Birdlife Queen Charlotte Track, Pelorus Track

[Jim_j]

Got back from a week tramping Ship Cove through to Nelson.
Reasonable birdlife along the Queen Charlotte Track - weka throughout, bellbird, tomtit, fantail grey warbler, small groups of brown creeper in the manuka and pines (not heard in the bush), no robin heard.
A few fernbird heard in the saltmarsh either side of Havelock and a small pied shag colony a couple of km before Havelock.
Pelorus Bridge campsite had good numbers of common natives & exotics (lots oftraps to protect the l/t bats)

Pelorus track pretty much a birdless dead zone - more variety & numbers in our suburban street than across the 30km or so track I traversed!!

Occasional bellbird heard, grey warbler occasionally, very occasional tomtit, a few tui around the kowhai and an occasional pigeon - even the exotics were virtually nil -very occasional thrush, blackbird, chaffinch.
A single shining cuckoo heard.
Weka & kingfisher heard throughout with welcome swallow the commonest bird seen (hut clearings and riverbank).
Robins appeared higher up but not in any great numbers - not a single rifleman seen the whole trip.
I'm assuming the mouse/rat plague has vacuumed up most of the birdlife!!
Although maybe a little bit early for wasps not a single one seen the whole trip - however I did notice honey dew was almost non-existent on the trees - maybe the wasps have finally cooked the golden goose - although what that will do to the beech forest eco-system I hate to think.
Didn't keep exact numbers but I'll load estimates to ebird

Cheers
Jim