Kookaburra near Hamilton

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
RussCannings
Posts: 1216
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:23 am

Kookaburra near Hamilton

Postby RussCannings » Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:51 pm

Was at Lake Rotokauri at dusk this evening (NW of Hamilton) Friday evening listening for bittern. Heard 1 but much less expected was a distant kookaburra that chorused for around 10 seconds to the west somewhere. Didn't have bins and light was fading. Only heard it the once though and I had to get going to a staff dinner.

Not sure if Hamilton zoo has them? This was coming from the opposite direction. Quite the surprise!

Russ
Last edited by RussCannings on Sat Aug 25, 2018 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Neil Fitzgerald
Site Admin
Posts: 3637
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 10:20 am
Location: Hamilton, New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Kookaburra near Hamilton

Postby Neil Fitzgerald » Sat Aug 25, 2018 7:56 am

I'm pretty sure there are none at the zoo. I need to go there next week to count (wild) birds so will ask. My first thought was if it could be one of the primates there. Their calls carry a long way, but if it was the opposite direction that's probably not it.
User avatar
RussCannings
Posts: 1216
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:23 am

Re: Kookaburra near Hamilton

Postby RussCannings » Sat Aug 25, 2018 12:22 pm

Ya I wondered that too initially (despite its distinctiveness). For a split second I thought it might be a nearby spotless crake rattling but then it broke out of the low trill into "ah-ah-ahs" and I realised it was over 100m away. Looking on the map I would say it was somewhere between the lake lookout bench/table spot and Duck Rd. I couldn't say for sure if there were multiple (birds) but my best guess was a single.
jgolden
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2018 8:07 pm
Location: Hamilton

Re: Kookaburra near Hamilton

Postby jgolden » Sat Aug 25, 2018 5:36 pm

Hamilton Zoo doesn't have Kookaburra.

Lake Rotokauri is full of surprises. I spotted a falcon out there a few weeks ago. Sounds like I need to spend more time out there.

Return to “Bird Sightings and Alerts”