Caspians Terns at Whakamaru Dam

[RussCannings]

Regarding the Pied Shag colony Fraser referenced, yes they are still nesting at Lake Ngaroto (Te Awamutu) and Hakanoa (Huntly) and perhaps other Huntly area sites yet to be found (or remote Whangamarino).

As for foraging behaviour of inland Caspian Terns, Lake Waikare (NE of Huntly) is a good spot to watch them actively fishing year round. I imagine it's primarily young koi and other appropriately sized fish and eels.

Lastly, the "red dot" Ken referenced on ebird seems to be an unreliable feature. I don't know exactly how the algorithm works but it clearly doesn't pick up on all historical records.

Russ

[Cardinal15]

I have seen Caspian Tern on Lake Rotoiti.

[RussCannings]

I have to say.... Since you jogged my memory about you talikng about Waikato and not playing by the rules and your comments about waikato gulls or lack of......
While I was truck driving not long before I left NZ...
I spotted big flocks Black-backed gulls at Putaruru and a couple of Redbilled gulls.... didn't think anything of it until further down the road... Then I remembered one of your posts....

Perhaps this was always the case, but I think it's a rather recent phenomenon that Black-backed Gulls are now semi-common/regular around the dairy paddocks of the South Waikato (Putaruru-Tokoroa)--at least it's only been the last 3 years I've noticed them regularly while driving through that area. Presumably these are birds making day-trips from Taupo/Rotorua as they are still rare from Tirau north to Hamilton/Morrinsville areas.

Now those RB Gulls I am jealous of! I've still never seen a RBG around Hamilton, the Waipa (i.e. Cambridge/Te Awamutu), or the Matamata-Piako. Others have (i.e. As transients) but they're definitely still a rarity in the heart of the Waikato (away from the breeding areas of Taupo/Rotorua) and of course the plains closer to the coast like around Paeroa/Ngatea and on the western coastal slopes.

Russ