Since becoming a teacher and a father I seem to find less and less time to bird, and even less time to report on the birds I do see
(Pathetic whinge over)
With that said, it was a supreme delight to have my wonderful (almost) 3-year old spend a few nights with the grandparents while Lisa and I took some time away to tour the Taranaki and Whanganui area. This was not a birding trip, but as per usual I managed to influence the itinerary a bit! The weather was generally windy with patchy showers but luckily the bulk of the heavy rain happened overnight and we were able to do most of the outdoor things we wanted to (outside of hiking on the actual Mt Taranaki).
The Taranaki region is not famous for birding, perhaps due to its lack of coastal estuaries and freshwater wetlands and/or it's distance from SH1 (Similar to the Gisborne area)---but anyone who lives there or has visited would know that there are plenty of gems to explore for the birder. Therefore, while this was a fairly casual tour around the 'Surf Coast', I hope this trip report might inspire a few others to make the scenic trek over the 'Hardcore' capital of Aotearoa.
Day 1--July 21--Waikato to New Plymouth
We left Morrinsville under surprisingly sunny skies, but hit thick fog by the King Country. Only quick birding stop was the Otorohanga poo ponds where a couple NZ Scaup were the first record for that location. A dabchick there too but otherwise pretty quiet. When we got to the coast at Mokau I was pleased to see several Pied Shag nests in a poplar tree beside the highway. Perhaps this is a known breeding site but I was not previously aware of it. Like the Hawkes Bay area and the Otago coast north of the Catlins, Pied Shags are quite scare in the Taranaki, and while small numbers are reliable around Mokau/Awakino, that's technically still the Waikato so hopefully for the listing nerds like me, this population will continue to push down the coast. After a fruitless seawatch at Awakino heads and counting the spoonbills in both Awakino and Mokau, we were pleased to see small group of Pied Shags at the Mohakatino Estuary--just inside Taranaki---regional lifer!!!
[Sidenote: I am aware of a small Pied Shag breeding colony at Barrett's Lagoon just outside of New Plymouth but I haven't had a chance to visit yet, and so far after 3 or 4 Taranaki coastal trips, I had yet to luck into one]
We had hoped to walk around the Three Sisters rocks at Tongaporutu (beautiful spot) just a bit further south but the heavens had opened well and truly. This was still the case closer to New Plymouth so we just checked a few river mouths from the car before heading into town for some more 'cultural' experiences.
Day 2--July 22--New Plymouth to Hawera
After a lot of rain and wind overnight, we were once again pleased to wake to sunshine. After a bit of a lie-in, we took a pre-cafe walk through Pukekura Park (the main domain in central New Plymouth). While I've visited NP several times before, I had never explored this place before and I have to say, it would have to rate in the Top 3 for NZ urban botanical parks. Unlike most of its sister parks, native understory is able to grow naturally here, so while there are plenty of exotic trees and plants here, there is also a significant amount of native bush (trees and understory) and the whole place has a much more natural and established look. The birds obviously like it too so while we didn't see anything spectacular, it was a truly enjoyable place to explore as a birder and tourist.
After breakfast I shot up to Lake Mangamahoe to see if the long-staying AUSTRALASIAN GREBE was still about (Only record for the Taranaki). This hydro lake is surrounded by a diversity of exotic and native trees and is packed with waterfowl to scope through (at least at this time of year). It was still sunny and calm when I was there, so I headed to the north end of the lake (where it seemed most previous sightings of the grebe had been) and set up the scope. For a while I could only see dabchicks, along with the usual range of ducks, shags, coots, and geese one might expect. Eventually though, I spotted a distance grebe with a shorter-looking neck, fluffier bum, and some different plumage colouration than the nearby dabchicks. It was constantly diving about halfway up the lake on the west side, but eventually I was able to confirm it as an Aussie Grebe in winter plumage (Something I've seen very little in NZ as I tend to just see the Northland birds in summer, when they're much more distinctive in their rufous and steel-blue/black attire). Another bonus bird here was a calling KAKA, which doesn't seem to be as frequently seen away from the eastern bushland in this region (hopefully a trend that is changing).
More 'culture' and lunch in New Plymouth, then off west along SH45. South of Omata we kept our eyes peeled for the (feral?) population of CAPE BARREN GEESE that have been around for several years. A pair were soon spotted on the north side of the road foraging in a paddock. It's unclear what the origin of these birds are (to my knowledge) but they appear to be free-ranging throughout the district (even coming into New Plymouth) these days. Omata remains the hub it seems, with another (seemingly more domestic) population occurring closer to Inglewood apparently.
There are so many dead-end road access points to the coast along the SH45 'Surf Coast'. Lisa and I usually try to explore a few new ones each time and today was no different. Nothing too notable to report on that front but with the stiff NW winds coming in, we stopped in at Cape Egmont for a seawatch. The tide was out and there was a lot of glare unfortuantely, but it was still possible to see a dozen or so mollymawks plying the surf further out (likely mostly White-caps), and at least one giant petrel came past along with good numbers of Fluttering Shearwater and a handful of gannets.
After an obligatory pilgrimage to Parihaka (Read up if you've never heard of this place!), we stopped in at Sandy Bay (just north of Opunake). There had been some recent reports of a pair of CATTLE EGRETS, and we eventually spotted them in a flooded corn stubble field, along with a mixed group of SIPO and VOC (the former not being common in the Taranaki with the lack of tidal estuaries). The beach itself is also one of the few impressive white sand/dune systems in the Taranaki and is well worth the visit just to stroll the beach. This is an important site for NZ and Banded Dots.
Into Opunake for a coffee and op-shopping, then popped to the local lake which is often one of the better freshwater birding spots in the district. Once again Lake Opunake did not disappoint. In addition to a great mix of water birds, including a healthy shoveler population, I spotted a pait of BLACK-FRONTED DOTTERELS foraging on some exposed mud in the back corner ('Naki tick!).
After checking into our accommodation in Hawera (great Countdown incidentally), I popped down to the local sewage ponds before dark. While I didn't see anything mindblowing, diversity was certainly there, and the size of the ponds, raupo-fringing, and location so close to the coast suggests some great potential for this site for the birder (and you can legally drive right up to it!).
Day 3--July 23--Hawera to Whanganui
A foggy start as we drove up to Eltham (Site NZ's first tar-sealed road!)--but the sun managed to crack through as we arrived at Taranaki's signature mainland island--ROTOKARE! I said this last time we visited, but if you haven't been--DO IT. Such a beautiful place, particularly on calm sunny mornings or evenings. You can camp here and listen to kiwi, or simply pop in as we did and walk the trails around the fringes of the lake and through the regenerating native bush. SADDLEBACK are common and boistrous, FERNBIRD are plentiful, the HIHI seem to be doing quite well, and this place may very well possess one of the densest SPOTLESS CRAKE populations in NZ. This is anecdotal but I've visited in April and now July and on both trips, we heard at least 7 crakes calling spontaneously (no playback) as we walked the lake. In this case we heard at least that many in the eastern corner of the lake alone. Lots of other endemics around too including PATEKE, WHITEHEAD, TOMTIT, ROBIN, BELLBIRD, and TUI. While there is a mix of ducks on the lake at any one time, it appears that a good number of pure-type (phenotypically-speaking) GREY DUCKS are present throughout most of the year (along with clear hybrids and Mallardy things).
Ended the Taranaki portion of the trip on around 68 species (Perhaps tied for the most I've seen on previous 2-4 day trips to the area). Okay, maybe this was a bit of a birding trip...
From here we headed to Whanganui, checking the Patea mouth and sewage ponds (convenient birding spot) along the way along with a quick check of Westmere Lake. Great birds around though nothing surprising (I since understand however, that a Spotless Crake I heard at Westmere is of local interest). Whanganui itself was primarily centred on visiting friends and exploring the city so that birding was fairly minimal.
Day 4--July 24--Whanganui back to the Waikato
Mostly a day to just drive home (after filling up on the classic combo of Pad Thai, coffee, and donuts at the Whanganui markets). We did check out the river estuary at high time from the south (airport side). Birds were mostly off roosting elsewhere but the hill near the airport did offer stunning views of both Mt Taranaki and Ruapehu (Our first glimpses since the rain left). Some spoonbills were about the only notable birds on the river.
We did stop in at the Upokongaro Cafe to check for herons--no luck but afternoon likely would have been more promising.
It was mostly a straight drive back home (via Turangi this time) however as usual we noted the impressive population of PEAFOWL in the Whangaui Gorge/Paraparas (Peafowl capital of NZ?), along with a concerningly robust community of CANADA GEESE.
To finish on the slight spoonbill theme, I was happy to come across one at Whakamaru Dam (near Tokoroa)--first record for that site and always nice away from the coast and Rotorua/Taupo wetlands.
So that's about it. Would love to get back to some of these spots with more time--hope you can all manage it at some point!
Russ Cannings
Morrinsville, NZ