| Birding
On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002 Emmalee Tarry |
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New Zealand South Island East Coast |
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In Dunedin I visited the train station. It is a remarkable preservation with stained glass and tiles. The Dunedin YHA near the city center, was filled with a school group from Timaru. The director of the YHA kindly upgraded me to a private room at the same cost as the female dorm so I was spared sharing a room with the kids. There were some other interesting people at the YHA that night including two couples from India and two school teachers from Malaysia.
Tairoa Head Albatross Colony
The next morning I drove the length of the Otago Peninsula stopping first at Hoopers Inlet on a rising tide. There were Pied Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwit, Pied Stilt, Spur-winged Plover, White-faced Heron, Black Swans.
The main attraction of the Otago Peninsula is Tairoa Head and the Northern Royal Albatross Colony there. Unfortunately it is November 11 and the viewing platform in the colony is closed every year from September 23 to November 24 because the birds are selecting nesting sites and they want to encourage them to select sites near the viewing platform.
There is a visitors center with films about the birds and a tour for NZ$15 of the restored fort which features a huge disappearing gun. From the visitors center you take a path up to the fort. The path to the albatross viewing platform branches off this path. Usually the tour will do both the albatross and the fort.
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The lighthouse at Tairoa Head built in 1850 was preceded by
a Maori settlement. Later in the century the fort was built when it was feared
that the Russians would expand in the area. There is no mention of an Albatross colony on Tairoa Head during this time. And nobody knows why in 1920 a pair of Royal Albatross built a nest and laid an egg. It was stolen, but the birds persisted and laid again next year. Predators and humans continued to take the eggs until in 1935 the first chick was hatched. That chick was killed. The Albatross colony became an attraction and carriages brought people out from Dunedin to see the nest. |
| In 1936, Dr. L.E. Richdale found the Albatross incubating an
egg and resoled to protect the birds. He began to camp out on Tairoa Head
alongside the nest. In 1938 the first young Albatross flew from the
nest. Here a pair of Royal Albatross on their nest site taken from the boat trip later in the afternoon. |
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I was disappointed that the albatross viewing platform was
closed, but took the fort tour anyway. From the observation window of the fort
I watched the Albatross while the guide was explaining the history of the fort.
On the grass outside the window Skylarks were putting on good show as
well. On the ocean I saw thousands of Sooty Shearwaters flying back and
forth. There is also a boat trip. This is a picture of the Albatross Viewing platform taken from the boat. The white spots on the grass are either Royal Albatross or Black-backed Gulls. |
| I took the boat trip on the Monarch for NZ$26.On the boat
trip thousands of Sooty Shearwaters were flying over the ocean just
outside Tairoa Head. Other birds seen on the boat trip were: Stewart Island Shag, Royal Albatross, White-fronted Tern, Silver Gull, Black-backed Gull, Little Penguin. You will also see Fur Seals on this trip. |
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This is a shot of a Royal Albatross taken from the boat. If this captain would get the idea to use a basket of frozen chum like the boat at Kaikoura this boat trip could certainly rival Albatross Encounters. |
The Otago Peninsula was once covered with forest and home to many Yellow-eyed Penguins. Extensive sheep farming cut the forest to the water edge restricting the penguins to nests high on the rugged hills. The more energy penguins have to expend climbing to the nests, the less productive they are and remember these penguins return to the nest every night.
A tour operator and a farmer cooperated in a private conservation effort to build an artificial penguin nesting reserve of 27 hectares right in an existing sheep pasture. The tour NZ$28 starts with a film and a lecture by the guide. A bus takes you across the ridge where you walk down to the colony first on a path and then through a covered tunnel to a dugout from which you can observe penguins sitting on their nests in artificial shelters. Fencing keeps dogs out and sheep in and trapping is used to remove feral cats. The tour guide said that "We want sheep, penguins, and people there. Nothing else."
Even if you have seen the penguins at Omaru, you may enjoy seeing this excellent example of cooperative conservation between agriculture and tourism.
| Yellow-eyed Penguin Conservation Reserve PO Box 963 Dunedin, NZ |
Phone (03) 478-0286 www.penguin-place.co.nz |
Sinclair Wetlands
On the way to Invercargill, I saw a sign for the Sinclair Wetlands and followed it down a paved road and then 14 km along a gravel road. It was a rainy day. There is a bunk house here and powered camp sites. This is owned and run by the Maori. The guide books mentions seeing Fernbird here, but I was not able to find it and the attendant was totally uninterested in helping me unless I paid to view a video. I didn't mind paying a few dollars to see the wetlands but I was not interested in seeing the video. He didn't understand this and refused to answer any more questions like where do I see the Fernbird? This is a good place for ducks and duck hunting is their big season April - May. My distinct impression is that management is not interesting in bird watching.
I walked the dikes and saw: Canada Goose, Cape Barren Goose, Pied Oystercatcher, Grey Teal, Australian Shoveler, New Zealand Scalp, Paradise Shelduck, Purple Swamphen, Yellowhammer, Song Thrush, Spur-winged Plover, Common Blackbird.
Stewart Island Ferry
I visited the Invercargill museum where the main attraction is the living Tuatara exhibit. The Tuatara is a reptile that looks like an ordinary lizard, but actually belongs to the order Sphenodontia most of which became extinct with the dinosaurs. These remarkable animals are said to live 200 or more years and are mainly nocturnal. They were quite widespread in New Zealand but of course now are very endangered.
The YHA in Invercargill is called the Tuatara. It is in downtown Invercargill next to the library and a parking garage. On the second floor of a building, it was recently renovated and was one of the nicest YHA facilities. Parking is a problem as they have only a small lot behind the building and during the daytime it is usually filled with workers cars. There is a parking garage next door.
It was here that I tried to make reservations to see the Kiwi on Stewart Island only to find out that at this time of the year, the trips are fully booked. There are several big tour groups in New Zealand at this time and they may have filled the Stewart Island trips. There is an operator offering a kiwi trip that requires 12 km of walking at night. She will offer the trip if at least 2 people sign up. I afraid that 24 km in one night is more than I can do.
I am extremely disappointed, but decide to go to Stewart Island anyway. There is no YHA on Stewart Island at present although there are plans to add one. The manager makes a reservation for me at a Backpackers called Ann's Place.
The ferry leaves from Bluff at 9 AM an easy half hour drive from Invercargill. The cost is NZ$70 for YHA guests and the YHA will make your reservation. There is secure parking at the ferry terminal and I left my car there. I don't remember exactly what the parking cost but it seems like about NZ$13.
It is a nice .boat with an outside lower deck. The trip takes about an hour. On the way over I saw several smaller Albatross, Cape Petrel, and lots of Sooty Shearwaters.
On Stewart Island I took a taxi to Ann's Place which is not far from the boat dock but up and over a steep hill. I got there early in the morning and was able to select a bed. No bedding is provided here so I needed my sheets and sleeping bag. Ann's Place is good for birds. Tui were all over her garden. I dumped my stuff and walked back into town. I saw Chaffinch, Tomtit, Black Oystercatcher, Kingfisher, Kaka, Bellbirds.
At the information center I made arrangements for a taxi ride to the Golden Bay boat dock and a water taxi to Ulva Island for the next day. I tried again to get on the Kiwi tours with no success.
Ulva Island
The next morning it was cold and threatening to rain. The water taxi is a very short ride to the dock at Ulva Island. There is a company that gives guided tours of the island and I could have opted to get on the tour, but decided to go it alone.
Ulva is an open island sanctuary like Tiritiri Mantangi. Rats have been eliminated and endangered birds like the Saddleback and Brown Kiwi have been introduced here. At the information center on the main island I bought a guide book to the tracks on Ulva Island.
You cannot miss the Weka a large flightless rail. You will most likely see your first Weka on the beach as you arrive. The Kaka is a large parrot which I actually saw back at Ann's Place, but also saw here on the island. Also Tomtit, Red-crowned Parakeet, Yellow-crowned Parakeet, Bellbirds. There are beautiful tracks to follow on the island. Just make sure you are back at the dock at the arranged time for the return trip. I was disappointed not to see the Stewart Island Robin. Sixteen robins were released on Ulva in 2000. The tour guide and several other people claimed to have seen it, but every bird I saw was the similar Tomtit with white on the wings.
Back on Stewart Island, I walked back up the steep hill from Golden Bay to a shop at the top called the Fernery. I went across the street to a public toilet in the community ball field. I closed the door to the toilet, but did not try to lock it. I didn't need to because when I tried to get out I was locked in and no one was around. All I could do was stand on the toilet and yell "Help" out the window. This went on for over a half hour. Just when I was thinking about how cold and uncomfortable I would be in the toilet all night, two young men heard me calling and came to investigate. One of them kicked the door open. I went to the information center and reported the problem. It turned out the same thing had happened the day before to a worker from the shop across the street. I raised quite a fuss about this incident reporting it to the store owner and to the owner of Anns Place. If there is a lesson here it is to not close the toilet door when you are alone.
On the return ferry trip I saw 3 Fluttering Shearwaters and more Sooty Shearwaters.
End: South Island - East Coast
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