Gisborne Whimbrel

[sav]

Hi all,

Too late to be much use to anyone, but I called in to Wherowhereo Lagoon, South of Gisborne, yesterday on my way home to lockdown. There were 3 Whimbrel present, though very little else visible.

Never saw them fly, and nothing to suggest they were anything other than standard variegatus.

With all curlew species in rapid decline, is it just my imagination that there have been more Whimbrel throughout NZ this Summer than in recent years?

Stay home. Stay safe.

cheers

[Paul Gibson]

I have seen more Whimbrels this summer than any other. I could hardly believe my count at the Piaki Flood Plain at the end of February, 14 birds, and we even had a Whimbrel on the Whanganui River Estuary. I have also seen a number of Eastern curlews, including the three at Miranda.

http://www.upics.co.nz

[Colin Miskelly]

There were 27 whimbrels at Karaka shellbanks on the Manukau Harbour on 29 Dec 2019. I hadn't seen a flock of that size in New Zealand since the early 1980s

Nga mihi
Colin

[RussCannings]

Great record for Gisborne Sav,

Also 4 whimbrel at Kawhia this summer (where there are usually 1-2 present).

Russ