Hawdon Valley

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Bennyboy87654
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Location: Darfield, Canterbury

Hawdon Valley

Postby Bennyboy87654 » Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:38 pm

Was up the Hawdon Valley today and found some good birds. Saw heaps of Tomtit, some Grey Warblers, Robins, Brown Creeper, Black Fronted Terns, Bellbirds. And was extremely lucky to see 2 Orange Fronted Parakeets and a group (about 5) Yellowheads.
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Yellowhead
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Orange Fronted Parakeet (tail of other bird can be seen in top left)
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Last edited by Bennyboy87654 on Sun Sep 03, 2017 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Jim_j
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Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby Jim_j » Sun Sep 03, 2017 7:31 pm

Wow - you managed a couple of great pix.
Good to see Yellowhead & o/f parakeet are hanging on.

cheers
jim
Bennyboy87654
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Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:52 pm
Location: Darfield, Canterbury

Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby Bennyboy87654 » Sun Sep 03, 2017 8:28 pm

Jim_j wrote:Wow - you managed a couple of great pix.
Good to see Yellowhead & o/f parakeet are hanging on.

cheers
jim

Yeah was stoked to see them, I know both are struggeling in this area.
gmckinlay
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Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby gmckinlay » Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:57 am

Repeated a favourite tramp up to Hawdon Hut Monday/Tuesday. Birdlife was excellent - tribute and thanks to the extensive predator control work in evidenced.

Riflemen and Robins abundant, robins more so than I have seen there before. Tomtit common. Only one party of brown creeper. 1 falcon overhead halfway up.

Highlight was a pair of Mohua. These were calling right beside and in front of Hawdon Hut early evening. I was eventually able to see one.I heard them again in nearby forest the next morning.

Morepork and great spotted kiwi calling near the hut at night.

Disappointments:
a) no long tailed cuckoo calls - I have heard them up towards Twin Falls 4 years back,
b) parakeets - I heard calls at distance three times only, but didn't see any myself - one of the others saw one.

So Hawdon Hut could be a worthwhile base for Canterbury Big Year folk allowing a couple of days to search some of the more remote surroundings.
I was pondering the potential for fernbird in the subalpine scrub on Walker pass, but did not have time to search.
The hut book records blue duck regularly above Edwards hut, and one sighting in October upriver from Hawdon hut. I doubt many people explore up there. I made a quick foray but only 800m or so - looked like excellent blue duck habitat, if the predators have been controlled.
People seem to see rock wren at Tarn Col - perhaps there are "Canterbury" locations nearby.
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Adam C
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Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby Adam C » Wed Jan 16, 2019 2:55 pm

Epic! Was planning a trip with my boys up there soon.

Great photos! Especially of the Orange Fronts! Know they can be dam hard to get. Were they quite low down in the canopy?
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Samuel Ullman
andrewcrossland
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Location: Christchurch

Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby andrewcrossland » Fri Jan 18, 2019 9:59 pm

I took my 9 year up son Xavier up the Hawdon yesterday- highlights were a Yellow-crowned Parakeet, 2 wonderful looking Grey Duck (on the little stream beside the track 30 mins above Sudden Vly), an a single Yellowhead. The latter was highly vocal amongst a noisy "bird wave" comprising Brown Creepers, Tomtits, Fantails, Robins, Bellbirds and Chaffinches.
And yep, the Robins were very friendly..

Also, we camped at Klondyke Corner last night. Woken at 3am by noisy Long-tailed Cuckoos, at least 2 calling until 5am!

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There were also heaps of Tomtits

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IMG_3436.JPG (376.99 KiB) Viewed 3241 times
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Adam C
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Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby Adam C » Fri Jan 18, 2019 10:22 pm

Nice! Must get Jack up there. He went for a walk on Godley head with my parents today and was convinced he saw Curl Bunting and Sooty Shearwater. Was getting texts all day at work!
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Samuel Ullman
rowey
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Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby rowey » Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:56 am

Had 8 Blue Duck up near Edwards Hut last year. $ on the river before the hut and 4 on Tarns just past the hut. They were just floating around on the tarns 10 mts away. Great views. However it is a hike and a half to get over the hill just past the East Edwards River. An overnighter would be preferable to a long day effort.
FraserGurney
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Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby FraserGurney » Sat Nov 14, 2020 6:26 pm

Had a good trip up the Hawdon this long weekend, managed to see mohua, kaka and long-tailed cuckoo all close to Hawdon Hut. Sadly no orange-fronted parakeet, with the only kakariki being two yellow-crowned up the track past the hut right on the treeline. Too much wind to listen for kiwi at night.
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boneywhitefoot
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Re: Hawdon Valley

Postby boneywhitefoot » Wed Nov 18, 2020 8:41 am

How far up the river do you have to walk before your chances of seeing Yellowheads are good?

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