Once that loose end had been tied up, we headed down the coast to Ray's rest, where we saw spoonbills, all three gull species, oystercatchers and Banded Dotterels and ate some delicious chips.

Because none of the dotterels were thoughtful enough to turn into Lesser Sand-plovers, we headed further along the coast, to Miranda itself. It was just coming up to high tide, so the birds were pushed up near the hide. About 150 Bar-Tailed Godwits remained on the shellbanks and mudflats, as well as 4 Red Knot, about a thousand Wrybill, one or two NZ Dotterel and a few Banded Dotterel, about 40 Royal Spoonbills. Constant Harriers flying over ensured the birds kept taking to the air, making it hard to count, although I managed a few nice photos of them in flight. Our first spot was the Stilt pools, where a single White Heron (Great Egret for you foreigners :) ) preened itself. Lots of Paradise Shelducks, Black Swans and of course, Pied Stilts. As well as all the usuals we had EIGHT BLACK-TAILED GODWITS! This is a huge number, and they were a lifer for me so I was very pleased. After searching for the Aussie Shelduck with no luck, we moved back to the hide, where we saw one Whimbrel hanging behind the godwits. Tick. A solitary Pacific Golden-Plover brought the count up again, then our time was up and we headed home.

Black-Tailed Godwits among more common birds

Did we see the Aussie Shelduck? Of course not.

Maungatautari

Hello everyone,
I've just realised my Blogger app failed to post my last thing, which is my excuse for the delay. Not only that, but school has been in full swing and I have had very little time to actually go anywhere interesting. After an almost fruitless holiday yielding one lifer (Helmeted Guineafowl at Taitua Arboretum), I had given up hope on birding over this break. Thankfully, on Monday the 1st of April, Mum was kind enough to take me and my (non-birder) brother to Maungatautari on our teacher only day. So for most of the morning we were walking around in restored native bush inside a predator-proof fence. Despite the relatively late start of 9:30am, the bird life was still pretty good, with tomtits and robins abundant, plenty of stitchbirds that refused to be seen, and a few kaka. My highlights were about 5 saddlebacks in the canopy, which was a new bird for the year, and a falcon duelling with a flock of introduced magpies over the forest. This visit brings my Maunga life list to 27.

A very confiding robin - this was the only usable photo due to lighting

Also, expect a post on the Ngaruawahia Oxidation Ponds, which was the one which failed to send.
Happy birding!

Finally - Whangamarino!

Well, my Whangamarino trip didn't happen the way I had expected it to. I had envisaged a painfully early start, followed by a long drive to a remote, raupo-fringed pond where the only sounds were the Oram Black Kite screaming overhead and crakes and bitterns rustling in the bulrush. When it happened, it was a teensy bit different...

Mum woke me up at the dreadfully early hour of 8:00am (for a Saturday) and interrupted my sleep-in bliss. Once I heard what she had to say, I was dressed, breakfasted and ready to go in 15 minutes! Finally, I was going to visit Whangamarino! Because whatever her plans were for the morning had been cancelled, she was free to drive me there! (Only 227 days, 16 hours, 6 minutes and 30 seconds until I can get my licence - not that I'm counting down or anything!).

As it turned out, we weren't going for a good hour yet, so I jumped onto the computer and found out as much as I could about the birdlife in Whangamarino from eBird. Once it was time to go, I was as keen as the proverbial mustard.

Turns out I didn't do as much research as I thought I had.

So, we got off to a good start on Oram Road searching for the Black Kite - an Aussie species of hawk that has been blown over to NZ - but missed it. However, as we drove past Pokeno, Mum spotted a Rook above the car, so that was the first 'lifer' of the day. We drove through Mangatawhiri looking for the rare Galah, (an introduced species of pink and white cockatoo found pretty much only in that area) but missed them, and so carried on down to Falls Road (after a little GPS drama).

So, during my eBird research I simply clicked on the first 'hotspot' I saw and decided to visit that one, but as luck would have it it wasn't amazing. Combine that with the fact that it was in the middle of the day, and you have a recipe for pretty much no birds. So, after about an hour we decided to move on, going further down the road. I spotted an old duck-shooting hide a few hundred metres from the road, down a steep hill. 45 minutes and 0 birds later, I emerged, utterly defeated. Whangamarino seemed to be determined to have the last laugh.

So, we turned around to cut across the wetlands via Island Block road, and I was resigned to missing out on any crakes. Deciding to try one last time, I stopped by a pond next to Coal Bucket Marsh. Almost instantly, I saw Black Swans, multiple shag species, LOTS of pooks and finally, FINALLY, heard the sewing-machine call of the Spotless Crake, thus bagging my second lifer of the day.

We got home and I examined my multitude of cuts and scrapes, and rested my weary legs. Only 2 new birds? Was it really worth it?

Absolutely.

Lake Hakanoa birds

Well, after having to cancel my Whangamarino trip due to car trouble, I thought my school holidays birding spree was over, and it was back to pigeons and sparrows. Mentally prepping myself for homework, bad teachers and getting up early, I spent the morning birding in an obliging farmer's paddock, seeing nothing groundbreaking, although a Kereru (New Zealand Pigeon) gave stunning flight displays and an Australasian Harrier duelled with a veritable army of magpies. At around 10am I settled into a drunken stupor on the couch, resigned to 11 weeks of imprisonment. However, it turned out that Mum was headed to Huntly Pools anyway, so I decided to tag along and see what the birdlife at Lake Hakanoa was like. My binoculars were polished, my field guide taken off my desk, and I was ready to go. Upon my arrival I was warned to "look out for those big geese", and was immediately threatened by a pair of Black Swans with cygnets. After much hissing and arm waving on my part, I was let past. I continued around the lake, seeing a wide variety of birds, including 97 Canada geese, Pied Shags, Mallards and Pukeko. A major highlight for me was seeing a very pure Grey Duck and a New Zealand Dabchick together near the end of the walk. Dabchicks are quite uncommon in the Waikato, and pure Grey Ducks are listed as "very rare" in the Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand, so as you can imagine I was very pleased. As it was only the second time I had seen a dabchick, and the first time I had a good look, I spent quite some time watching the bird, and got some passable photos comparing the sizes of the two birds. Eventually I walked away, back to the realm of school uniforms and grumpy deans.

I would definitely recommend taking a look at some of Huntly's birdlife, and while to the dedicated twitcher Lake Hakanoa won't hold any 'lifers', it is an excellent walk regardless.

Dabchick and Grey Duck

Grey Duck

Dabchick