Maketu/Little Waihi 2021

[Tim Barnard]

Forgot to mention, Bittern have been showing extremely well this summer at the Waewaetukituki Wetlands (accessed via Wharere Road) - another one showing very well again on Sunday.

[Tim Barnard]

I was tipped off by Russ via Harry about two Eastern Curlew at Te Pa Ika (thanks guys). Both birds present this morning on the spur adjacent to the gate. I've not seen them in the estuary for 20 years ... so great to have them back again. Not common at all in the BoP.

Also: 4 Sharp-tailed sandpiper, 4 Turnstone, 1 Little tern, 46 PGPs.

One Turnstone on Maketu Spit with the Bartails and Knot.

Excellent morning out ...

[Davidthomas]

Sounds like a good day out Timmy!

Need to visit once im back in NZ there wasnt much around at Te Pai Ika when i visited last.

[Tim Barnard]

Kia ora Dave
It's settling down a little now. Certainly been interesting to see how the birds have reacted to the re-engineering. Very pleased the PGPs have responded well. There are more at Maketu now than Little Waihi. Just got to keep the vegetation under control ...
All the best
Tim

[Davidthomas]

Did you ever visit it before they put the Kaituna Cut in Tim? Wonder if its reverting back to what it used to be like bird wise pre-the cut. Will make birding life a bit more difficult as Little Waihi has pretty much been the go-to for anything rare between the two estuaries. Now you have to check both properly!

[Tim Barnard]

Before my time David. I'm a little worried Te Pa Ika will make me soft. There have been a few times this summer when wading out through the chilly water and knee deep mud to the back of Little Waihi estuary in a brisk southerly has not been that appealing. There is so much going on I can't keep up. There's 70ha of farm conversion to wetland happening up the Kaituna. Been trying to get Russ to relocate to the Bay for years ...

[Davidthomas]

Haha! Yeah i feel you, in some ways that was the appeal of Little Waihi is while you knew it was a bit average at times it has produced such ridiculously good birds that you always know it was worth the look.

Yeah fair enough, sounds like a lot of exciting restoration work is ongoing in the area; the best spot in the BOP just keeps getting better!

[erikforsyth]

Just back from Te Pa Ika (Kaituna Spit) where the highlights were:

Far Eastern Curlew: 2 of these scare migrant birds feeding 2-300m out on flats
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper: 1
Pacific Golden Plover: 4
Ruddy Turnstone: 4
Wrybill: 3
Double-banded Plover :40
Royal Spoonbill: 35
Bar-tailed Godwit 3-5
Banded Rail: 2 chasing each other around the salt marsh

Best wishes
Erik Forsyth
Rockjumper Birding Tours
www.rockjumperbirding.com

[erikforsyth]

here is a distant record shot of one of the Far Eastern Curlews

[RussCannings]

Hi all,

Was in Papamoa for a sporting tournament on Saturday and had a bit of time in the morning to pop into Maketu near high tide. I only went to the back end of Maketu (along Ford Rd), and while the main wader flock was clearly somewhere else, I did note the following starting to roost up:

-1 LITTLE TERN (Likely the same bird that returns each summer)
-29 Pied Stilt (nesting in area)
-5 SIPO
-2 VOC
-4 Pacific Golden Plover
-15 Masked Lapwing
-2 Banded Dot
-8 Bar-tailed Godwit
-15 Royal Spoonbill

Cheers,

Russ