Last
night while we were waiting to get the go ahead that we could go ashore, Greg
noticed a large black bird land next to the ship. He said “is that a swan?” We
both went out on the balcony and sure enough a Black Swan had landed next to
the ship. First time seeing one of those in the wild. Oh, and the ship has
picked up tons of crickets. They are a bit annoying, but easy to tune out. I posted these on yesterday's blog as well.
This
is our 3rd visit to Auckland. We have visited the Glow Worm Caves
and visited a working sheep farm, saw Gannet colonies nesting and more of the
countryside. This time I had set up an Eco tour with http://www.habitattours.co.nz/ The
tour was Auckland Tawharanui Full Day Tour – Eco Tourism for nature lovers.
This
was another port where Princess shortened our port time to arrive at 9:00
instead of 8:00. With the tour starting at 9:00 I was sure we would have to
miss this tour. The tour company was more than willing to work with our ship
time. Plus, another couple from the ship had signed up so that helped as well. We
just got word that it is Toni & John that are on tour with us and another
couple staying in a hotel. They do small groups only with no more than 7
people. The other couple had just gotten off of the Holland America ship that
left the night before and they had spent the night in a hotel.
It
was a beautiful warm sunny day which was a welcome experience after those sea
days with lots of grey skies and slightly rocky ship.
Pamela
picked up the 4 of us and Tristan went to pick up the couple (Mary & Jerry)
at their hotel. We met at a bus station where we all got in Tristan’s van. While
we waited for the other couple at the bus station, we birded a bit. We saw some
swallows, a Kingfisher and a Pukeko. The Pukeko looks quite similar to our
Purple Gallinule. Pamela was quite knowledgeable and told us about a few of the
birds; but kept saying that Tristan would tell us all about them later.
bus station where we waited for Tristan
Welcome Swallow
Sacred Kingfisher
Sacred Kingfisher
White-faced Heron
Pukeko
Tristan
was a nice young man, but he has some guiding skills to learn. He really didn’t
talk on the 30 – 40 minute rides between places. He told us just to talk
amongst ourselves. The Auckland countryside is gorgeous, and it was nice just
to look out the window, but we had hoped for more information from our guide.
If he was asked a question the answer was usually "I don’t really know that."
We got to the first stop at a small town called Matakana where he picked up our picnic lunch (all prepared by his mother) while we looked for birds along the stream and the waterfall.
Next,
we drove to Tawharanui Regional Park where we did a walk on the white sand
beach looking for coastal birds. It wasn’t guided despite him saying we had 40
minutes there and he would leave us after the first 20 minutes to set up the
picnic, so we just wandered on our own. We did see some Variable
Oystercatchers, Dotterels and Red-billed Gulls. The surf was up a bit and there
were plenty of people enjoying the waves and the beach. 
We got to the first stop at a small town called Matakana where he picked up our picnic lunch (all prepared by his mother) while we looked for birds along the stream and the waterfall.
Pied Shag
flounder
flounder
me at the waterfall
Greg getting the perfect shot
Pied Shag
Pied Shag
Mallard Ducks
"mutt duck"
village of Matakana - above photo is of public bathrooms
gorgeous scenery along the way
Tawharanui (pretty house inside the park)
Anchor Bay Tawharanui Regional Park - beach walk
surfers
Variable Oystercatcher
Red-breasted Dotterel
Variable Oystercatcher
Red-breasted Dotterel
Red-breasted Dotterel & Red-billed Gull
Red-billed Gull
Red-billed Gull - immature
Pied-billed Shag
our picnic lunch
little savory pies
After we ate he told us to go up the hill to
wait for him so we could start the forest walk. When the other couple asked how
long they were told he didn’t know, just wait.
Finally, he met up with us and he took off like a rocket. He was way ahead of the group and at our first stop where we all caught up, Mary told Tristan to remember he had old knees and hips with him. We kept up, but generally birding is a slower pace so you can actually look for birds.
Finally, he met up with us and he took off like a rocket. He was way ahead of the group and at our first stop where we all caught up, Mary told Tristan to remember he had old knees and hips with him. We kept up, but generally birding is a slower pace so you can actually look for birds.
info center
New Zealand Fantail
I
had found the Kingfisher earlier in the day and I found the New Zealand Kaka
later as he just walked right by it. (the Kaka is a type of Parrot.) We did see
a ton of Bellbirds, Fantails, New Zealand Pigeons, Tui and North Island
Robbins. We also saw one Takahe which is like the Pukeko only much larger.
Bellbird - female
Bellbird - female
New Zealand Pigeon
New Zealand Pigeon
New Zealand Pigeon
Tui
Tui
Tui
trail
Tui
Tui
New Zealand Pigeon
female Bellbird
female Bellbird
female Bellbird
New Zealand Pigeon
New Zealand Pigeon
Takahe
Takahe
Takahe
Takahe
Takahe
Cicadas
House Sparrow
airstrip? It is over the hill....
back at the beach
Brown Teal
Despite
our guides lack of “guiding”, it was a great day. We had one last stop in the
park at a lagoon to look for water birds. We did see a Banded Rail, Grey Ducks,
Brown Teal Ducks, Paradise Shellducks and some “mutt ducks”. Tristan stayed in
the van and told us to go check it out to see if we saw anything.
After
we returned to the van he said we would stop for a cold drink. (only water was
provided at our picnic) Mary said she enjoyed the company so much that she
would buy us all sodas or whatever we wanted. That was nice of her and Tristan
got in line as well. The stop was back in the Matakana Village where we stopped
earlier in the day.
We
made one last stop to see New Zealand’s largest trees which are called Kauri
trees. We got out to see one and then headed back to Auckland.
In
downtown Auckland we hit some pretty heavy traffic (perhaps an accident or
breakdown in addition to the normally heavy traffic). We were pretty much in
front of the other couple’s hotel and they asked if they could get out and walk
the rest of the way. He was hesitant, but finally they convinced him it was
safe to get out of the car since no cars were moving. The 4 of us then asked if
we could do the same since it was less than a 10 minute walk back to the ship.
So, we all tipped him and left him in traffic. 
Greg
Annette
He
is a nice young man (30ish), but he has some guiding skills to lean. (and
chatting skills) Generally, guides talk too much giving us way more information
than we can process, but he gave virtually none. Worse, he just wasn’t a bird
guide. Even an enthusiastic birder is a better guide. It was a wonderful day in
Auckland non-the-less.
We
boarded the ship and had some dinner before going back out to get Gelato at the
same place we found last night.
Then,
we were back in time for the culture show which featured a local Maori song and
dance group called Haka the Legend. We saw it onboard 2 years ago and it was
quite similar. Always a treat to see the local culture.
We
now have 2 more sea days before our last 2 ports in New Zealand.
***Before
Auckland our bird count was 1,233 birds and we saw about 12 new ones today to
add to that total.
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