Fernbirds at Ki-Wainono

[Paul Sagar]

Richard Holdaway and I were at Lake Road (opposite Nosh), Ki-Wainono, on 23 Nov and spent an hour observing and listening along the track from the car park to the lake edge. No Tree martins were seen, in fact only 4 Welcome swallows were recorded. However, we did record up to 6 Fernbirds. The first pair gave the classic antiphonal call from the long grass and shrubs about 30m away on the north side of the track, close to the lake edge. The second called from the long grass about 20m on the southern side of the track and one of these flew low over the long grass before disappearing into the grass. The third was again heard on the south side of the track and then one birds was seen to fly a short distance - this was close to the boundary fence between the grazed area and the long grass of the lake edge, so close to the car park.

Fernbirds were common at the lagoon in the late 19th century (Studholme 1940), but Ray Pierce did not record them during his extensive bird surveys of the lagoon 1968-1978 and considered them locally extinct (Pierce 1980). So, it is pleasing to know that the records since 2019 show that at least a small population is still present.