Post #154 - Birdwatching in New Zealand, part 2 - Endemic birds and suggested South Island routes

Quick note
This is the second post in my Birding in New Zealand series. It is meant as a permanent online reference, is very long and detailed, and will be archived in the International Birding Resources tab under the main banner heading. The other post in the series are:
Post #153 - Birding in NZ, part 1: Background, preparation, logistics
Post #155 - Birding in NZ, part 3: Stewart Island
Post #156 - Birding in NZ, part 4: Kaikoura and pelagics

Overview
I will use this post to highlight New Zealand's endemic birds, specifically those found on the South Island where I recently traveled. Once the key South Island birds are identified, I present a sample itinerary anyone could use as a starting point for his/her own birding adventure. Stewart Island, the large-ish island 20 miles off the south end of the South Island, is lumped it with the South Island, but I will sometimes refer specifically to it. The more distant Chatham and Subantarctic Islands are beyond the scope - and budget - of most birders who visit New Zealand, so I won't discuss them in depth.

Wide view of New Zealand and Subantarctic Islands

Recall from my previous post that only ~350 species have been eBirded from New Zealand, and a life list of 200 is considered pretty respectable (kinda like 700 in the traditional ABA area). The NZ Big Year record is 220 by Brett Stephenson in 2015, and I observed just 92 species in my 17 days on the South Island in March of 2019. Importantly, > 90% of my checklists featured < 20 species.

What does this mean? It means NZ birding is more about chasing down the endemic species than enjoying half days of general birding. You don't need much time at each spot, and the trick is to keep moving to cover as much ground as possible. In that spirit, I'll dissect New Zealand's endemic birds and present a strategy to find those occurring on the South Island in a relatively short time. That will leave plenty of time to sample/enjoy some of the many non-birding activities New Zealand offers!

South Island with key birding areas indicated

Geographic breakdown of New Zealand's endemic birds
As best as I can synthesize from multiple sources, New Zealand has ~68 endemic species. I've parsed them into 4 categories:

Found on North and South (30 species)
Found only on North (7 species, including Shore Plover which is also on Chatham)
Found only on South (14 species)
Found only on Chatham/Pitt and/or Subantarctic Islands (17 species)

So, the North Island hosts 37 endemics (30+7) and the South Island hosts 44 (30+14); together the two islands host 51 (30+7+14). Sadly, another 19 endemics are extinct.

The rationale for the technicolor names will become clear in a moment. I apologize to those reading this in an email versus the web version. The colors look terrible in the email but great on the web where this post will be archived forever!

Found on both North and South/Stewart (30 species)
Paradise Shelduck (widespread, can't miss)
New Zealand Scaup (widespread, Te Anau good)
Brown Teal (super rare on South, better sought on North)
Blue Duck (highly localized)
New Zealand Grebe (common on North, a few round Blenheim on South)
New Zealand Pigeon (widespread, can't miss)
Weka (widespread on both islands, but more on South. Can't miss on Stewart)
South Island Takahe (very heavily managed on both islands)
Red-breasted Dotterel (Northern and Southern populations, best sought on North Island)
Black Stilt (Highly localized, better sought on South. Mackenzie Basin best)
South Island Oystercatcher (widespread, can't miss)
Variable Oystercatcher (widespread, can't miss)
Wrybill (widespread but localized)
Black-billed Gull (widespread, can't miss)
Red-billed Gull (widespread, can't miss)
Black-fronted Tern (widespread on both Islands, more common on South)
New Zealand Falcon (widespread but uncommon)
Kapapo (extreme management, won't see in wild setting, if at all)
New Zealand Kaka (widespread, can't miss on Stewart)
Red-crowned Parakeet (localized, Stewart is best)
Yellow-crowned Parakeet (localized, Stewart is best)
Long-tailed Koel (widespread but localized)
Rifleman (widespread, can't miss)
Tui (widespread, can't miss)
New Zealand Bellbird (widespread, can't miss)
Gray Gerygone (widespread, can't miss)
New Zealand Fantail (widespread, can't miss)
Tomtit (widespread, can't miss)
New Zealand Robin (widespread, can't miss)
Fernbird (widespread but localized. Dunedin to Invercargil best)

Found only on South (14 species)
Southern Brown Kiwi (localized but common on Stewart)
Okarito Brown Kiwi (found in a tiny area most birders won't visit)
Great Spotted Kiwi (Localized on West Coast and Northwest, Arthur's Pass)
Yellow-eyed Penguin (localized between Otago, Dunedin, Stewart)
Spotted Shag (widespread, can't miss)
Otago Shag (localized around Dunedin but common)
Foveaux Shag (localized but can't miss on Stewart)
New Zealand King Shag (highly localized to Cook Straight)
Kea (widespread in mountains. Arthur's Pass and road to Milford Sound are best)
Malherbe's Parakeet (rare, found in tiny area most birders won't visit)
South Island Wren (localized in Fiordland, West Coast, Arthur's Pass)
Yellowhead (localized in Fiordland, West Coast. Stewart is best)
Pipipi (aka Brown Creeper, widespread, can't miss)
South Island Saddleback (highly localized, Stewart is best)

Found only on North (7 species)
North Island Brown Kiwi (widespread but localized)
Little Spotted Kiwi (highly localized, managed islands)
Shore Plover (highly localized, also on Chatham)
Whitehead (widespread, can't miss)
North Island Kokako (highly localized)
North Island Saddleback (highly localized, managed areas)
Stitchbird (highly localized, managed areas)

Found only on Chatham and/or Subantarctic Islands (17 species)
Auckland Islands Teal
Campbell Islands Teal
Chatham Islands Pigeon
Auckland Islands Rail
Chatham Oystercatcher
Chatham Islands Snipe
Snares Islands Snipe
Subantarctic Snipe
Pitt Island Shag
Campbell Island Shag
Auckland Island Shag
Bounty Island Shag
Chatham Island Shag
Chatham Island Parakeet
Antipodes Parakeet
Reischek's Parakeet
Chatham Robin

Endemic Paradise Shelduck - Tadorna variegata

Photographed in Mackenzie Basin

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II +1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/2500 at f/5.6, ISO 320

I only visited the South Island on my recent trip, so I am going to restrict my focus to those 44 color-coded species. These - plus a few species I'll mention at the end - are where visiting birders should focus. I have not included pelagic species as they will required dedicated pelagic trips to find. Pelagic trips will be covered in Post #155 (Stewart Island) and Post #156 (Kaikoura).

OK, back to endemics. The color coding for the 44 endemics found on the South Island (including Stewart) is as follows:

The 18 green species are so common you cannot miss them. They require no discussion or dedicated effort.

The 7 yellow species are best sought - and often common - on Stewart Island. Birders will have to go out there for Southern Brown Kiwi anyway, but the island is totally worth the trip regardless of birding. The parakeets can be tricky, but there are back-up spots on the South Island mainland if they're missed on Stewart. All of these birds can be found elsewhere, but they're clustered and pretty easy on Stewart (again, more details in next post).

The 6 red birds come with major caveats, explained below. They can be mostly discounted from your South Island thinking.

Brown Teal (eBird page) has historically inhabited the South Island, but there are only a few (< 10) eBird records from the last decade. This bird is much better sought on the North Island around Auckland or Wellington, mostly in managed areas and on protected islands. Don't waste South Island energy on it.

South Island Takahe (eBird page) was long thought extinct until rediscovered in Fiordland in 1948. Since then the birds have been heavily managed, and visitors cannot expect to see a truly wild bird without serious backcountry hiking. With the North Island Takahe officially extinct (not anticipating rediscovery), the South Island Takahe has been re-introduced in managed and predator-free zones/islands on the North Island, specifically near Auckland (Tiritiri Mangani) and Wellington. The best bet to see this bird on the South Island is to visit Oronokui Ecosanctuary just north of Dunedin. Some people eBird/count the Oronokui birds even though they're basically captive. I did not.

Endemic South Island Takahe - Porphyrio hochstetteri

Poorly lit record shot of bird at Oronokui Ecosanctuary

Red-breasted Dotterel (eBird page) has two subspecies, one quite common on the north end of the North Island and another very rare on the south end of South Island. The South Island population nests in remote parts of Stewart Island, so it's in accessible during the summer months when most birders will come. They winter on the south end of the South Island, so they can be seen at that season. This species is a bit like Brown Teal in that is in technically found on both islands but much better sought on the North. If the populations are split, then it becomes a different story.

Kakapo (eBird page) is much like South Island Takahe because the tiny surviving population is very heavily managed. They are only found on predator-free, restricted-access islands (Codfish off Stewart, Anchor off Fiordland on the South Island, and Little Barrier north of Auckland). You can forget about seeing this bird in a wild/countable setting.

Okarito Brown Kiwi (eBird page) is the rarest and most range-restricted of the 5 kiwi species. It lives only in Okarito on the West Coast, a place most birders won't invest the time to visit. I actually had good looks at the bird by slowly driving the Okarito access road in the middle of the night. For those that want help with this bird, I would suggest Okarito Kiwi Tours. They are the experts and your best chance to find this rare species. The bird is there; Okarito is just too far out of the way for most birders (it's on the West Coast right near Franz Joseph); hence the designation I've assigned it.

Malherbe's Parakeet (eBird page) is another super rare bird about which there is little information. Though Arthur's Pass has produced a few sightings in the past decade, the only other spot for this species is Blumine Island in the Cook Straight, close to where New Zealand King Shag is found. I have no idea how one would get there - or if access is even permitted.

Eliminating the very common endemics, the endemics to be found on Stewart, and the endemics with major caveats, that leaves just 13 endemics on which South Island birders need focus. There are treated individually below. In searching for these birds birders will invariably find everything else.

Endemic Variable Oystercatcher - Haematopus unicolor

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/2000 at f/5.6, ISO 800

Great Spotted Kiwi (eBird page) - Sightings of this bird are concentrated in three places: Paparoa National Park on the West Coast, Kuhurangi National Park at the far north end of the South Island, and Arthur's Pass. The first two are really out of the way compared to everything else, so Arthur's Pass will be the best best (can triple up with South Island Wren and Kea). Seeing this sneaky nocturnal bird is really tough, so most will have to settle for heard-only ticks. Kiwi are most vocal in Spring and summer (Sept - Feb), so keep that in mind.

Blue Duck (eBird page) - Best bet on the South Island for this uncommon bird is to check the creek crossings between Te Anau and Milford Sound in Fiordland. Same goes for creeks/rivers on the West Coast and Arthur's Pass. They like rushing mountain streams - similar to Torrent Duck in South America - so you could run into them anywhere that criteria is met. There are also a lot of backcountry sightings from those willing to hike. I did not find this bird but didn't push that much effort into it since I was doing stuff beyond birding. The North Island is also an option for this species.

New Zealand Grebe (eBird page) - Super common on North Island, this species just reaches across the Cook Straight to the South Island near Blenheim (Taylor Dam, Lake Elterwater). If you're going to the North Island, forget about looking for this bird on the South. If you happen to be in Blenheim - or want to make a day trip from Kaikoura for it - hit the indicated spots.

Black Stilt (eBird page)- With ~130 individual birds remaining, this is the world's rarest shorebird. The Mackenzie Basin below Mount Cook and around Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki is the best place for this species. Glentanner and the Tasman Delta at the north end of Pukaki are particularly good. In the shadows of Mount Cook, the scenery is amazing!

Endemic Black Stilt (aka Kaki) - Himantopus novaezelandiae

Photographed in Mackenzie Basin

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/2500 at f/5.6, ISO 800

*I was in chest-deep water for this shot. It was f'ing cold. 

Wrybill (eBird page) - These guys like braided rivers, so the Mackenzie Basin Black Stilt spots are good. Lake Ellsmere South Of Christchurch is classic area but access can bit a bit of headache from some points. I'm not sure which access point is best. I bushwacked at least a km to reach the store from the end of Clark Road. Note - some/lots/most? of these migrate to the North Island for the winter, so they are easiest on the South Island from Dec-Feb. There are some areas north of Christchurch that can be good at the right time of year. The Coromandel is very good for them on the North Island, especially in winter.

Yellow-eyed Penguin (eBird page) - This rapidly declining bird is the world's rarest penguin and an absolute must see for any visiting birder. The Otago Peninsula is the best bet for this bird. It's possible to run into this bird on any of the peninsula's beaches, but the tour operated by Penguin Place is a good option as they have private access to a stable colony. They also rehab penguins, so your tour fee really helps the species. I'd consult eBird to see where birds have recently been seen. North of Dunedin/Otago, Katiki Point has an easily accessible colony as well. Really, though, this bird could be encountered anywhere along the coast from Dunedin to Bluff (where the Stewart Island Ferry departs). Stewart is also a good spot. I saw one bird on the Muttonbird Islands.

Endemic Yellow-eyed Penguin - Megadyptes antipodes

Photographed at Katiki Point 

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/1250 at f/7.1, ISO 800

Otago Shag (not yet split in eBird, no page) - This species and Foveaux Shag were considered conspecific as Stewart Island Shag until very recently. Otago should be observed while searching for Yellow-eyed Penguin around Otago Peninsula (Forveaux will be found on Stewart Island, as indicated). I saw it (Otago) at the Royal Albatross Center but imagine Penguin Place could be good as well. Might also see on Monarch Cruises. However, there's no need to pay to see this bird, just look around Dunedin/Otago on your own!

New Zealand King Shag (eBird page) - Boat trip into Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton. e-Ko Tours is one option. Beachcomber is another. I've used neither. This Motuara Island Bird Sanctuary looks pretty sweet. Again, I have not visited but did some of searches for you! I imagine you could get really lucky and see this bird from the main Interislander Ferry that goes between the North and South Islands, but I don't know for sure. You're probably going to have to schedule a trip and pay for this bird.

New Zealand Falcon (eBird page) - I'm not sure there's a specific spot for this bird, so you need to keep your eyes open for as you move around. I saw 4 different individuals: one north of Blenheim, two at Trotter's Gorge Campsite near Katiki Point, and one on the Kepler track outside Te Anua in Fiordland. 

Kea - (eBird page) Look in Fiordland (Te Anau, Road to Milford Sound), Mt Cook, and at Arthur's Pass. You'll find it at one of those places, places birding itineraries are likely to visit anyway. These birds are super curious and sometimes land on cars parked on the side of the road. They're usually quite approachable!

Endemic Kea - Nestor notabilis

Photographed at Arthur's Pass

Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/500 at f/5.6, ISO 1600

Long-tailed Koel (eBird page) - This is a Fiordland/West Coast/Arthur's Pass bird as far as the South Island in concerned. Searches for this and Blue Duck look like they'd be largely overlapping. I didn't see this species (or Blue Duck) and suspect both are more a matter of luck than anything else. It looks like a function of time spent in otherwise very slow-birding habitat. Also on North Island for those headed there.

Fernbird (eBird page) - Should be found between Dunedin/Otago and Catlins Coast south to Bluff/Invercargil, a stretch birders will traverse between Dunedin and Bluff. More often heard than seen. Oronokui Ecosanctuary just north of Dunedin (they have captive South Island Takahe, from above, remember?) is a classic spot. Also on North Island, though rarer. This species is pretty common; it's just skulky.

South Island Wren (eBird page) - Basically the same as Kea, and searches for the species are almost entirely overlapping. This bird is tiny, so you won't be able to spot it from hundreds of yards away like Kea. Best bet is to explore rockslide areas. Bird used to be called Rock Wren for a reason.

Here I want to mention Little (Blue) Penguin and Fiordland Penguin, two New Zealand natives shared with Australia. All NZ visitors are going to want to see loads of penguins, right?

Little Penguin (eBird page)- This incredibly cute bird is common around Christchurch, Oamaru, Dunedin/Otago, and Stewart Island. I highly recommend the evening penguin tour at the Royal Albatross Center outside Dunedin. It was a ton of fun. The birds come within about ten feet of visitors. A similar experience can be had at the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. If you don't visit an established colony, you're most likely to see them paddling around coastal bays. But you want to see them on land, trust me!

Little (Blue) Penguin - Eudylptula minor

Record shot from tour at Royal Albatross Center

NO FLASH - taken using safe lights center's safe lights

Fiordland Penguin (eBird page) - This species is a nesting endemic and would be a true endemic if it didn't spend some of it's non-breeding time in Australian waters. Most of the birds are in inaccessible parts of Fiordland, so you have to get lucky and have one swim across your path (like on the Milford Sound boat cruise, for example). Stewart Island and the waters surrounding it can be good, and it helps if one of the local tour guides knows about resident pairs/nests. The birds do migrate out to sea for the non-breeding months, so they are hit-and-miss depending on when you come.  Keep your eyes open everywhere along the coast since you never know when one is going to waddle up onto shore.

Lastly, and even though it's a pelagic species to be covered later, I'll mention Royal Albatross because they nest on the Otago Peninsula at the Royal Albatross Center. The only 'mainland' nesting albatrosses in the world, they are a must see at Dunedin/Otago. You'll probably see them on pelagics, but seeing them flying over the land is pretty cool. You can also take tours to see the chicks, so there's that as well.

Suggested Itineraries
The southern third (including Stewart) is the best terrestrial birding on the South Island, and it would be easy to spend two days around Dunedin/Otago, two days on Stewart, and two days in Te Anua/Fiordland/Milford. Throw in a day for partying/skydiving in Queenstown, and you've got a great week! The more time you add, the more you can expand your horizons. In an ideal world, I'd have a day or two at Mt Cook/Mackenzie, a day around Arthur's Pass, and two full days around Kaikoura for pelagics. Kaikoura is an awesome town, and there are all sorts of other things to do like dolphin swimming, seal swimming, and whale watching (sorry, no whale swimming). Kaikoura will be featured in it's own post in about two weeks, stay tuned!

I think you could visit everywhere I've highlighted in 10-11 days, but it would probably be along a southern and one-way trajectory from Kaikoura. As I wrote in my previous post, 14-17 days would be much better since there is so much to see beyond birds. But you really don't need that much time if you only care about birding. To show you what I mean, here is a sample itinerary lifted directly from a well-known tour company. They do North and South Islands in 17 days, so you can see how they integrate the two geographies.

However, it's worth noting how rushed this itinerary is. The only 2-night stays on the South Island are in Te Anau (with intervening day for Milford Sound Boat trip, itself a 4-hour round trip drive) and Stewart Island (not worth it for less than two nights). Otherwise, they move every night. It's a whirlwind with a lot of driving. I don't present this to bash their itinerary but to show you how you might connect the places I've listed. It would be easy to use this as a template and do bits of it slower, particularly if you dispensed with the North Island. One the other hand, if you did the North first, you'd find a bunch of the endemics there and be able to slow a bit on the South. So consider that.

Anyway, I think that's enough at this stage. Between the birds and itineraries, I've given you a lot to think about. In the next installment, I'll feature Steward Island, so be ready for that!

New Zealand Sea Lion - Phocarctos hookeri

Photographed on Otago Peninsula

Canon 600 mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/2500 at f/8 ISO 800

Post #153 - Birdwatching in New Zealand, part 1: Background, preparation, and logistics

Quick note
This is the first post in my Birding in New Zealand series. Like the others (linked when completed), it is meant as a permanent online resource, is very long and detailed, and will be archived in the International Birding Resources tab under the main banner heading. The other posts in the series are:
Post #154 - Birding in NZ, part 2: Endemics and suggested South Island Routes
Post #155 - Birding in NZ, part 3: Stewart Island
Post #156 - Birding in NZ, part 4: Kaikoura and pelagics

Overview
Thousands of miles from anywhere but Australia, New Zealand offers great birding and fantastic scenery in an English-speaking and easily-navigable environment - provided visitors are comfortable driving on lefthand side of the road! Few places on earth have better tourist infrastructure, and everyone from backpackers to luxury travelers will find something suiting their budget and needs. I just returned from 17 days on the South Island, and I will use this post to outline some general considerations as you plan your own New Zealand adventures. More birding-specific posts will follow, so be sure to check back for those in the near future. 

Where is New Zealand!?!?

A quick bit of natural history
Originally associated with the Gondwana supercontinent that included South America, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia, Zealandia broke away from those geographies between 65 and 85 million years ago (the split formed the Tasman Sea). Most of the ancient landmass remains submerged beneath the sea, and geology suggests the raised bit we today know as New Zealand was probably underwater for hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Importantly, Zealandia went its own way before terrestrial mammals evolved (~ 50 million years ago), a point I'll consider further below. 

New Zealand and Zealandia

When tectonics and volcanic activity finally pushed a prototypical New Zealand above the Pacific waves, birds arrived from Australia (presumably) and took all sorts of evolutionary forms without the selective pressure of terrestrial mammals. Some species went so far as to dispense with flight altogether. Kiwis are New Zealand's most recognizable flightless birds, but Kakapo, a ground dwelling parrot, and Takahe, a large rail, are other notable examples. The New Zealand Falcon retained flight but oddly nests on the ground. Though bats and seals reached New Zealand, an absence of terrestrial mammals - and a general dearth of reptiles - guaranteed New Zealand's flightless birds thrived in pre-colonial times.

Everything changed when Polynesians and Europeans arrived in the 13th and 18th centuries, respectively. The huge and cassowary-like Moas were quickly hunted to extinction, and many species suffered terminal or -near-terminal declines at the hand of introduced predators such as mice, rats, possums, weasels, stoats, and others. Herculean conservation efforts have been initiated to protect particularly vulnerable species, and the country had set the ambitious goal to be predator-free by 2050.

Moa rendering against human reference

Contemporary avifauna
Though much unique speciation occurred prior to the arrival of humans, New Zealand hosts comparatively few bird species. Approximately 350 species have been eBirded from New Zealand, and a life list of 200 seems quite respectable. However. what New Zealand lacks in numbers it makes up in endemics; ~51 are found on either the North, South, or both, and  ~17 additional are possible when Chatham Islands and the sub-Antarctic islands - Antipodes, Snares, Bounty, Aukland, Campbell - are included. For reference I saw 32 endemics in 17 days (without a ton of effort).

Kea - Nestor notabilis

An endemic and oddly alpine parrot

Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/1250 at f/5.6, ISO 1600

The country is also fortunate to host an incredible number of pelagic species, and visiting birders are strongly advised to undertake as many pelagic trips as possible. Don’t worry - with deepwater very close to shore, most NZ pelagic trips last 3 to 4 hours and rarely venture more than a few miles out to sea. It's not uncommon to see 6 species of albatross in a few hours. Three species of penguin are possible (even likely) on the mainland, so there's that as well.

Planning your visit
New Zealand is comprised of two major islands, North and South, that are together about the size of the United Kingdom. While there are certainly some differences at the birding level, both islands are wonderful. Spectacular scenery abounds, but the South’s more rugged terrain and thinner population make it more favored by birders and general outdoor enthusiasts. Just 20 miles from the mainland, Stewart Island is a must for anyone making it to the south end of the south island. It's an easy ferry ride from Bluff on the mainland with good pelagic birding en route. The island town of Oban is charming, and the surrounding area is the best place in the country to observe kiwi (Southern Brown). I'll have a whole post on Stewart Island coming soon.

Size comparison of the US, NZ (blue), and UK (pink)

Two considerations make planning a trip to New Zealand is a bit tricky: proximity and size. New Zealand is really far from the West Coast of the United States (and Europe) and offers much more to do that its small size suggests. You will  find most of the key birds on North and South Islands with 2 to 3 weeks, but you'll kick yourself if you spend all your time birding and forgo the hiking, scenic cruises, vineyards, and extreme sports (skydiving, bungee jumping, etc) that make New Zealand one of the world's premier outdoor destinations. You do not want to rush, so I’d advise doing New Zealand in two discrete trips with at least 14 days on each island. I know that’s not possible for most, but shorter trips - especially those visiting both island in under two weeks - will miss the best of what the country offers. 

You want time to explore deserted beaches

like this one on the Otago Peninsula

There are prefabricated/existing birding itineraries - usually 14 to 20 days - that sample the best of both islands (including Stewart and pelagics), but they move around a lot and miss the more generally outdoor awesomeness that is New Zealand. So, you need to decide if you want to go on a whirlwind birding tour or take a slower-paced and more exploratory course on your own. 

Skydiving in Queenstown. We jumped from 15,000 feet.

We had a blast with NZone!

Bonus destinations

Chatham Island, ~500 miles east of the South Island, is home to a handful of highly specialized endemics found nowhere else in New Zealand. However, Chatham requires an additional flight, necessitates complicated logistics, and is very expensive, so it's only for hardcore listers. The sub-Antarctic Islands take those caveats to greater extremes, but know they are there for the uber-adventurous and financially-able!

When to visit
New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, so the seasons are reversed compared the United States and Europe. Spring is September through November, summer is December through February, fall is March through May, and winter is June through August. High season is usually November through March. Summer is the most expensive and crowded time to visit, Christmas being the absolute peak season. The endemic birds are around all year, so you'll see them whenever you come. Pelagic birding is also excellent year-round.

Wandering Albatrosses and Southern 

Giant Petrels squabbling over chum

Avoiding summer gives you more flexibility as places and activities tend to book up well in advance during that most popular season, campsites included. It's really nice to have day-to-dat flexibility depending on what birds you find and what the weather does. Save for the Stewart Island Ferry and our accommodations on that outpost, we didn't reserve anything more that two days in advance. Temperatures on our trip (March, South/Stewart) fluctuated between 75 degree during the day and 45 degrees at night. We had a bit of rain, but nothing crippling.

Fortunately, every season is wine season in New Zealand

Driving and rental cars
Assuming you can manage driving on the lefthand side of the road, driving in New Zealand is a snap, particularly on the sparsely populated South Island. Roads are in fantastic shape, and local drivers are courteous. It’s an incredibly relaxing place to drive, and having your own wheels will let you explore the country’s backroads and deserted beaches. It’s absolutely amazing to have a five-mile beach completely to oneself!

All the major rental companies operate out of the Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch airports. We flew into the last, rented a small car, and drove ourselves around. It was easy. Gas is expensive, nearly $6 US a gallon, so rent a small and fuel-efficient car. We didn't need high clearance or four-wheel drive anywhere we went.

Our little hatchback did fine everywhere. 

Too bad it wasn't speckled!

Camping
New Zealand is very well set-up for camping, and campgrounds and camper van rentals are everywhere. So, those wanting to chart a more rustic or individualized course can certainly do that. Sonia and I lived out of our rental car, camped 8 nights, Airbnb’d 8 nights. It was all very easy. Be advised that New Zealand immigration policy is very strict; given the country's history with introduced species, they are hyper-vigilant about plant and animal hitchhikers. Expect your tent and hiking boots to be thoroughly inspected upon your arrival, and budget extra time (maybe 30 mins) during immigration in Aukland if you have a connecting flight to somewhere else. The Department of Conservation maintains campsites all over the country. There are  also loads of private campgrounds (mostly called Holiday Parks, equivalent to KOA-type campgrounds in US).

Dune camping in Kaikoura

Hiking
Called ‘tramping’ locally, hiking is a basically a national pastime. There are hundreds of wonderful day hikes, and the more adventurous should lookin into the multi-day Great Walks. Those are really cool since you can stay in established backcountry huts along the way. Those visiting strictly for birding purposes are advised to skip hiking as all the sought birds can be found without the physical exertion the activity demands.

There's no shortage of scenery in New Zealand

Safety
Safety is a virtual non-issue. Kiwis are incredible friendly people, and there are always other travelers around to lend a hand. Hitchhiking is common and safe, even for women. We picked up a lovely German woman and had a wonderfully engaging discussion of international politics between Te Anau and Queenstown.

Oh, and unlike neighboring Australia where everything can kill you (crocodiles, spiders, snakes, cane toads, Bundaberg Rum, nothing beyond the occasional mosquitos or sand fly will bother you in New Zealand. There aren't even ticks! You can walk wherever you want without concern. Humans pose more threat to wildlife than the other way around (sadly, probably true everywhere these days), so please be careful wherever you go!

Slow down for kiwis!

Food
Fish and chips are everywhere. Need any thing else? Seriously, though, we ate better in New Zealand than anywhere we’ve traveled. With so many backpackers around, something affordable  and usually decent - is always within reach. There are also many fine dining establishments, so folks with the budget for those will enjoy them. New Zealand wine is apparently fantastic (I don't drink), so try to make time for a few winery lunches. Though the cuisine everywhere is very meat forward, vegetarians should be able to survive, particularly at the many Asian restaurants.

Big Ugly unshaven after 16 days.

When did I get so old?!?!

OK, that's it for the moment. I hope someone finds all this useful! IN the next installment, I'll focus exclusively on the South Island birding. Please come back in about ten days for that....

Post #152 - Some recent shorebird flight work with some shooting suggestions

Man, it feels like it might never stop raining here in the Bay Area! We certainly need it, but the constantly cloudy skies have really put the kibosh on photography for the first six weeks of the year. Sun really helps bring out the subtle colors of the shorebirds and waterfowl on which my local photography relies, so I rarely bother shooting in flat light knowing the results won't rival those captured in warm light. I've managed sporadic results, and I am going to use this post to share a few of those with you. All of these shots came from San Mateo County.

But first! There are still 3 spots left on the Colombia Photo-Birding Extravaganza I'm leading for Alvaro's Adventures in June. Don't be scared off by the 'photo' designation. This is a traditional birding tour; we've just included a few photographically productive areas in addition to the pure birding spots. Here is a gallery of Colombian birds to motivate you! Please contact me at thespeckledhatchback@gmail.com if interested. 

Let's start with this Western Sandpiper, an ironically flat light frame. Though the frame lacks the color and contrast a sunny day would have imbued, the eye-level view, and feather detail, and fully swept wings kept this frame from the editing room floor. When shooting in flat light, understand you'll have to push the ISO to keep you shutter speed up. For speedy birds like these, I'm looking for a shutter of 1/3200 or faster.

Western Sandpiper - Calidris mauri

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 1000

Next up is this winter plumage Short-billed Dowitcher. The sun really brings out the color on the water and bird but creates a concurrent problem not visible in this shot: shadows. Shadows are always a problem with sun but can be minimized by shooting lens-level birds (i.e not overhead) in the two hours after sunrise and before sunset. As beautiful as wings are, they perpetrate shadows in proportion to their extension above or below the body plane, and there's no real way to combat them other than to shoot through them; you have to crack off enough frames to get one where the wings are extended in exactly the right way. Flat wings rarely cast shadows but generally make for the least interesting frames (at least in profile), so keep that in mind. 

Short-billed Dowitcher - Limnodromus griseus

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/4000 at f/5.6, ISO 800

Of all flight shots, bank frames are among the most prized. Not only do they show both wings in full extension, but they are hard to capture because they require the photographer to track the bird into the turn and through the often erratic banking action. Most of my bank shots are fortuitous; the bird just happens to wheel while I'm tracking it. The best way to get bank shots is therefore to master tracking, a task easier said than done when wielding large lenses. For this Willet, I actually raised my lens high above my head as the bird flew past my position. That sudden movement caused him to alter his course, and I was fast enough bring the lens down, square him up in the viewfinder, and crack off a few frames while he wheeled. The birds will bank spontaneously, but it's nice to motivate a bank so you know when it's going to happen. 

Willet - Tringa semipalmata

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/4000 at f/7.1, ISO 640

OK, I'll close with this Black-bellied Plover, admittedly from the end of 2018. I've mentioned shooting at eye-level before but it cannot be overstated. Every shot in this post is at least 50% preparation, and finding ways to meet birds at eye-level is the single most important consideration in my pre-shot routine. Shooting eye-level birds makes obtaining direct eye contact easier, and eye contact facilitates engagement between subject and viewer once the shot hits the computer screen. 

Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 5D Mark IV

1/5000 at f/4, ISO 320

So there's what I've been up between raindrops. The tides are perfect this week (only happens 3 out of every 14 days), so hopefully I'll be able to do some damage if the sun comes out. Still looking for that elusive Red Knot flight frame!

Post #151: Introduced birds and vagrants: To count or not?

Some silly and mostly ridiculous thought from the bike the other day.....

I see the introduced European Starling on just about every Bay Area birding outing. The species is so widespread and abundant I think of it as a native species. I count it on my ABA list and my Bay Area bike list - the only two lists I care about. I eBird starling without hesitation.

In contrast, I see the introduced Red-masked Parakeet on some of my San Francisco birding outings. I know the species is introduced and treat it differently than native species. It is not on any of my lists, and I don't even bother to eBird it since I don't want it 'contaminating' my species totals (and yes, I realize I'm selectively skewing the data by doing that. But who cares, its Red-Masked Parakeet).

The introduced European Starling

Both the starling and the parakeet are introduced, so why do I consciously draw a distinction between them for listing purposes? It is because the starling is so comparatively widespread? Is it because the ABA deems the starling a countable species? It is because there is some unspoken agreement among birders letting us treat the starling one way and the parakeet another?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I do know some ultra-pure listers ignore all introduced species, presumably to avoid drawing the sorts of arbitrary designations I've highlighted above. Those strictest listers will often quote their various lists with the caveat 'NIB' - non-introduced birds - attached. Though I don't adhere to this convention, I understand it and think it makes general sense.

The introduced Rock Dove

Or does it? All of the introduced species I've mentioned in this article are infinitely more a part of the North American avifauna than, say, the continuing Red-flanked Bluetail in Los Angeles. From an ecological or demographic standpoint, the Bluetail is irrelevant; it's nothing more than a statistical anomaly. If we're so concerned about birds that are naturally North American, then the Bluetail should be the last bird on our collective mind, right?

I obviously ask this question rhetorically; if I could have biked to the Bluetail, I would have been the first one in line to see it. I suspect most folks feel vagrants arrive via their own - albeit disoriented - volition while introduced species have been translocated and aided by humans. That also makes sense, but how should we consider climate change moving forward? If we agree it's mostly human caused (and if we don't, then please never talk to me again), then any vagrancy or population shift influenced by climate change would be unnatural, right? It would be as impossible to prove that any rarity didn't wander because of climate change as it would to prove that a foreign vagrant didn't ride a boat or ship to our shores (and I realize trying to prove a negative is futile anyway).

On a boat....

(Thanks to Paul Reinstein for the Bluetail photo!)

I present these musings mostly to elicit opinions/comments from those of you who haven't fallen asleep by this point. I'm as certain as anyone the Bluetail is a natural vagrant, but I think our treatment of 'natural' might need to shift moving forward. The same for introduced birds that outstrip native species. Birds like Whooping Crane and California Condor present other sorts of intrigue; humans rescued those species from human-created population crashes. Should that mean anything for countability? Listing is fun but the whole process can feel like a black box. I particularly feel for folks on records committees; trying to sort out what should count and what shouldn't seems like trying to run the 100-yard dash in a 90-yard gym. Photography sometimes seems so much simpler. Here's a native bird to close, later.....

Dunlin - Calidris alpina

San Mateo County, California

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/5000 at f/4, ISO 400, handheld

Post #150 - The 5-Mile Radius and another biking Big Year!

I've recently been thinking more about the 5-Mile Radius (5MR), an initiative encouraging birders to explore habitats within 5 miles of their homes. 5MR birding seeks to minimize driving and to disperse birders into highly individualized and usually under-explored spaces. Twenty individual birders driving long distances to the same hotspot produce significant carbon emissions, and they generate mostly redundant eBird data since they're mostly looking at the same birds. Birding closer to home will lead to less driving and it will help diversify the data set by increasing coverage outside of those most popular hotspots. I don't expect everyone to give up driving or avoid productive hotspots, but it might be fun to try 5MR birding one weekend a month.

A 'rare' Rock Wren from my 5MR (Foster City)

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV

1/2000 at f/5.6, ISO 800

Had the camera on the bike this day!

I've largely ignored the 5MR because I usually like to bike longer distances than the 5MR suggests. Coyote Point Park, for example, is a great birding spot just a mile from my apartment, but I rarely bird it because riding there and back won't burn significant donuts or ice cream. However, I've decided to make more dedicated forays within my 5MR when I don't have the time for longer rides. It will be fun to try to explore new areas and see how many species I can find close to home. 

Below are two views of my 5MR, wide (left) and zoomed (right). My home is indicated by the blue dot on the right hand view. Because my 'Actual 5MR' is 50% open water, I've taken some liberty and shifted it slightly southwest to include more birdable land. The shift captures a bonus sliver of higher elevation habitat on the bayside of the coastal mountains (i.e. Skylawn Cemetery off Highway 92), but I don't think I've altered it so egregiously to distort the meaning or spirit of the 5MR game. From here forward, 5MR will refer to the Shifted permutation. 

Cross-referencing my eBird data and my memory, I realize I've seen 201 species in my 5MR, 199 of which have been observed using my bike (I've never driven to bird in my 5MR, extra 2 were observed when I drove to photograph). I'm exceptionally lucky my 5MR contains a lot of different habitats - open water, shorelines, marshes, neighborhoods, chaparral, oak woodlands, and even a bit of coniferous forest - and I imagine I've far from exhausted the birds I can find within its bounds. Hell, 253 species have been eBirded from Coyote Point, so I should be able to find a bunch of additional species in my 5MR given enough time. 

Incidently, I've found a couple really good 5MR birds - Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, and Yellow-headed Blackbird - while walking my dog along the bay. In each instance, I ran home, grabbed my bike and camera, rode back, and relocated the county rarity for photos. The best bird I have in my 5MR is the Old World Dusky Warbler. I didn't find that great bird; I poached it from Logan Kahle and Bob Tolino.

Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, Yellow-headed Blackbird

  
I'm curious to hear if any of you play around with the 5MR, so please feel free to leave me a comment with your experiences and exploits I'd be very curious to know how high species totals in the 5MR can be pushed. I'm sure many - and particularly those with ocean - will crush my number!

Lastly, I want to mention the Green Big Year my friend Gregg Severson is currently undertaking in Minnesota. He'll travel exclusively by bicycle - a particularly impressive feat considering Minneapolis temperatures will top out at 34 degrees this week - and he'll be blogging about his adventures as he progresses. He's home-based, so he'll use will the same hub-and-spoke (i.e. out-and-back) model I use for my Bay Area bike-birding. I'll be keeping tabs on him, and I'm sure he be stoked if you did as well! Best of luck, Gregg!

Post #149 - 2018 Photo Review

Happy New Year, and welcome to the fifth year of The Speckled Hatchback! Here is a quick post to get 2019 started off right. Since I've already put together a gallery of my 23 favorite photos from 2018 on my photo website, I'll use this entry to highlight my five favorites frames from this past year. I present them in no particular order. Here we go!

Let's start with this Marbled Godwit I captured at my local shorebird spot on San Francisco Bay. I visit this location a couple afternoons each week from October to April (it's 5 minutes from my apartment), and I've learned how wintering shorebirds behave on every tide. That knowledge has translated into lots of interesting shots, and I'm really proud of the understanding I've cultivated. Shooting at feeder arrays or from permanent blinds is super fun but often less than challenging, and the photographers I respect most are those who can go into the habitat and generate beautiful images under completely natural conditions. This frame was collected just as the sun set, and I was lucky the bird was high enough off the water to give me the smooth and deep blue background. I was even luckier the soft out-of-focus breakers framed the bird so nicely!

Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II on EOS 5D Mark IV

1/4000 at f/4, ISO 400

Next up is this Brandt's Cormorant from San Diego. I am a huge fan of super-detailed headshots, and this was my favorite portrait from 2018 (check out this gallery for all my headshots). It takes a really close look at this species to reveal the stunning blue eye and gular puch, so I was stoked when this bird stretched and squawked right in front of me. Cormorants are often overlooked in favor of flashier species, so I was really happy I could display this beautiful individual so well.

Brandt's Cormorant - Phalacrocorax penicillatus

Canon 500mm f/4 IS v1 + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV

1/800 at f/8, ISO 800

Moving along, I present this Tricolored Heron from South Padre Island in Texas. Most of my shots are front lit and composed in predictable ways, so it felt really good to break out of my usual mold with this wider-angle silhouette. I was laying chest-down in about a foot of water, and I put my lens right on the surface of the Laguna Madre to get a thin plan of focus and maximize foreground and background blur. Getting soaked was totally worth it!

Tricolored Heron - Egretta tricolor

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV

1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 800

Birds of prey are a weak point in my portfolio, so I could hardly contain myself as I inched my vehicle forward to photograph this roadside Merlin in Southern California. She tolerated very close approach, and I took nearly 300 frames of her in the 5 minutes it took her to eat breakfast. Nature can be beautiful and brutal in the same moment, and I was incredibly thankful I was able to capture those conflicting sentiments in this frame. Taken on December 28, this frame barely made the December 31 deadline!

Merlin - Falco columbaris

Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark II

1/2500 at f/7.1, ISO 640

Lastly, I'll leave you with this pair of Spectacled Parrotlets from Colombia. With the perfectly clean background, this shot looks suspiciously like a set-up - a shot where wild birds are lured onto the perfect perch with food - but this was 100% natural. I spotted these birds from an elevated porch on the visitor's center at Rio Sonso outside Cali, and I leaned way out over the edge to get the perfect angle on them. The bamboo pole against which I braced myself nearly gave way, but I survived to get the shot and tell the tale. The left bird is the male, and it was really cute to watch him tenderly preen his female mate. Their interaction was photographic gold!

Spectacled Parrotlets - Forpus conspicillatus

Canon 500mm f/4 IS v1 + 1.4x III on EOS 5D Mark IV

1/320 at f/5.6, ISO 1600

So that's it! The curtain closes on my photo review and the year that was 2018. Thanks for hanging in through the fourth year of The Speckled Hatchback. I'm not sure what 2019 will hold, but I expect my upcoming trip to New Zealand will be a highlight regardless. Once again, I'll remind you to check out the full gallery of my 23 favorite photos from this year on my website. I'd love to hear which of those shots you particularly like!

Happy New Years! Good birding and shooting in 2019!

Big Ugly at Sumapaz NP, high above Bogotá, Colombia

Post #148 - 2018 Bike-birding recap!

Real quick - if any of you are thinking about trying bike-birding, have a look at this article from my Seattle friend Bryony Angell. She offers some nice tips to get you started. Now on with the recap!

I haven't written much about bike-birding since my April Big Day, so this is the perfect time to recap my self-powered exploits from 2018. This was my first full calendar year in the Bay Area, and these most recent 12 months were a strong continuation of the bike-birding momentum I built in the second half of 2017 (after moving from Los Angeles). Comparing 2018 to 2017, I ventured into many new areas in my home San Mateo County, and I spent more time exploring neighboring San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties. I also crossed the bay - via the Dumbarton Bridge - to bird Alameda County for the first time this year. Though I didn't keep track of mileage last year, careful accounting revealed I cranked out 1,950 miles of bird-motivated biking in 2018. As it's exactly 800 driving miles on Interstate 5 from the Oregon state line to the Mexican border, I traversed the length of the Golden State more than twice!

Half Moon Bay and Pillar Point

Golden Gate from the Presidio

As far as birds are concerned, I started 2018 with 209 species on my cumulative Bay Area bike list and ended with 271. Among the 62 species I added this year, Tufted Duck on Nob Hill Pond in San Mateo, Ruff at Don Edwards at the bottom of the bay, and a Broad-billed Hummingbird in downtown San Francisco were the most notable. Eastern strays included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Blackburnian Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Palm Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Swamp Sparrow. Seawatching yielded Northern Fulmar, Black-vented Shearwater, Rhinoceros Auklet, and Pomarine Jaeger. Outside of those, a hodgepodge of Long-tailed Duck, Prairie Falcon, Lewis's Woodpecker, Tropical Kingbird, and Northern Saw-whet Owl (heard only) rounded out the year's highlights. 

Note added Dec 29 - Just found Lapland Longspur out on the bay for #272!

Note added Dec 30 - Successful 52-mile round trip Orchard Oriole chase to SF for #273!

Totals for individual counties

Looking ahead, my main goal is to push my cumulative Bay Area total towards 300 species. I don't think I stand a chance in hell of reaching that plateau in 2019, but I hope to make some ground towards that benchmark. The ideal scenario is for new birds to show up near where I live, but I know I am going to have to do a lot of riding to add new species from more distant areas to approach 300. Just for fun, here are the 20 most likely new species for me along the coast (using San Mateo as a proxy). 

Most of the species are offshore pelagics, but I should be able to find Red Phalarope, Black-legged Kittiwake and maybe Cassin's Auklet with seawatching. Black Swift nests at Año Nuevo and will require 2 days (with overnight in Pigeon Point hostel) to collect. Northern Pygmy-Owl will require an overnight in Half Moon Bay since I cannot ride over Route 92 in the dark. Wilson's Phalarope I can find at the bottom of the Bay (Santa Clara) in August. Dipper is sometimes around, but is far from common in either San Mateo or Santa Clara.

The Dumbarton Bridge from Don Edwards NWR

Most productive will be spending time inland and east. The catch is those trips will need to be multi-day since I cannot reach to the eastern edge of Santa Clara (or Stanislaus) and return home in the same day. The best trip I could do would be the below, probably sometime in early May. It would take 4 full days (~220 miles out and back) but give me chances for Swainson's Hawk, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Phainopepla, Roadrunner, Common Poorwill, Lawrence's Goldfinch, Blue Grosbeak, Costa's Hummingbird, Bell's Sparrow, Canyon Wren, and other dry habitat specialists. It's a lot of riding, but I think Mines Road and Highway 130 would be great birding in a beautiful setting. Company would be great - if you've got the legs!

OK, you get the idea. Returns have really diminished, and I am going to have to work very hard to add new species. Outside of those species goals, I'd like to spend some time birding in Marin since it's relatively close. The pipe dream trip would be to take 12-14 days to ride to the eastern side of Sierras in June or July. That journey would take me to areas of the state I haven't visited (even by car) and give me the chance to find 20+ species I'll never find where I live. 

That's it for now. I will try to put together a post on this year's photo highlights, so please stay tuned for that!