We moved south to Peach Cove Track on Bream Head. Whilst we were behind schedule, we knew we could make up the time that afternoon when we wouldn’t have to drive to Lake Waro. We had Spoonbill, SIPO and Pied Stilt from the car as we rounded the north Whangarei Harbour. The bush at Bream Head, however, was shockingly quiet. Dayna and I heard Bellbird, Tomtit were common and there was one brief encounter with three Whitehead. The regular Robin, however, was not to be found. Time was of the essence though, so we had to kiss our robin chances goodbye and hit the road.
Next stop was Papich Road, where we quickly located the sewage ponds at the back of the track. These revealed 164 Paradise Shelduck, 6 Grey Duck, 55 Mallard, 18 Grey Teal, 19 Little Shag, 2 Little Black Shag and 5 Caspian Terns. After a thorough search for anything odd in the ducks, we left to find the Industrial Estate. A drive-by looking for the local dotterel flock failed, however, and so we pushed up to Wilson Dam. Here, we found Black Swan, 29 Paradise Shelduck and a Dunnock. The high duck-shooting activity on the lake appeared to have scared off the resident Canada Goose, much to our disappointment.
Our next stop was Ormiston Road, now 1:45 in the afternoon. Much to my delight, we were rewarded with gorgeous views of Australian Little Grebe, as well as more Pacific Black Duck and Dabchick. A half-hour stop at Waipu gave us Brown Quail, Banded Dotterel and Bar-Tailed Godwit, as well as good numbers of Variable Oystercatcher (85), Fluttering Shearwater (18) and NZ Dotterel (17).
A few stops on the way back up to Ngunguru Sewage Ponds added little, though we did get Barbary Dove in Whangarei. The Ngunguru Sewage Ponds (the third sewage ponds we’d visited that day!) had 40 Brown Teal and 16 California Quail, both handy birds for the day list.
It was half-past five by the time we pulled into Old Mill Lane, which is a marshland in Tutukaka. Almost straight away we added Fernbird, and slightly further along the boardwalk we got Spotless Crake and Banded Rail. Time was not on our side anymore though, as we were now sitting on 68 species and the sun was fast setting. We raced around trying desperately to find Kukupa (or Kereru to those south of Auckland), but failed.
As darkness set, we headed back to Tarawhata, where we added Morepork and Grey-Faced Petrel to our day list. The Grey-Faced Petrel were awesome, as heaps of them squaked and whistled from the forest floor in pitch black. Now a little hungry, we headed off for pizza and a brief break from birding.
We were now on 70 species, and the record seemed to be just slipping from reach. Determined, we struck out for Matapouri in the hope of Little Blue Penguins coming ashore. We dipped. Desperate, we tried Sandy Bay for Barn Owl. We dipped. We raced to Old Mill Lane - our last chance. To our relief, two North Island Brown Kiwi were rustling at the end of the boardwalk. On 71, the record was still just beyond reach. We had no luck attracting Marsh Crake or Bittern, and so walked out just four species short of holding that Northland record.
Despite missing out on the title, we all really enjoyed our big day. We also know that when we try again in Summer, this route has all the potential to cross the line - watch this space!
Michael
