NZ Dotterel At The Waiongana River Mouth
On Friday morning I headed off to the Waiongana river mouth to check up on the NZ dotterels. These are wonderful little shore birds now only found in a few locations along the Taranaki coastline due to coastal development and human activity.
The tide was out and it took me a while to spot were they were foraging amongst the rocks. Once I did spot them I carefully headed out slowly getting as close as I dared not wanting to disturb them. There was a group of 3 and after a few minutes they all started heading my way as they foraged along the foreshore. I ended up retreating several times trying to keep the light on the right side.
I spent close to two hours watching first the group of 3 and then another pair further along the coast who again seemed unfazed by my presence coning right up to within less than a meter of my position.
There were also a couple of pairs of variable oyster catcher, some swans with signets in the lagoon and a pair of caspian tern so it was a great mornings bird watching.
A New Zealand Dotterel (tuturiwhatu) in full breeding plumage.
This pair spent quite some time scavanging and squabling over some crab remains that I assume were left by a gull.
Variable Oyster Catcher - crossing swords
Pair of caspian terns with plenty to talk about.
A couple of half grown black swan signets.
Recent Posts
-
The Milford Track
For the last few years my daughter Sarah, her fiance Sach and myself have been completing a great w …13th Feb 2024 -
The Waikaremoana Great Walk
We had originally planned to walk the Waikaremoana track in Februrary 2022 but with uncertainty over …31st Jan 2023 -
The Routeburn Track
We were going to walk the Waikaremoana Track this February but had concerns that the track might not …27th Feb 2022