BirdingNZ.net

Hi, thanks for the great forum...

I'm an overseas birder traveling to Auckland in late March for unrelated purposes... I have a chance of tagging two days onto my trip and I would very much like to see Little Spotted Kiwi, a bird I've missed on a previous NZ trip. However, I seem to be too late with my preparations: to my chagrin, it turns out that the bunk beds on Tiritiri are booked out for my possible dates, the night tours in Zealandia are fully booked many weeks in advance, and a night in Kapiti seems to cost more than the rest of my entire trip.

I'd love to find out whether there is a reasonable chance of seeing this kiwi from along the fenceline track at Zealandia (from the outside) if one is willing to dedicate a few hours at night using a red-light beam. Based on eBird, I gather people easily hear it around here, but I'm not sure how good the chances of seeing them would be.
Alternatively, I wonder if Shakepear near Auckland would provide a fair chance to see them (not only hear them).

I highly appreciate any advice on this. I'd love to have a sense of my chances before booking my flights to any particular city.

Thank you very much for any information.

There is a reasonable chance of seeing one from the outside of the fence, if you'll be satisfied with 'fleeting glimpse through tight wire mesh'. When I go taking photos of bugs on the fence at night I probably see a kiwi every second time.