This morning I joined a couple of other members of the Horowhenua branch of Forest and Bird to do a bird count at Waikawa Beach estuary. We don't have so many birds around at the moment, but along with the usuals we spotted a flock of maybe 60 white-fronted terns, and also 5 banded dotterels. 🙌🏼 🐦

Pied Stilt (and friend). 🐦

This Pied Shag kept an eye on me while drying its wings at the beach. 🐦

From Queenstown we travelled to Te Anau where I was able to spend a few minutes walking round Punanga Manu | the bird sanctuary. I had a wonderful close-up view of a total of 5 takahē. 🐦

Yesterday I took a bunch of rubbish photos at the beach. Today I applied more thought. A pair of white-faced herons was keeping an eye on my process. 🐦

This Paradise Shelduck pair stood out on the lake today. 🐦

I haven't visited the beach with my camera so much lately — many of the birds have gone. Today I took the camera and captured this Tarapunga | Red-billed gull. 🐦

At the Te Anau bird sanctuary I spotted Takahē and Whio (Blue Duck). 🐦

Punanga Manu o Te Anau/Te Anau Bird Sanctuary

So cool 🐦 : 3D printed eggs used in fairy tern rescue programme | RNZ News:

Staff remove the [real] eggs, take them to incubators at Auckland Zoo, and the terns continue incubating what they thought were their eggs.

… a record-breaking breeding season with 22 eggs laid and 14 chicks successfully hatched.

On the beach yesterday. 🐦

Waves? What waves? 🐦

Waikawa Beach, Aotearoa, for the Pacific Wave Appreciation Society. 🌊

There was one Ngutupapa | Royal Spoonbill at Kuku Beach this morning. 🐦

Kuku Beach Estuary is a 3.5 Km walk north along the beach, but I drove there by road this morning. A local told me there had been a lot of birds there yesterday, but today there weren't so many. Lots of ducks though. 🐦

Chilly at the beach this dawn. We're now in one of the official Autumns. 🐦

Through the window. A rather scruffy looking Starling. 🐦

Half a dozen Kōurarini | European goldfinches were outside my bedroom window this morning. 🐦

Not sure I've seen a dozen or more Poaka | Pied Stilt all together at our beach before. 🐦

Bird footprints on the beach. 🐦

There is a small group of Warou | Welcome swallows who spend a proportion of their days perched on the deck railing, about 3 metres away, watching Miraz TV. Sometimes they also air their opinions on the failings of the plot or characterisation. 🐦

I took this photo the other day of Kuaka | Godwits in breeding plumage. Do you like the halo? 🐦

Today's bird, on Lake Te Puna a te Ora: Kuruwhengi | Australasian shoveler. 🐦

New Zealand status: Native; Conservation status: Not Threatened

Shovelers are specialist filter-feeding waterfowl with a large spoon-shaped or shovel-shaped bill that is almost twice as broad at its tip than at its base

Some of my Micro.Blog pals might be interested in reading this Waikawa News blog post: Who are all those birds in the Estuary? 🐦

See photos of the 21 birds that commonly use our estuary — excludes common birds like ducks, magpies etc.

Sample bird:

For those who just want the pretty pictures — 🐦

A juvenile Tarapirohe | Black-fronted Tern.

New Zealand status: Endemic

Conservation status: Nationally Endangered

Length: 28 cm; Weight: 95 g;

More at Juvenile Black-fronted Tern.

At this time of year we see flocks of White-fronted Terns hanging out in the estuary near the sea, but on 22 February 2024 this bird was sitting apart from the flock. Looking closer, it was a bit different, but has been confirmed as a juvenile Tarapirohe | Black-fronted Tern. That's a new addition to the Waikawa Beach Big List of Birds. 🐦

New Zealand status: Endemic

Conservation status: Nationally Endangered

Length: 28 cm; Weight: 95 g;

A medium-small blue-grey tern with a forked tail, short orange legs and bright orange pointed decurved bill. Breeding adults have pale blue-grey body plumage contrasting with a black cap and narrow white cheek stripe; non-breeding adults have a mottled grey cap, a black patch around the eye and ear coverts, and a black-tipped bill.

It's so encouraging this summer to see the estuary full of birds from the land to the sea and north and south of the river. There's a very young new Oystercatcher chick running round too, bringing the total of Pied Stilt and Oystercatcher chicks that have survived to 6.

I'm certain that one reason the birds have been so abundant this summer is that the easy access for vehicles to the beach has been blocked off. People have still been sometimes illegally accessing the beach through a track from one nearby property, through council land and destroying several metres of recently planted spinifex.

Some locals also carved a vehicle track through a pedestrian-only Reserve, even using a chainsaw to cut down a post that was in their way. Council ended up installing three signs warning vehicles off, but these vehicle-addled locals just laugh as they drive through anyway. Witnesses have reported some to the Police and to the Council.

The overall effect of the official entrance being closed though has been to very much reduce disturbance of the wildlife by vehicles.

Tarāpuka | Black-billed gull 🐦 :

The black-billed gull is found only in New Zealand … The black-billed gull is more slender than the red-billed gull, with a longer bill. Breeding adults have a white head, neck, rump, tail and underparts, and pale silver-grey wings and back.