Thu, Dec 12 - Wonderful Birding!

After breakfast Russell told us to cross the street and walk through the yacht club harbor to find the beginning of a series of trails that follow the coast line.  We set off in brilliant sunshine, climbed a ways through woods and wildflowers for about a mile and descended to Bob’s Beach and watched an enormous ferry from Wellington pass by.  We climbed up to the ridge line for great views of the fiords and returned back to the B&B to pick up our gear for our pelagic birding trip at 1 PM.

Bob at Bob's Beach

 Russell gave us a lift to the bakery in town where we picked up some sandwiches.  We proceeded to the harbor and checked into Dolphin Watch and Nature Tours and joined ten  others on a comfortable cabin cruiser for a birding trip up the Queen Charlotte Sound. John, our captain, and Kate, our guide, pointed out various features as we cruised along.  We were hoping to see the rare King Shag, a large black and white cormorant of which only 600 individuals exist and only here in the Marlborough Sounds.  They pointed out some Spotted Shags, lovely small cormorants with black and white striped necks, sitting on some rocks and then we saw some of the larger Kings also!  One emergent rock had both species of cormorants and three New Zealand Fur Seals as well!   It is not clear why the population of Kings remains so small.

Captain John and our boat

2 King Shags and a Spotted Shag

We continued on about 20 miles until we reached the island of Motuara, a preserve that was once cleared and then grazed by sheep until about 30 years ago when it was taken over by the Dept of Conservation,  all mammals removed, and a breeding program for kiwis and other seriously threatened birds set up.  As soon as we pulled up to the pier we could see a small Blue Penguin preening in a small rocky cave.  We landed and walked a short ways to a small spring around which some benches had been built.  Bob, Hilary and I stayed there while most of the others proceeded to climb to the high point if the island to get a view.

Yellow-crowned Parakeet

 Bob really wanted to see the Yellow-crowned Parakeet, another very rare bird, most easily seen on this island.  Another birder played its call and almost immediately there it was right in front of us!!  A lovely green parakeet with red and yellow forehead!  Several Bell Birds that we previously had seen up north came down to bathe in the small pool.  Bob used his Ipod to  play the call of the South Island Robin, a tiny black and white bird, and it, too, immediately appeared, and was so unafraid that it hopped right over to us and sat on Hilary’s shoe and then Bob’s knee!  It was so close that I had trouble focusing on it!

We could only stay on the island less than an hour, but getting two new life birds in such a short time was amazing.  On the way back the Captain slowed down in an area where Hector’s Dolphins are often seen and there a few soon appeared!  These very rare mammals are distinguished by having hemispherical dorsal fins and being the smallest of the oceanic dolphins.  An effort is being made to extend the marine sanctuaries to protect them from being entrapped in fishing nets  which are too fine to be detected by their echolocation abilities.

South Island Robin on Hil's shoe!

More King Shags

We returned home at 5:30, cleaned up and drove downtown for a very good dinner at Le Café:  venison osso bucco for me, Gurnard fish for Hil, and a good steak and salad for RRZ and a bottle of local Johanneshof Pinot Noir.

Venison Osso Bucco

Our trip is about half done; Bob has seen 33 of his 50 target birds and is well satisfied, Hilary and I are relieved!