Cascade Creek- Fiordland National Park

Catch-up (Sept 2019) 

It's purely by coincidence that my next few blogs are from our visit along the Milford Road back in September. Sadly in the past week a major rain storm has severely damaged the Milford Road, many tramping tracks and the Milford village with flooding, washouts, landslides and slips. An incredible 1.2 metres of rain, 240% of Fiordland's monthly rainfall at this time of the year has fallen in just five days. 

We left Winton, after staying with our Southland family for a few weeks, and headed west through Nightcaps and Ohai before coming out on SH99 at Clifden.

Clifden Suspension Bridge

We were heading on to Te Anau and then up the Milford Road for another visit to Fiordland National Park. We stopped at the freedom camping area beside the historic Clifden Suspension Bridge for lunch. Since we were last here the Southland District Council have improved the parking (and camping) area, opening it up, leveling, graveling and tidying up the plantings around the edge of the site.

This sign beside the entrance to the bridge (which is pedestrian only) made me smile- 

'Louie's Daffodil. I am 5 year's old. $2 Thankyou this money is for a motorbike.'

The daffodil bucket was empty and inside the yoghurt container, with a large slot in the top, I could see several gold coins. What an entrepreneurial young lad. And a trusting one too. I was worried that someone would come along and steal his money, there was only one house within view of the bridge and that was about 500 metres away up a farm track.

We stayed at the Te Anau NZMCA Park for a few days while we waited for the weather to settle. We've stayed here during the colder months several times in the past and   with very few neighbours. Only the hardy (or mad) brave Southland winters.

We strolled along the lake front and into town for lunch once the weather cleared...

...and then walked further along the lake front to check out the marina. The lake level was much lower than we'd ever seen it before (after this latest weather event it will no doubt be very full, possibly right up to the top of the marina walls).

One of the reasons I wanted to visit the marina again was to check on a Australasian Crested Grebe pair that had nested in the marina a couple of years ago. I thought they might have been nesting again but there was no sign of them this early in the season. 

We headed off up the Milford Road on a stunning blue sky day, and even though we have stopped at all the scenic viewpoints & attractions several times before,  we stop again 'just in case', just in case the view has changed, there are no people to get in the way, the weather is better, there's snow etc, etc. Some of my best shots are from 'just in case' times.

Although this time at the Eglinton Valley viewpoint I have to share the view with several busloads of tourists (which also means they'll be stopping at all the attractions further up the valley).

I walked out towards the middle, away from the 'crowd' and captured a couple who had also moved away from their fellow passengers, they give some perspective to the grand expanse of the valley. Eglinton Valley was carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago, now the Milford Road runs alongside the Eglinton River up through the valley for it's entire length.

We pull out before the buses have gathered together their passengers. Our next stop near the top of the valley is at the famous Mirror Lakes. The buses soon catch us up and disgorge their passengers en-masse. I weave my way through the tourists as they slowly meander along the short board walk while David (who's seen it all before) drives the rig to the other end of the walk and lines up with the buses who have done the same.

Many of the tourists are taking selfies along the way or have no interest in the lakes and are chatting with their friends in small groups blocking a way through the throng. I can see that there are no reflections on the Mirror Lake today, a light breeze is ruffling the water along with a few NZ Scaups (a small diving duck). I maneuver my way to the front of the platform, take a couple of shots and then hurry along the boardwalk passing through just as many tourists coming in from the other end.  

We beat the buses back onto the road and have a clear run through to the DOC camp at Cascade Creek we're we'll be staying for a few days. 

The camp is empty and it's had a major overhaul since our last visit. I had heard that this was being done and was worried that herding campers into gravel parking areas and marking out the camping spaces would detract from the natural setting and wide open spaces of the old camp where you could park up wherever you liked. With over a hundred & twenty vehicles staying here during the height of the summer season I'd hoped it wasn't going to be little more than a large gravel carpark.

 I was pleasantly surprised to see that this wasn't the case at all and in fact it had been very well done. There were multiple large landscaped parking areas with picnic tables, dining shelters and toilet blocks strategically located throughout the camp.  This was pleasing to see as there was just 2 or 3 longdrop toilets in the old camp, nowhere near enough to service the number of people staying on a busy night. 

Although it was disappointing to find that the toilets, except for one at the entrance, were all locked up. 

Eglinton River & Cascade Creek DOC Camp

We drove to the far end of the camp and parked beside Cascade Creek looking south down the Eglinton Valley. This was the fabulous view from our front door-

We had great weather for the first couple of days, waking each morning to low cloud clinging to the surrounding mountains before it lifted and cleared for the day.

And then one night it got very cold, the next morning snow covered the mountains in the distance...

...with a nice dusting on the bush clad slopes surrounding Cascade Creek.

By the end of the day the temperature had taken another dive and we had both diesel heaters keeping the freezing cold out of the van as the wind howled and swirled outside. Just as daylight faded snow started to splatter against the sides of the rig.

On opening the door the next morning I was greeted by a snow covered doormat & steps ...

...and this stunning view, it wasn't the solid whiteout I was expecting (and hoping for) after the sound of snow falling on and off all night but it was still a good dusting.

It was easy to see which way the wind had been blowing though, the south side of the ute and 'out There' were coated in snow, it looked like someone had sprayed the sides with one of those whipped cream cans.

With my fluffy white dressing gown and gumboots on (looking very much like the abominable snowman), I headed off to take photos around the camp before the snow melted.

I walked to the far side of the camp crossing over the Eglington River, which flows from Lake Gunn and borders the west side of the campground, so I could take a photo looking back over the camp.

While I was taking photos I was surprised to find a pair of Tomtits/Miromiro flitting about in the long grasses very close by and I managed to take a few photos before they moved off into the bush. Female tomtits (left & right) are notoriously shy so I was pleased to be able to capture her up close while this time the male (centre) was less confiding. I have no idea how these tiny birds survive the harsh winters.

Puffed up against the cold, this Welcome Swallow watched me from a log in the river as I stomped about in the grasses chasing the tomtits.

Soon after taking the bird photos, I was thinking I should really get back home before I get caught out, far away from the rig, in my fluffy white dressing gown and gumboots. 

Back in the safety of doorway I took a few panoramic photos of our view before retreating inside to the cosy warmth. By mid afternoon the snow had melted and the camp returned to it's usual bush greens and rustic tussock colours; campers arriving later in the day oblivious to the stunning beauty of the morning. 

In the next blog you'll see photos from the Lake Marian swingbridge which has now been washed away, and photos of  a gently flowing Hollyford River which has now contributed to some major damage in the area.

One Brown Creeper, Two Swallows

The next couple of posts are all about birds; birds we saw at Whites Bay, Marlborough before we crossed over to the North Island and birds we saw at Zealandia in Wellington, after our visit with the most famous bird of all, Sirocco the Kakapo.

This is a Brown Creeper/Pīpipi, and some have said that this is the one of the hardest birds in New Zealand to photograph, and I would have to agree with them.

Brown Creepers are endemic and are found in a wide range of forest and scrubby habitats in the South Island only. I saw my first and, up until now, last Brown Creepers when we visited Weatherstons goldfield near Lawrence a year or so ago. They are a small, noisy flocking bird seldom seen but often heard as they pass through the forest canopy high above. They rarely stop for long as the noisy chattering flock moves quickly on through the forest, feeding.

I was lucky enough to spot half a dozen birds making their way through the bush near the van & at window height, while we were parked in the DOC camp at Whites Bay- one of the advantages of having dark tinted windows is people & birds can’t see in.

At first I was thinking what are those birds, they don’t look familiar. Then I couldn’t believe my luck as it dawned on me, they were Brown Creepers! I was out the door and following their chatter over to a stand of bush on the inside of the campground. I spent the next couple of hours trying to get the ‘money shot’. I got plenty of ‘bum shots’; they are quite shy and hide their heads well. They are also fast moving and with the dark bush it was hard to catch them, and in fact I had a fair few empty frame shots or shots with just the last couple of centimetres of their tail feathers as they disappeared out of frame.

Brown Creepers are insectivorous, but do eat some fruit. Their main prey are beetles, spiders, moths and caterpillars and I think they were catching insects attracted to flowering Five-finger (Pseudopanax arboreus) here. And that's what held them in the area for awhile, a plentiful food source. They were certainly cute little birds, I loved their bandit eye stripe and long legs.

Quietly moving about on the ground around me while I was targeting the Brown Creepers was another very shy bird, the introduced Dunnock or Hedge Sparrow who has the most beautiful song. This one wasn’t as shy as most I’ve come across and followed along as I moved around the bush. It stayed nearby all the time I was looking up but when I looked down at it, it would quickly move into the undergrowth until I moved on. Then it would appear again. I think it was probably catching the insects I was disturbing.

There were a couple of puddles of water & mud on the track at Whites Bay with two Welcome Swallows doing circuits collecting mud for their nest building. In fact there were three couples trying to collect mud but one pair spent most of their time chasing the others off. I tried to catch them a few times but they were disturbed easily and I couldn’t get close enough for any decent shots. Even after I re-filled their puddle with water when it dried out.

So I was thrilled to find another pair collecting mud from a puddle beside the road at Rarangi when we moved over the hill to the DOC camp there.

And this pair didn’t have any competitors so they were free to spend all day flying back and forward from their nest site to the puddle without any interruption.

Which meant I could lay in wait for them knowing that they would be back every 5 minutes or so. They were flying a large circuit from a rock wall near the beach, across a carpark, then the campground to the road edge. And this time I had a couple of small bushes to hide behind while I waited for their return. They could see me when I stepped out to take the photo but they didn’t seem to be too fazed.

They took an occasional brief rest together on a large piece of driftwood on the beach but then they’d be quickly back to the task at hand, always arriving at and leaving the puddle together, keeping in contact all the way with quiet chattering.

Welcome Swallows are a self introduced species from Australia, they first appeared in the North Island in the late 1950s and increased greatly through the 60s and 70s until now they are very common throughout New Zealand.

If you look closely you can see that the mud is collected on the top of the bill, they sort of head-butt the mud pushing the bill through so it mounds up on top, which is much faster than trying to peck at it and carry it home. They would also collect a lot more doing it this way.

And as most would know that have tried to catch the swallow in flight, it’s a very hard thing to do. They are tiny and extremely fast flyers weaving and ducking and diving. I did have the advantage of knowing that they would be leaving or arriving at the puddle but it was still very hard to lock the focus on them as they flew in and out. Most of these photos were taken at a shutter speed of 1/2000 to 1/2500 and still the wings are a little blurred. Still blurred wings gives a sense of movement so I’m happy with them.

Don't forget to click on the photos to enlarge, if you want to have a closer look.

Spoonbills & other birds

After exploring closer to home we drove right around to the other side of the harbour, directly across from our campsite but about 15kms by road. David had seen a vehicle parked up on the beach a few times and wanted to check out what was there (we think they must have been gathering paua (NZ abalone) as there was a large area of flat rocky outcrops & pools jutting out into the sea). It was with great surprise that in amongst the usual shore waders feeding in the low tide rock pools we found a flock of eleven Royal Spoonbills very resplendent in their breeding plumage of yellow breast patch, bright yellow spots above the eyes & head plumes.

Spoonbills are quite rare in New Zealand although there are quite a few pockets of birds around the country including a large flock of about 30 birds that spend a lot of time in & near the Ahuriri Estuary in Napier. Having only seen these ones before and out of the breeding season it was great to see the changes in their plumage.

That's the sealion beach off in the distance.

The eye spots are a little bit creepy, they are iridescent yellow & give the impression that they're looking at you all the time. Which I guess they are if you could see their black eyes underneath.

The bird below on the left had a lot of bling on her legs; banded, & female because she was noticeably smaller.

We later saw another half a dozen or so spoonbill feeding on the mudflats further up the harbour & over the other side on our way home so is probably a good sized flock in the area. When we come back we'll have to explore more.

And back we'll definitely be coming. This time we concentrated mainly on seeking out the sealions but the area also had many birds that I would loved to have got some great shots of. As it was these were "just in passing". 

A Bellbird (Korimako)- feeding on flax flowers

That big fat Wood Pigeon (Kereru) again

We passed this family of variable oystercatchers ( Torea-pango) on the way to the sealions

This Welcome Swallow had a nest under the foot bridge below our camp site, it & it's mate flew out distressed every time somebody walked over or near the bridge. On one occasion we watched as a stoat ran across the bridge then down onto the rocks and along the edge of the stream. The swallows flew along dive bombing it all the way. We knew there were stoats in the area as the day we arrived a stoat was caught in a cage trap at the end of the garden just above the bridge. The campground has an active pest control programme & it seems to be working. I know they are terrible predators on our birdlife but I couldn't help thinking about the kits the caught stoat would have had back in the nest wondering when Mum was going to get home. I figured it was Dad out looking for her the next day!



And this is a dunnock (with a moth in its bill) also known as a hedge sparrow. They are not so frequent up north although we have seen a few around the Central Plateau area, they have a wonderful song & like to sit right on the tip of a tree & sing their heart out. They are an introduced species and seemed to be quite plentiful the further south we move. They are quite shy & like to keep to the undergrowth although this one was searching around the rocks for dinner. A number of them were feeding on the grass seed.

And finally, not a bird but a bug. A huhu beetle that took up residence for a short while in our outside shoe box.