The godwits and knots are all here, and the juveniles are getting hard to spot. The Wrybill and South Island Pied Oystercatchers are returning from the breeding grounds so numbers are on the rise. The Black-billed Gulls nested successfully on the shellbanks, with large numbers of fluffy chicks and some birds still on nests- but the large tern colony got washed out by the tide in early December. The Shore Plover was regularly seen through December and we hope it stays a bit longer.
Recent sightings include;
Arctic Migrants
c 3500 Bar-tailed Godwit
1 Black-tailed Godwit
c 900 Red Knot
24 Pacific Golden Plover
28 Ruddy Turnstone
10 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
1 Marsh Sandpiper
1 Pectoral sandpiper
2 Red-necked Stint
9 Curlew Sandpiper
1 Curlew seen only occasionally
Locals:
1 Shore Plover
130 Wrybill
30 b dott
1 Kotuku (Great Egret)
15 Royal Spoonbill
Lots of Black-billed Gulls
Caspian Tern
White-fronted terns (check the boat club for the big flock)
1000+South Island Pied Oystercatchers