Queen Charlotte Drive and birding

New Zealand Kingfisher

Tuesday, September 21 -- Equinox Day! We drove up to the Marlborough Sounds via Picton, intending to get in a walk on the Queen Charlotte Track.

Shortly after turning off towards Anakiwa, Susan spotted a Kingfisher in a dead branch over the sand flats at low tide. Through the binoculars she could see he was smashing some sort of possibly crustacean lunch on the branch, but by the time we got stopped and Mike got the camera on him, the meal was over. On a trail just off the road we spotted another Kingfisher, and then another. They were skittish but Mike managed to get a few good shots.





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As we approached Anakiwa Bay, the first of many Caspian Terns we would see dove into the water. We also saw our first South Island Pied Oystercatcher (SIPO), another endemic oystercatcher we were hoping to see. A White-faced heron or two were also fishing in the shallow waters of the bay. Walking out on the Tirimoana Jetty, a Little Shag was rather nonchalant about our approach and seemed to want to pose for us. Later we saw him (or one just like him) struggling to hang on to a freshly-caught flat fish, a scene which was no doubt more amusing to us than to the hungry shag.

We drove out to the end of the road where it dead ends into the Outward Bound School and noticed some other birders as well as students. Back at the Bay, we munched on a quick lunch from the New World deli.

Next we headed off towards Kenepuru Road which would lead us deeper into the Sounds. This has to  be one of the windingest roads we’ve been on, and the native bush was fun to see. We went as far as Portage, and stopped at the resort there to stretch and get a beverage. Walking back to the parking lot -- oops -- car park, we heard beautiful bird songs and finally spotted the vocalists high overhead in some palm trees. Bellbirds! We can’t wait to see them again from a better angle.

Just after we got back on the road, a Weka darted out in front of us! Mike slammed on the brakes and as Susan looked out her side window she saw yet another of these endemic flightless birds. At first they were wary, but the longer we sat still, the bolder they became until two little chicks peeked their heads out. Mike stood in the road taking pictures and Susan waited in the car until she could take it no more and had to get out for a closer look. Papa Weka was still scavanging right at the edge of the road, practically ignoring us, but the momma and chick scurried back into the bush. Shortly, Momma came back out to look for worms, and eventually the chicks came all the way out of the bush to eagerly grab a worm delivered by momma or papa from roadside hunting. We stayed a good 15 minutes watching the happy little family before heading back along the road, more acutely aware of the caution we needed to exercise while driving in these lightly traveled roads.

As the sun was setting, we stopped at Cullen Point near Havelock to see our last view of the Sounds for the day.