It was one of the smallest tides of the month today and I was there deliberately at dead low tide to walk out on the mud and look for feeding waders. In that circumstance as expected there were no arctic migrants on the mud out from the carpark, just a couple of caspians and a brief visit of a Fairy Tern, but a couple of km or so north I found a small lot [about 60] of godwits plus SIPO, VOC, NZ Dots, Turnstones and a couple of Fairy Terns. Among them were 2 F E Curlews.
If anyone who has not been there before [it's at the top of the South Kaipara peninsular] is considering going, please be aware;
1--the private road through the forest is not always open--sometimes closed because the air force is dropping bombs, sometimes for fire danger, and sometimes for other reasons ----you need to ring the air force at Whenuapai to find out if the road is closed
2--The road through the forest is at the moment deeply potholed and subsided in places---I have 4 wheel drive and most importantly 230mm of ground clearance ---in a vehicle with less ground clearance you might get there but might do damage or get stuck
3--you might consider going for the first time with someone who knows where the quicksand is, where unexploded bombs could be, and how the tide runs [sorry I'm not volunteering]---it can be an unforgiving place
Phil Hammond
Wrybill Birding Tours NZ
Great Birds, Real Birders
2 x Far Eastern Curlew-- Waionui Inlet
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phil hammond
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- Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:10 pm