My road trip has began in a funky Hippie Campervan named Bruce.
The van is nearly as old as me but has had a new radio installed to entertain
me along the way as I made my way East and then South down the North Isand. I
have mixed up my travelling styles during my adventures but this is the way to
travel around New Zealand or Australia for that matter. There are plenty of
Caravan Parks with facilities to cater for all needs and there is also the
basic camping option for the more remote places.
Having stocked u on supplies I headed to the Mangere Water
Treatment Plant to catch up on waterfowl and shorebirds. Several species of duck was present with some name changes and plenty of Mallard. At present I am in
cross reference mode as New Zealand and Australian species names differ in many
instances when the scientific name is the same or a sub-species of the other.
Whilst wading through the wildfowl on a treatment pond I
noticed a family party of Dabchick the reddish brown neck caught my eye and I
took photographs of the group. Later in the day I spoke to a ranger at Miranda
who confirmed the species which is endemic to New Zealand adding that they are
probably the most photographed grebes in the area.
Paradise Shelduck were also present on this pond and in
greater numbers on the field behind it, Canada Goose making up the flock. The female
Shelduck has a white head and the male a dark head.
The tide was coming in on the harbor which was pushing the
shorebirds closer to the road. Bar tailed Godwit, Wrybill, Dotterel, Pied (White
Headed) Stilt, Black Swan, Royal Spoonbill, White faced heron, Variable and
Pied Oystercatcher making up species within range.
Having gone a bit cross eyed looking at distant shorebirds I
moved south to Kawakawa Bay where the birds would be closer to shore with
better opportunities to photograph them. The birds were indeed closer but they
had to run the gauntlet of a crazy dog who was having great fun chasing the
flocks along the beach!
Spur-winged Plover (Vanellus mies novaehollandiae) a sub species of Masked Lapwing (Vanellus mies)
were more reluctant to move than the other birds.
My last stop was at Miranda where
I had messed up the high tide having looked at the wrong Miranda on the tide
tables. I’m not the first one that has done that!
I called in at the research
centre to be promptly dispatched to the hides a couple of km down the road to
see the departing flocks of Wrybill, Pacific Golden Plover and Pied Stilt. The
area beyond the shingle bar was covered in shorebirds! The tide tomorrow will
be an hour later therefore there is an opportunity to visit other sites earlier
in the day!
No comments:
Post a Comment