Today, with a new bird-watching friend, H, I visited the Waipū Bird Sanctuary. We saw lots of Oystercatchers, Godwits, gulls, NZ Dotterels, ducks and a few other birds, but of particular note was a bird new to me — the Ruddy turnstone 🐦 :

An annual circumpolar breeder on Arctic and subarctic tundra, the ruddy turnstone is one of around 40 Arctic breeding wading bird species that migrate south and reach New Zealand.

The ruddy turnstone is a distinctive medium-sized, stocky dotterel-like wading bird with a short bill, short neck and short orange-red legs. It has 'tortoiseshell' plumage on the back.