Rarest Wader in the World

Catch-up

After visiting dozens of lakes and waterways around the MacKenzie Basin and seeing many different birds which included a Black Stilt family with a chick & one hybrid parent, another adult bird defending it’s nest/chick from a hawk and two juvenile Black Stilts up close, we had yet to see an adult Black Stilt up close.

So it was a great thrill when we finally managed to locate not one, but two very confiding adult Black Stilts/Kakī feeding in a shallow pond overflow on farmland not too far from Twizel.

Not only were they happy to carry on feeding but I managed to get very close without disturbing them.

Going by the flattened grass track leading to a fence that separated the birds from the road, I got the feeling that these two are very much used to weird humans crouching and crawling through the grass with a camera lens stuck to their face.

Intensive conservation management of the endemic (found nowhere else in the world) Black Stilt began in 1981 when the population had declined to just 23 adult birds. Despite this management the Black Stilt still remains the rarest wading bird in the world, with fewer than 100 breeding birds.

Over 150 captive bred juvenile black stilts (a season record) have been released into the MacKenzie Basin area this past breeding season which should increase the breeding adults over the next 2-3 years, providing they survive predation and the harsh winter environment they live in.

Unlike other birds that make the braided rivers of  the South Island home, the majority of black stilts don’t migrate to warmer climates for winter.

We visited the birds twice while we were staying at Lake Ruataniwha and I’ll certainly be checking in on them again the next time we pass through. We also located another two adults further down the road but they were a lot further away than these two.

That’s another bird we can tick on our virtual list. And it was well worth the wait and effort in finding them, they are a stunning bird.

We Finally Quacked it!

Ok, well the corny pun is not quite correct because Blue Ducks (Maori name Whio), don’t quack, they wheeze (female) and whistle (male). Whio (pronounced fee-o) means whistle in Maori.

I’m interrupting the timeline of the blog posts once again to report that we’ve finally found ourselves some elusive Blue Ducks. We’ve been searching for Whio, New Zealand’s rare and endangered endemic duck in many places throughout the North & South Island; Tongariro River, Cobb Valley, Mt Arthur, Fyfe River in Murchison and Oparara Basin amongst others.

On Sunday, after a tip from a bird forum I belong to, we finally found a pair on a hydro canal near Hokitika. And the best bit? We didn’t need to get out of the vehicle to see them! We actually weren't going to go looking on Sunday because of the terrible weather which is still plaguing us and the West Coast, but we went tiki-touring and ended up in Blue Duck territory so we took a chance and struck gold.

We had a little luck on our side. A vehicle track ran along the edge of the hydro canal for a number of kilometres. We crawled along it with me scanning the canal and bank across the other side. Towards the end we came to a large settling pond where we found a guy fishing. The rain had just started in earnest but we stopped beside him and wound our window down to speak to him as he sat in his cab out of the cold & wet. I asked him if he’d seen any Blue Ducks, not expecting him to give a positive response. But he said ‘Yeah, I think two flew over 10 or so minutes ago, they landed up there somewhere, I'm sure they looked blue” pointing up stream and out over the large pond.

We pulled away and I continued scanning around the pond edge until suddenly I spotted them! Resting on a log, in the rain, over the far side of the pond. Just after I grabbed a couple of zoomed in shots (in case they disappeared before our eyes) the duck at the top jumped off into the water and started swimming away. 'Darn', I thought he was off to hide against bank in the darkness. But he stopped a little further up on another log and did a bit of dabbling before swimming on again.

This photo below (not zoomed) shows how hard it is was to spot them, they blend in very well- the two arrows point to the ducks resting on the logs after one had swum off. The dashes you can see all over the photos is the rain and it’s about to get worse. (Remember to click on the photos to see them enlarged)

The Blue Duck/Whio is one of New Zealand’s iconic species, it is rarer than the kiwi and is as well known the Takahe and the Kakapo, other highly threatened endemic birds. It’s a ‘poster boy’ & ambassador for our endangered species with many nationwide community protection projects in place. Genesis Energy have a long association in supporting and protecting Whio who inhabit many of the streams & rivers that supply our hydro energy. It is estimated that there are only 2000-3000 blue ducks remaining in the wild and unlike other threatened birds, whio can’t be moved to predator-free off shore islands, they rely on fast flowing alpine waterways to survive.

I wonder how many New Zealanders can name the bird that appears on our $10 bank note? A bank note that is coloured blue should be a good clue.

Our Whio, the one that had jumped off the log, carried on upstream swimming towards us along the opposite bank. Every time he disappeared behind the plants growing over the edge we thought he’d gone to hide but he’d then pop out further up stream. When he got to the narrower canal he started feeding over the rocks and under the water, working his way quickly upstream. When he dived under we could see him moving about on the stream bed before popping back up like a cork seconds later. We decided it was the male although they both are very similar in plumage. And that's now heavy rain you can see on the water.

Whio are river specialists, they inhabit clean, fast flowing streams in the forested upper catchments of the North and South Island mountain regions. They have several unique features; a streamlined head and large webbed feet with well-developed claws to enable them to feed in fast moving water. The upper bill has a thick semicircular, fleshy ‘lip’ allowing them to scrape insect larvae from rocks without injury. Even the ducklings have oversized feet & strong legs and are ready to swim in swift currents and jump onto large rocks & logs soon after hatching.

Whio mate for life and a pair will fiercely defend their territory which is usually a stretch of river up to 1.5km long. Our pair obviously have dibs on the pond and part of the hydro canal. And so far he is taking no notice of us on the other bank. David's quietly driving the ute along the track as we follow him upstream, I have my window down and the rain is pouring in and drenching everything on my side including me. But who cares. We've found whio!

Conditions were diabolical for taking photos- dark water and overhanging trees were the least of my worries. It was the worst possible weather conditions; by now it was gale force winds, torrential near horizontal rain and there's a thunderstorm raging above us. All of which tested my camera skills to the limit, all settings were wound out to the max in the end. But I am more than pleased with the results, even if they aren't that sharp.

At one stage he disappeared, so I quietly got out of the cab (sheltering my camera as best I could) and peered over the side and there he was standing on a rock below us. I’m not too sure who got the bigger surprise- him stretching his wings or me with my shutter speed to slow!

He wasn’t too perturbed….

….keeping a wary eye on me….

….before ducking his head under the water and giving the rock a going over……

…then checking me one last time…..

…..before swimming off.

He did disappear this time and the rain stopped about 5 minutes later (I was so mad with the weather, if only it had been clearer...but then he might have taken fright earlier or not in fact moved off the original log, so I should just be a little more thankful). What a thrill it was to finally see these beautiful Blue Ducks in their natural environment.

We hunted back and forward but couldn’t locate either duck again- the female having disappeared too. David did spot a large brown trout though.

Guess where we’re going today……

Orokonui Ecosanctuary

I have followed the success of the Orokonui Ecosanctuary for quite some time on Facebook so with a sunny day finally dawning in Dunedin we decided to pay the reserve a visit, although by the time we got sorted it was well into the afternoon before we left. Orokonui is located 20kms north of the city overlooking Blueskin Bay, it’s a 307 hectare mainland “island” surrounded by 9kms of pest exclusion fence. The 1.9 metre tall stainless steel mesh fence is designed to keep out all introduced mammals, at ground level a steel skirt stops burrowing animals and a curved hood on the top stops climbing animals like cats & possums from entering the reserve.

And what a magic place it turned out to be, a definite highlight of the journey so far and one we will definitely be returning to when we come back to Dunedin (I know, I know…..another thing to add to the ever growing list of re-runs; this trip may just last 3 years!)

We parked beside this friendly fellow who was obediently waiting on the tray of a ute. while his Dad was doing some landscape work near the carpark.

The visitors centre was stunning; facing north east to catch the all day sun, it fitted into the environment so well. There was a large café overlooking two small ponds & the bush further on along with many nature displays & exhibits on show inside. We entered the reserve through a two gate locking system (so a rodent couldn’t make a dash in with us) and with a well marked map were able to explore in our own time. The sanctuary also does guided tours both day & night.

We made our way to the top clearing first as that was where we’d seen two takahe striding through while we were putting our boots on at the car. Takahe are flightless birds that belong to the rail family. They are similar to our pukeko (NZ swamphen) but much larger and were once thought to be extinct. The last 4 birds were taken from their home in the Murchison Mountains near Te Anau in 1898. It wasn’t until 50 years later in 1948 that they were “re-discovered”. There are now 270 birds at various sanctuaries around NZ but they are still on the critically endangered list. The two Orokonui takahe came from the successful breeding population on Mana Island in Wellington Harbour.

Not far from the takahe was a small open enclosure with stacks of rocks, native grasses & mingimingi growing. This brightly painted Maori figure took centre stage.

And sunning themselves on the rocks in the mid afternoon sun were the largest lizards I have ever seen in New Zealand.

These are Otago Skinks, they can grow up to 300mm in length and are in fact the largest lizard in NZ. They are only found in the Otago region and are one of NZ’s rarest reptiles. I’ve never seen them before or even heard about them so this was a fascinating sight. They have beautiful & quite striking markings which is obviously why Southern Maori call them mokomoko (moko is a permanent body and face marking)

We walked a number of tracks through the thick regenerating bush in the reserve catching sight of the usual bush dwellers; tui, bellbirds, kereru, tomtits, warblers, robins and a noisy flock of kaka. Far down in the valley are the saddlebacks & the tallest tree in NZ; we didn’t have time to walk that route. Along with the kaka noise the bird song in the bush was amazing, how wonderful it would be to have all that noise throughout New Zealand’s bush & forests. On some of the bush walks we’ve done we’d be lucky to hear half a dozen bird calls. It’s quite sobering to realise how far introduced predators have decimated our native bird population.

This male bellbird (koromiko) was singing his beautiful tune from the top of a tall bush, no doubt trying to impress the ladies.

The track came out into a clearing towards the end and it was here that we heard a slightly familar but not often heard bird call. It sounded like a large cricket, clicking away in the tall grass. But no matter how long we stood there we could not locate the source and when we moved it stopped altogether. We decided to see if we could locate this tiny secretive bird up near the takahe, where we began our walk, on the aptly named Fernbird Track. For in fact the clicking noise we heard belongs to the fernbird (matata).

We followed the predator proof fence around past the visitor centre and up the rise to the top of the reserve again…..

….back past the takahe who were now out grazing on the grass in the warmth of a fast setting sun.

And then as we approached the skink enclosure we heard that familiar clicking again. It took David a few moments to locate which bush it was coming from and as he did out popped our very first sighting of a fernbird (matata). I managed to grab a couple of quick shots before it jumped down behind the rocks and quickly made it’s way towards & over the fence and disappeared just as quickly into the bush on the other side, fernbirds are poor flyers but very fast movers.

And they aren’t called fernbirds because they live in ferns, although they probably do, their main habitat is dense lowland or wetland scrub. They’re called fernbirds because their tails look like fern fronds, they’re quite soft & feathery and spike like the feathers we used to add to a headband to make us look like Indians when we played Cowboys & Indians as kids. My next mission is to photograph a bird & it’s tail feathers!

We hunted about & stayed watching for another 15 minutes or so but sadly we failed to sight a bird & we heard no more clicking either. Never mind we finished our visit on a high and I ticked another bird on my list.

The sanctuary closed at 4:30pm and we were the last ones out the gate. The tussock & toitoi had turned a golden bronze in the setting sun.

And as the cloud rolled in from the sea over the top of Mopanui & the birds continued their evening song we both agreed we will be back in the summer and explore all day. I might just manage to get that shot of that tail too.

Pukaha Mount Bruce

Pukaha Mt Bruce is a wildlife centre that runs an active breeding programme for New Zealand's rare & endangered native birds & reptiles. As avid birders we wanted to visit the centre on our way south, it was the main reason we choose to take SH2 to Wellington. The 942 hectares Mt Bruce reserve is the largest remnant of ancient forest that once stretched stretched  from Masterton to Norsewood. An extensive & continuous pest control programme had dramatically increased the population of birds in the forest including many of our endangered species; this involves over 130km of trap lines through the forest, 1000 bait stations for possums & rats and 500 traps for stoats & ferrets.

A pair of kakariki (red crowned parakeet) cosy up in one of the flight aviaries; they have already fledged five chicks this season & from this display I would say there will be more before the summer ends.

We arrived at 10am and even this late in the day the forest was alive with bird song. There are numerous large flight avaries near the entrance to the park along with a kiwi house. Many of  Mt Bruce's captive bred birds are released at other pest free sanctuaries around New Zealand, including Boundry Stream in Hawkes Bay & Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

One bird I was very keen to see was Manakura the rare white North Island Brown Kiwi. Manakura is two years old & is not albino, she is white because her parents have a rare recessive gene. In fact there have been two white kiwi hatched at Mt Bruce & there are likely to be more. Manakura was feeding in the kiwi house but spent quite a bit of time aggressively chasing a normal brown kiwi around the enclosure. No flash was allowed in the darkness of the make believe night time forest floor so this is what I got. A little more than what I heard a Canadian wife telling her husband he captured- “It’s totally black, you’ll have to go back & try again!”

We stopped by the tuatara display to watch a keeper feed the male & female a locust each, their only meal for the next 3 days. Tuatara spend most of their day staring into space hence the reason why they live to such a ripe old age & don't need much to eat. This pair are around 65 years old & all going well will live to be at least 150 years of age. Tuatara are rare, medium-sized reptiles found only in New Zealand. Most New Zealanders know that the tuatara is as ancient as the dinosaurs and a species that hasn’t changed in over 200 million years.

Next we watched one of the latest batch of kiwi chicks being force fed his dinner. This little guy has held out for 64 days, he is yet to get the hang of how you do it by yourself. Any day now the keepers are hoping that he’ll work it out so he can join his fellow new season chicks in the pre-release aviary in preparation for being moved to one of the numerous kiwi sanctuaries around New Zealand when he reaches one kilo in weight. At this weight he will be able defend himself against most predators & stands a good chance of reaching adulthood.

Isn't that the most cutest fluff ball you ever did see?

David decided to do the hour & half walk to a lookout at the top of the reserve but because of my feet I decided it might be a bit too much for me to cope with so I stayed behind to watch over 30 kaka fly in from all over the reserve to a feeding station. The kaka is a large parrot similar to the kea and just as destructive & comical. They are a beautiful dark glossy olive brown colour with a hint of iridescence and bronze with a splash of beautiful deep red coloured feathers under their wings.

The kaka have a wide vocal range, the bush & sky filled with their squawks, clucking & shrieks. Their keen acrobatics kept me entertained for nearly an hour as they swooped in low and long through the paths scaring a few people who were unaware of how close they were to their heads. They also chased each other through the bush & from branch to branch, some even ended up tussling on the ground.

We both enjoyed the visit although I think we’ve been spoilt a little by visiting so many other sanctuaries that aren’t quite so commercialized & involve avaried birds albeit for a good purpose. The kaka were the highlight for me & I was thrilled to see Manakura & the kiwi chick being fed. Hopefully somewhere down south, either Stewart Island or on the West Coast we will see a kiwi in the wild.