BIRDING NEW ZEALAND DAY 7: Te Anau to Milford Sound

After breakfast at 9 am, we started the drive along the beautiful Milford Sound Road. Our first stop was Mirror Lakes. In the morning sun, the lakes look just as we had imagined them, the mountains perfectly reflected in their waters.

The lakes were somewhat crowded, but not so crowded that it spoiled the experience

Our next stop was Lake Gunn. The nature walk here was recommended for seeing native birds. This proved true, as immediately after driving into the carpark we saw a lone South Island robin. The walk itself was quite productive, with brown creeper, New Zealand bellbird and kaka all high in the trees. We heard, and briefly saw, a single rifleman. On the way back a South Island robin flew up to us and inspected us for a few minutes. We were also treated to great views across the lake.

A view across a rocky beach of glacial Lake Gunn

South Island robins have paler-coloured upperparts than their North Island cousins

We stopped briefly near the Homer Tunnel, but because of avalanche danger we weren't able to walk the trail to see rock wren. While stopping, we did see 3 inquisitive kea. 

The kea is the world's only alpine parrot, and is endemic to New Zealand

We stopped once more at the Chasm, then it was on to Milford Sound. At the sound, we had a quick lunch from the information centre, took our bags from our car and boarded an overnight cruise. Birdwise the first section of the cruise brought nothing but kelp gulls, though there were several areas where New Zealand fur seals were resting on the rocks. However, we were treated to even more amazing views. The boat came up to the base of Fury and Sterling Falls, spraying us all with water!

Sterling Falls cascades down one of Milford Sound's shorter cliffs

A view across Milford Sound

Several New Zealand fur seals rested on these rocks

The cliffs and mountains surrounding Milford are insanely tall

We anchored in Harrison's Cove, where we would be spending the night. We went out on a small guided boat trip into the cove. First, we checked out an area known as Penguin Cove, trying to see Fiordland crested penguins, but with no luck we moved on. We drove slowly past the shore, looking at the marks left by tree avalanches. A few New Zealand bellbirds and South Island robins could be seen in the distance, perched atop small trees. Apparently they are the only birds that can make it past the high mountains framing the sound. We then drifted in front of the Harrison River, allowing great photos of the cove. Finally, we drove into the sound for a look at the sunset.

The area of snow high on that mountain covers a glacier

Due to the high mountains, much of the sunset isn't visible from the sound