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Chapter 18 North Island New Zealand North Island Wellington Mount Bruce Wildlife Center Napier Cape Kidnappers Gannet Colony Lake Taupo Geothermal Steam Plant Rotorua Miranda Shorebird Center How To Find The Wrybill Wrybill

Australian Gannet Colony in the saddle at Cape Kidnappers

North Island Tour I spent two nights in Wellington then drove north to Napier on Hawkes Bay to visit Cape Kidnappers and then inland to Taupo and Rotorua to look for Blue Duck and to tour the geothermal areas. . I continued north to Miranda on the Firth of Thames to look for shorebirds and then north through Auckland to the Bay of Islands where I visited Arhoa Island. The trip ended in Auckland.

I took the more expensive tour NZ$40 using 4-wheel drive vans. The trip over the Summerlee Station Ranch takes and hour and half . There are views down into the steep canyons and sweeping views of Hawkes Bay on the way out. As you can see you end up right at the edge of colony. The whole peninsula has been sold and will be developed as a golf resort for the rich and famous. The new owner is environmentally aware and is going to preserve the Gannet colony. He has already started replanting huge areas with native vegetation. The sheep ranch is also going to be preserved.

The overland trip takes you right next to the upper Gannet colony where you can take close pictures of the nesting birds like the ones on this page. The picture at the top of the page is the overview of the saddle colony as seen from the upper colony. There are some 6,500 Gannet here in 4 colonies. Two of the smaller colonies are on the beach.

Gannet Colony

This was my third visit to a Gannetry having seen the Northern Gannet at both Bonaventure Island and Cape St. Mary's in Newfoundland. I visited Cape Kidnappers during the first week of December. At that time some pairs had chicks as you can see in the picture to the left..

Other birds are sitting on eggs. Visitors do not need to disturb the birds in any way. If you just stand still and watch you will eventually be able to see birds at all stages of the life cycle. You do not need a fancy lens to take pictures. Any point and shoot camera will do.

Still other pairs were playing the matting game. Look for mating displays like skypointing and strutting. A Gannet colony is a busy and fascinating place. The Australasian Gannet has a rich golden color on the head in breeding plumage. Notice the white edges to the black tail.

From Taupo, follow the lake shore south on Route 1 to Turangi and then continue south for 7 KM. You will pass the National Trout Farm on the left before coming to a small bridge over the river. Immediately on the left beyond the bridge is a small parking area. Pull in the parking lot. Behind you as you face south you will see an unpaved road that goes into a fishing area known as the Blue Hole. Follow the unpaved road through the woods avoiding a left branch until you come to a small parking area. Get out and look for the Blue Duck here. If you don't see it proceed down the unpaved road to the next parking area where there are some toilets. From here you want to start scanning the river for the duck. There is a track along the river you can walk.

Geothermal Steam Plant and Prawn Farm. The Craters of the Moon geothermal area is a short distance north of Taupo. From the entrance, the whole area seems to be smoking. Walk along the boardwalks to look into the vents and boiling mud pools. There used to be a single geyser here before the power plant next door was constructed to tap into the super heated water to produce electricity.

Just north of Craters of the Moon the geothermal power plant is open to the public. Drive through the plant to the visitor's lookout. Apparently the government isn't very worried about 9/11 here. The power plant taps very hot water from underground and releases cooler but still hot water into the creek across the street. A prawn farm uses the still hot water from the power plant to raise Malaysian freshwater prawns (shrimp).

I took a guided tour of the prawn farm. The just hatched prawns are kept in sterile tanks inside a shed until they are large enough to be placed in the outside pools. Waders and shags are attracted to the outside tanks which are covered with algae. The prawns hide under the algae in the pools so the guide assured me they do not worry about the birds. At night they use an air gun to keep birds from roosting in the pools. There were cormorants and a few herons in the outdoor tanks. All the prawns raised here are consumed in the farm restaurant where a plate of prawns served hot with garlic butter the way we eat lobster goes for NZ$28.

At the lake at the bottom of the hill were New Zealand Dabchicks the only time I had them on the trip. Also Black Swans, Black-billed Gulls, Little Black Cormorant, Grey Teal, Pied Stilt, Kingfisher, and White-faced Heron. A bus takes you back up the hill to the parking area.

There is a large park on the lake at Rotorua. At Sulfur Point there were many birds including many Black Swans, Cormorants, and gulls.

Both Red-billed and Black-billed Gulls can be found on the lake at Rotarua. You have to be careful because immature Red-billed Gulls have black bills. I believe the gull in the back to be a Black-billed Gull

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Miranda Shorebird Center

Miranda is a short drive north of Rotorua on the Firth of Thames. I arrived just before noon and went to the Miranda Shorebird Center to get information about finding the Wrybill. Last winter when I was on the North Island there were probably 2,500 Wrybills here. Now in November, the attendant tells me there are only 50 or so and I will be lucky to see even one.

.I arrived about an hour before high tide. I asked about where to go and how to see the Wrybill. The attendant was most unresponsive. He answered questions as briefly as possible and then went back to reading his newspaper volunteering nothing. I couldn't figure out this attitude. There was another American (not a serious birder) in the center asking questions about birding opportunities for children at the time and he was getting the same treatment. Perhaps the attendant  wanted me to pay him for a guided tour, but he never mentioned any guiding opportunity. Maybe he just doesn't think it is cool to look only for the Wrybill. Birders from the northern hemisphere have many chances to see the other shorebirds. The Wrybill is the New Zealand endemic you must see while you are here. Center information sheet lists the Wrybill and the New Zealand Dotterel as target birds at Miranda.

I bought a map of the Miranda Coast for NZ$2 and purchased a book. There was also a contribution box, but the attendant's attitude was no inducement to making a contribution. Everybody has a bad day. I hope this was not an example of how birders are regularly treated here. I think anyone who comes half way around the world deserves better.

According to the map and guide I bought at the shorebird center, summer is from September to March. Winter runs from March to September. Large numbers of Wrybill ( 2,500) arrive in January and February. They are often hard to find at roost. They return to feed in the bay by the hide on a falling tide. During the summer there are generally less than 30 in the area.

Tony's group had their scopes on the bird when I arrived and they kindly shared with me before I was able to get my scope on it. The bird is amazingly hard to see because it blends with the shell beach perfectly. I was very grateful to Tony for sharing with me. These are the shell flats on the north side of Taamaire Creek where I finally saw the Wrybill. Position yourself just on the other side of the high bank from which this picture was taken. Charging down to the creek edge will probably ruin your chances of seeing the bird and the other side of the creek is out of bounds.

The Wrybill Anarhynchus frontalis is a New Zealand endemic. It breeds on the wide, shallow river banks of the south island and disburses to the north during the winter. It is the only bird in which the end of the long bill curves right. In this picture of the Wrybill the bill appears long and straight. You can only see the curved bill when it turns its head toward you.. This bird was one of the highlights of the trip. Thank you Tony Clarke and group for your help.