BIRDING NEW ZEALAND DAY 1: Dunedin

I recently travelled to New Zealand. Most of the trip was spent on the South Island, though we also spent 3 days in Wellington for a conference. The trip began in Dunedin, where we stayed at the Lanarch Castle. The castle had large gardens which I explored in the morning. Some of the commoner New Zealand endemics were visible here. A feeder near the castle was home to many New Zealand bellbirds. In flowering trees, distant tui could be seen: a lifer for me. Finally, several New Zealand pigeons were flying around the property. Several introduced species were also present: house sparrow, chaffinch, blackbird, Eurasian starling and song thrush all being seen.

The New Zealand pigeon is often seen while driving in the New Zealand countryside

New Zealand bellbirds are extremely common, we saw them often during the trip

Our first stop of the day was the Orokonui Ecosanctuary, about 30 minutes drive from the castle. We started walking along the kaka trail at about 9:30 am. The feeders were alive with bellbirds and tui. After about a minute of waiting, a feeding flock of magnificent lifer kaka swept through the area, giving us our first views of the endemic parrot. We then headed towards the Robin Valley Trail. We stood along the first third of the trail and silently waited. A flock of distant lifer brown creepers made their way through the canopy. Eventually, our target, a lifer South Island robin, flew down and briefly checked us out. On the way back, a male tomtit perched near the path and allowed close views.

The kaka on South Island are slightly more colourful than their North Island cousins

Tui gave us great views at the sanctuary's many feeders   

 The male tomtit has a beautiful yolk-yellow wash to his chest

A horrible shot of one of the brown creepers at Robin Valley

We got lunch in Dunedin, then drove back to the castle. After a few minutes rest, we went to Penguin Place for a 3 o'clock tour. While walking past several little penguins, we saw New Zealand fur seals hauled up on the rocks. Variable oystercatchers were common here. We walked down to an area of trenches, from which we observed a pair of yellow-eyed penguins. Just before heading back, we scanned the beach for birds and managed to see a yellow-eyed penguin rise from the water and walk across the beach.

A pair of variable oystercatchers stares down a young New Zealand fur seal

Jim and Maggie are the names of these two yellow-eyed penguins

A yellow-eyed penguin strides slowly across the beach