Hawkes Bay bitterns, herons & egrets

[Michael Szabo]

Yesterday morning the following species were present in Hawkes Bay:
Australasian bittern: 2 by the water & 1 flushed from reeds at Waitangi wetland
Little egret: 1 flying over Waitangi wetland, 1 under Clive bridge, 1 at Haumoana (possibly the same bird)
White-faced heron: 2 at Haumoana, 1 flying over
White heron: 2 at Marewa pond by St Georges Drive, Napier
Royal spoonbill: 4 in trees by Tutaekuri river, 1 under Clive bridge, 3 at Marewa pond

There were no black-fronted terns present among the Caspian and white-fronted terns at the river outlets.

Cheers,
Michael

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

3 spoonbills at Marewa! Darn, why aren't I in Napier at the moment.
Great selection of birds for you Michael.

[Michael Szabo]

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised to see them there by the main road with the white herons!

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

There was just one & a white heron when I was there a month or so ago. They are much easier to photograph at Marewa than out at Ahuriri where I see them most often.

[tim]

There was 5 spoonbills,1 white heron and 1 little egret at Marewa about 2 weeks ago "good numbers of birds for a city pond"
Two white herons were present on Saturday and Sunday at the pond.

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Don't tell me that Tim! I won't be down there for a wee while now.

[David Riddell]

Was heading north along the Napier-Hastings Expressway yesterday morning and had a brief view of what I'm fairly sure was a little egret on the wetlands just south of Napier Airport. Looked distinctly smaller than the royal spoonbills which were in a small flock about 50 metres away, but we were in a line of traffic and pushed for time so didn't stop and have a proper look. There had been nothing there the day before when we went past about midday.

[les]

there were still 2 plumed whistling ducks ay anderson park last sunday also.

[Nikki McArthur]

Hi all,

Stunning day in Hawke's Bay today. Susanne and I are part-way round a cycle tour of the Ahuriri Estuary in Napier and have so far encountered four species of big white birds: 16 royal spoonbills and 1 white heron at the Pump Rd bird hide, 8 more spoonbills and a cattle egret in the main channel beside the southern marsh and a little egret beside the old road bridge.

Cheers,
Nikki

P1070685(1)a.jpg (164.18 KiB) Viewed 4501 times

Little egret, Ahuriri Estuary (2nd November, 2013)

[Michael Szabo]

Good record - now you just need a white-faced heron and a bittern for a clean sweep of herons!