Wellington City biodiversity

[ledzep]

Found Whiteheads today in fir trees in two locations of the ECNZ track above Whiteman's Valley (-41.207810, 174.975665) and near Kakariki Way (-41.202904, 175.005680). Tomtits also calling along the ECNZ road.

[ashercook]

I saw two Royal Spoonbills and a Reef Heron flying past the Beach Kiosk cafe (between Island and Owhiro Bay) this morning. First time I've seen |Royal Spoonbills on Wellington's south coast

[Colin Miskelly]

I heard then saw two whiteheads in Spicer Forest (south of Porirua) on 10 January. They were together near the stile between pasture and forest as you descend from Colonial Knob on Te Araroa Trail.

These are the first whiteheads that I have seen in the forests that flank Colonial Knob since 2004, soon after the species was introduced to Zealandia (2001 & 2002). A few whitehead persisted and bred here between 2004 and 2010 before the population petered out. One of the birds was colour-banded, indicating that some or all had come from Zealandia 18 km away (but longer via forested patches).

I see that Nikki McArthur recorded a whitehead near my recent sighting in January 2021 (eBird). Given their absence in the town-belt forests between Otari and Tawa, I suspect that these birds have managed to cross the motorway corridor from the healthy population in the Horokiwi pine forest, which reaches down to the Takapu Valley floor only 4 km from where I saw the two birds.

Ngā mihi
Colin

[ledzep]

I found 3 Eastern Rosella feeding on the grass at the lookout over Speedy's Reserve on Hill Road, Belmont.

[ledzep]

A family group of at least 5 Whitehead on O'Donohoos track near the stream in Korokoro hills (near Percy Scenic Reserve) on Sunday, GPS -41.211606 174.870676.

[Michael Szabo]

1 Black-fronted Tern seen early afternoon with c100 White-fronted Terns roosting on rocks in Island Bay and then later at 3.30pm about 250 White-fronted Terns roosting on rocks at Te Raekaihau Pt with 3 Black-fronted Terns among them plus hundreds of Fluttering Shearwaters flying past the point towards the harbour.

[Michael Szabo]

I heard a New Zealand Tomtit repeatedly singing the burbling refrain “ti-oly-oly-oly-ho” at 9.45am today in scrub up the slope near Linwood Way in Island Bay. Despite waiting for 15 minutes, I didn't see the bird but I could hear it singing as it moved further up the scrub on the slope until it either stopped singing or moved out of earshot.

This is my first record of this species in this part of Wellington in the past 20 years.

https://ebird.org/atlasnz/checklist/S168665219

[Shane Cotter]

This morning just before 10am there was a kōtuku (white heron / great egret) at the Hutt River estuary. The estuary was at half tide with the tide coming in. First one I have seen there in about 5 years.