BirdingNZ.net

I completed the monthly count of birds at Washdyke Lagoon this morning. The totals were dominated by grey teal (612), Canada geese (345), paradise shelduck (162) and pied stilts (136). However, the tide was low and there were 20 little shags roosting at the exposed rockpools tat the south end of the lagoon. Among them were 3 little black shags (1 adult and 2 juveniles), so I was able to make a nice comparison of the two species. The only other little black shag recorded from the area is a single adult that I saw in September 2006.

A likely shag nesting area is at the ponds associated with the Smithfield Freezing Works, and so I'll check these soon.

A full list of birds recorded today has been submitted to eBird.