Perfect Puriri Bay- Part 2

Catch-up

Continuing on from Part 1

On a perfectly calm day, David gave fishing a miss for the morning and we went exploring around the Whangaruru Harbour.

This abandoned bach on private Motukauri Island would have been a great place to get away from it all; it's waterfront, air conditioned, fishing available from the lounge door and it comes complete with its own super sized NZ Christmas tree. Paradise lost.

There are several small seaside holiday settlements on the other side of the harbour; one of these, Ohawini Bay can only be reached by driving along the beach two hours either side of low tide. A concrete track around the rocks at the end of the bay allows access to the next beach Parutahi and then it's up over a hill and into Oakura Bay.

I was keen to see Oakura Bay, our family stayed in a bach here when I was 12 and I have memories of us kids walking out to an island at low tide. I'd asked several people about this during our travels but everyone had said 'No, there's no island'. Well I finally saw my 'island', a small rock at the end of a short reef. It obviously seemed liked an island to my 12 year old eyes, and in my memory it even stretched half way across the bay!

While David fished the harbour I went exploring. Picnic Bay is just a short walk around a small bluff at the west end of Puriri Bay. As the same suggests, it's a popular place for day-trippers, and a sheltered bay for swimming if Bland Bay on the ocean side is rough.

I also walked the 5km Whangaruru North Head Track which I'd have to say was quite a challenge. Jocelyn had warned me that there were a couple of steep sections, which weren't too bad...

....and a lot of steps.

But I hadn't quite banked on 53 flights of them; 45 up and 8 down and all of them between 10 and 18 steps long! I like to keep count of the number of flights on walks. Usually I'm OK keeping the number in my head but not this time. I kept a track by taking a photo of the number at the top of a flight when it looked like there would be no more.

And that's why I now have about 10 or so leaf litter numbers in my photos, just when I thought I'd seen my last flight another one appeared! At least making them up gave me a chance to catch my breath before the next lot...

... along with taking photos of the native Greenhood Orchids I kept finding growing out of the steps.

The walk (and stairs) were worth it in the end just for the view of this beautiful little cove (which unfortunately you couldn't easily access)...

...and the rugged coastal views north of it.

I enjoyed the mass of Flax/Harakeke bushes alongside the track, all with flowering or in-bud spikes reaching for the sky. But I'd have to say I was happy to see the light at the end of a tunnel and know that it was all downhill back to camp from there.

During our stay at Puriri Bay, we made a day trip to Russell to top up with supplies. It's been a while since we've driven this road along the south coast of the Bay of Islands and without the rig on the back we were able to stop and admire the views along the way. Though these photos are ocean side south of Cape Brett.

And this is Elliot Bay, a stunningly beautiful private bay and beach. David has fond memories of summer camping here with friends just after he arrived in New Zealand back in the late 1960s, he thought he'd landed in Paradise. The farm, beach and camp area have been for sale for a number of years. It's yours for at a cool $15 million!

Puriri Bay was home to a pair of Variable Oystercatchers/Torea Pango and the day after we arrived I noticed them scratching about and carrying grass to the railings on the edge of one of the camping areas. I was up early the next morning to catch the sunrise and while they were both down on the rocks I went to investigate what they had been doing. A nest and an egg! They soon flew back squawking in alarm and dive-bombing me.

A couple of days later a second egg appeared...

...and then they took turns (although the female seem to do most of it) sitting and waiting...

...right in the middle of the campground on the edge of the bank, beside a track to the beach and with the holiday weekend fast approaching. I went and spoke to the camp manager and she gave me some tape and standards and I roped off the area around them, hoping that would offer them a little protection. It seemed to do the trick, most people avoided them or they were dive-bombed if they got too close- though this was usually little kids who had no idea what the tape was for and wanted to swing on it. They soon learnt.

This particular pair of birds were actually the friendliest Oystercatchers I have come across (when they weren't protecting their nest). They often flew in to get tip-bits from people who were feeding the ducks and I actually gave them pieces of snapper which they took from a couple of metres away. Disappointingly we left before the eggs hatched but I heard from another friend who stayed longer that two healthy chicks eventually hatched and were well looked after by a pair of doting parents.

If you've been a regular blog reader you'll know spring wouldn't be complete without a fluffy duckling drama or three!

I'm a sucker for duckling cuteness and no matter how many times I tell myself (and David tells me) not to get involved, I just can't help myself.

Puriri Bay certainly didn't disappoint. There were two families of ducklings in camp when we arrived and more joining them from the shelter of the reeds & creek on a daily basis as they hatched.

A continuous waddle of fluffiness moved back and forward through camp or along the beach during the day looking for handouts and trying to keep out of harms way.

I took a shine to the family in my photos because they were very friendly, they would often rest for an hour or so by our door mat. The ducklings weren't afraid to walk over my hands when I put them on the ground, so I was able to give them quick cuddles. Mum wasn't too concerned either. But that meant we had to watch where we stepped as they scrambled about over our feet too.

After a suitable rest period the ducklings would start to stir and shuffle about trying for a better place under the shade of mum's wings...

...then ready to go walkabout again, they'd stretch, do a little preening...

...and before waddling off have a drink and a swim in a bowl of water I put out for them. 

I used to have a large shallow planter dish for this purpose but I think somebody who shall remain nameless 'accidentally' left it behind somewhere. 

From the archives

Often the mother would leave the ducklings in a pile in the long grass near our front door, perhaps sensing that they'd be safe with us, while she flew off to God knows where, or sometimes she'd have been chased away by a drake and the ducklings would just wait for her return.

A Puddle of Ducklings

The numbers slowly dwindled as the days passed. It's a big bad world out there for ducklings. It's no wonder they have large broods as there are often only 2-3 left after a few weeks.

If they don't manage to get left behind by their unobservant mothers (I rounded up several ducklings to returned them to their family), they then have to walk the gauntlet past other duck mothers, bigger ducklings and marauding drakes all quick to give the younger ones a hammering.

And then there were the shags & pukeko. We witnessed both of these catching and killing ducklings; the pukeko were the worst, stalking the duck family until they saw a chance to make a grab and then making a run for it back to the high grass. Of course they were only feeding their chicks but still, it wasn't nice to watch (and not be able to do anything because we were too far away unlike the hawk I chased away another day).

I couldn't get close to the pukekos at all to take photos, the race off into the grass at any movement; this photo is at the long end of my lens and blurry but don't you love the chick's big feet!

But wait there's more!

Still to come- Shag City

Auckland Regional Parks & More- Part 1

Real-time

From our base at Sandspit we explored some of the Regional Parks that we couldn't visit with the rig on the back. Some of the camping grounds were closed due to ground conditions, others closed for winter and a couple had a size restriction.

Couldrey House- Wenderholm

Our first stop was back down SH1 at Wenderholm Regional Park which is just north of Waiwera off the Hibiscus Coast Highway. Many people will be familiar with Wenderholm, it's a peaceful oasis for a rest or lunch stop as you're heading in and out of Auckland. Although it's probably not so busy now that Northern Gateway Toll Road has by-passed the Park. 

There are many huge pohutukawas in the reserve and quite a number of historic trees, some were gifts to the owner from Sir George Grey (Governor of New Zealand) and planted as early as the 1860s.

Wenderholm opened in 1965 and was the first Auckland Regional Park. The Park is also a lovely place to have a picnic or BBQ, walk one of the many tracks or to camp, either at the the CSC overnight site (bottom right) or the new Schischka campground (which was closed). The public toilet block (below left) has to be one of the flashest I've seen in a park (don't forget to click on the photos to view enlarged)

Auckland politician Robert Graham was the first European owner in 1868 and built his homestead Wenderholm (winter home) here so that he had somewhere to stay while he spent time at his Waiwera thermal resort in winter. The house is now known as Couldrey House after the last private owner.

From Wenderholm we headed back up the road a few kms and onto the Mahurangi West Road which winds it's way along a ridge out to the coast. The Puhoi River separates Mahurangi West from Wenderholm. This is looking north east over the Mahurangi Harbour, much of the land across the water is the Mahurangi East/Snells Beach peninsula.

At the end of the road we drop down into Sullivans Bay (Otarawao Bay) part of the Mahurangi Regional Park. The park is divided into three fingers; Mahurangi West, Scott Point and Mahurangi East (which is only accessible by sea due to it being landlocked). The Park straddles the large and sheltered Mahurangi Harbour.

Maori lived here in large communities and there are several fortified  pa sites on strategic points around the reserve. A sea captain, John Sullivan, married a local Maori woman and settled at Sullivans Bay in the 1870s. Their descendants farmed the land for nearly a century and farming continues today. 

There is also a small campground in the bay for tenting and RVs under 8 metres (two photos, bottom left). We have a debate between ourselves quite regularly; is the 8 meters the length of your rig or the length of your van without tow or towed vehicles? I'll leave that for your conscience to decide. The road in is narrow and there are a few blind corners but nothing we wouldn't drive cautiously.

As we drove into the car park we spotted ahead of us, lots of  little black dots resting on the tarseal, spread from one side of the road to the other. At first I thought they were sun-baking sparrows and they'd fly off as we approached but no, they stayed put.

The 'sparrows' turned out to be THIRTEEN tiny ducklings. Their mother was frantically trying to herd them off the road when she saw us coming. It was lucky we slowed down for them, it would have been a disaster had another vehicle driven through unaware- squished ducklings everywhere!  I managed to take a photo of them all before they spread out again, once they were on the move they were darting here, there and everywhere. I have a feeling (from past experiences) thirteen ducklings would have soon become ten, then seven, then....

From Sullivans Bay, we headed back to the top, along the road a little....

Mahurangi East

...and then down into tiny secluded Opahi Bay which is just around the corner from Sullivans. We had lunch on the foreshore, surrounded by baches and holiday homes, many of them hanging off the steep sides of the gully.

I loved the dinghy rack beside the reserve; tenders for the dozens of yachts at moorings further around the point.

There was an old urupa (Maori cemetery) at the end of the bay, Ophai Bay has one of the pa sites mentioned earlier and much of the waterfront is Maori Owned.

We see so many old caravans on our travels, but this 'Super Freight' slide on is a new one on me. It looks like these are now play rooms for the grandkids perhaps.

At the other end of the bay, tucked in under the overhanging bush, and not likely to have seen the sun in years, is a small collection of caravans that have seen better days.

I guess families have holidayed here in summers past but going by the sorry state of them now, they'd need a lot of work to get them even slightly habitable. Pitching a tent would probably be a better option! 

To be continued....Part 2

Totaranui- Bird Antics

Catch-up

Let's see if I can keep the typing (talking) to a minimum on this one, I still have another Totaranui blog to post and I don't want to get too far behind again. 

As I said previously, Totaranui (Abel Tasman National Park) is a great place to spend some quality birding time but the trouble is, if you're a photographer and a birder, you end up with screeds and screeds of photos to process, and way too many you want to share. I managed to whittle them down to these few; some cute shots, some fun shots, a couple of unusual shots and a sad one too.

I finally found some weka chicks during the second week, in fact after only seeing a couple of chicks during the first week, they were suddenly everywhere, although the parents do keep them hidden in the bush most of the time. 

It's easy to spot a weka who has chicks; if they find food while foraging out in the open they suddenly take off, running very fast (they are comical to watch), making a beeline for the bush, clucking loudly. Not a great strategy if you don't want predators to find your chicks I would have thought.

A few weka head down to the beach very early to check out the overnight tide lines, weaving up and down to the water and round and round in circles along the beach like some drunken sailor. It was cute to find adult footprints with tiny chick prints running alongside one morning. But it was also disappointing to find dog footprints one day. Dogs are not allowed in the Park but obviously someone thought the rules didn't apply to them.

I found this older Weka Chick standing out in the open all by himself. He suddenly decided he was out of there and ran off calling loudly for Mum 'Arrrggghhhh.....she's after me, she's after me, heeelp!!'  (and my settings were not ready for his quick departure).

This has to be one of the most unusual photos I have taken of a bird (and now a favourite). An acrobatic (pole dancing someone suggested) Kereru/NZ Wood Pigeon out to get the tastiest Tree Lucerne shoots at the end of a very thin wispy branch. They are very versatile and agile birds for their size but this is something else.

I was walking back to camp when I thought I saw some paper caught in a bush. It wasn't until I got closer that I realised it was a Kereru hanging upside down. It was so absorbed in hanging on while stripping off the tastiest shoots that it didn't take any notice of me as I crept closer. When it eventually spotted me it let go and hit the ground with a thump, before flying off. 

The pigeons were often the subject of my lens, there were just so many of them about. Here they are; chasing each other, stretching for shoots and flying off in the wrong direction when I was trying for some flight shots.

Even though they are quite slow flyers they tried my patience many times as I attempted to get those flight shots.

And sometimes they just played peek-a-boo...

Here are a couple of comparison shots- one taken in the shade and the other in the sun. While there seemed to be some slight variations in colouring amongst birds, you can still see how iridescent the head and in particular the breast feathers are here. That green is quite spectacular and stands out like a sore thumb when you're scanning the trees for birds.

Spring wouldn't be spring without ducklings and especially our native Paradise Shelduck ducklings. Here's Mum (one of the few native females that are prettier than their male counterparts)

And Dad (who is still quite handsome)...

And their four gorgeous fluffy ducklings... 

It's hard to believe that this isn't a pond they're swimming in, it's a small depression that has filled with water (so much rain over winter) alongside the 'Grand Entrance' trees. They also swam in another couple of large muddy potholes on the edge of a track on the other side of the trees. 

And it's where I headed each time I wanted to check in on the family. Although they spent a lot of time at the pools they would also do a loop each day, waddling all the way up to our campsite bay, cutting through and then heading back along the estuary edge to their pools; quite a feat for 4 tiny ducklings. 

I say 4 but it wasn't long before it became 3 and then 2 ducklings. Anyone who has been following my blog knows I'm a sucker for ducklings and it usually ends in heartache so I try not to become too attached to them.  But how can you not resist these cute bundles of fluff?  

"Please will you just sit down Mum!" says this duckling who reminds me of the 'Joker'. Check out his 'grin' (click to enlarge the photo), it's a dirt line from dabbling in the pool.

I was sitting on the van steps one afternoon when the family came waddling through, now with just the two ducklings. I reached inside to get my camera and went to take a photo just as a weka came racing out from underneath the van and grabbed one of the ducklings. I managed to click off a couple of shots as I raced towards the melee waving and shouting (excuse the photos, once again I wasn't expecting so much action). Here you can see the duckling in the Weka's bill,  Mum was quickly after it, trampling the 2nd duckling as she chased. 

Dad was a bit slow off the mark, the weka still has the duckling but dropped it soon afterwards. Weka are known to predate ducklings and I've also been witness to one stalking a Pukeko chick at Lake Kaniere on the West Coast. 

The family departed at a very fast pace down the estuary track, quacking and cheeping to each other. Later in the evening, when I checked in on them at the pools, there were still two ducklings.

But the next day they were down to one. It's a tough life being a duckling, it's no wonder they usually have so many.