Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Bird sighting information. Use this forum to report bird sightings (especially rare and unusual birds), census and field count results, and trip reports. Messages posted to this forum will also be sent as a plain text email to the BIRDING-NZ newsgroup.
User avatar
AngryBird45
Posts: 226
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2020 10:50 am
Location: Waimakariri District, Canterbury
Contact:

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby AngryBird45 » Sun Sep 19, 2021 2:58 pm

Just wondering, how do you get to the tip of Kaitorete Spit?
133 birds on my life list since 17 June 2020, latest bird Common Tern.
93 birds on my 2024 year list as of 6:50pm 13 January, latest bird Indian Peafowl.

15 y/o birder from the Waimak and Paradise Shelduck campaigner: facebook.com/paradiseshelduck.
User avatar
Adam C
Posts: 647
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 8:58 am

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby Adam C » Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:55 pm

Hi Angrybird. You can drive right to the end in a 2WD from the birdlings flat turn off but the track is best suited to a 4WD. Just drive around the soft shigly bits towards the end of the track. They have just dumped a heap of very rough gravel on the main road out so I'd make sure to have a spare tyre on you as getting a flat is far more likely than getting stuck at the moment.
The image attached shows the area where most of the Birds are and the blue x's show where most of the waders will be. Please keep away from the end (red Circle) where the colony is. There are 3-4 gates to go through so please close them behind you. It can be quite an exposed area so check the weather etc pretty carefully before a trip :)

Often it's a long drive for not much but can, occasionally produce a few gems :)
Screen Shot 2021-09-19 at 6.57.27 PM.jpg
Screen Shot 2021-09-19 at 6.57.27 PM.jpg (297.15 KiB) Viewed 1647 times
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Samuel Ullman
wazzagonewild
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2018 9:33 pm

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby wazzagonewild » Sun Sep 19, 2021 9:58 pm

Interestingly there was no gull colony present when I visited today. Highlights were 15 turnstones and 6 red-necked stints.
andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby andrewcrossland » Mon Sep 20, 2021 8:36 pm

That’s a concern - was the lake super high?
wazzagonewild
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2018 9:33 pm

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby wazzagonewild » Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:38 am

Yeah, I was surprised to only see a handful of black-billed gulls after reading about the colony on here. The lake was slightly higher than the last couple of times I've been out there, but I've seen it much higher before.
User avatar
Adam C
Posts: 647
Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 8:58 am

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby Adam C » Wed Sep 22, 2021 6:25 pm

Wonder if it was more of a staging event?
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

Samuel Ullman
andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby andrewcrossland » Wed Sep 22, 2021 7:55 pm

No, they don’t stage like wrybill do. The flock was densely packed,courting, copulating, flying up and then en masse- all classic colony establishment behaviour. They may have been flooded off and given up, or disturbed.
Jan
Posts: 1871
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:43 am
Location: Christchurch

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby Jan » Thu Sep 23, 2021 12:56 pm

Wouldn't be surprised if morons on trail bikes or the like had a go at them 'bloody seagulls'. I don't think it's rained that much lately to raise the lake level and the inflow is only from the foothills, not the Alps.
Peter R
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun May 15, 2016 1:33 pm

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby Peter R » Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:05 am

The lake is currently open to the sea with a good flow.
andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Re: Lake Ellesmere 2021/2022

Postby andrewcrossland » Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:08 pm

They opened the lake because I sent a fairly blunt email to all the agencies and stakeholders. It’s good that they did. It needs to drop a bit to provide wader habitat and then fill up to secure the bittern nesting habitat.
The issue was the big winds pushing the lake waters and with the depth it was, although still below threshold, the winds were just pushing a lot of water on to that side of the lake.

Return to “Bird Sightings and Alerts”