Last month I had the privilege of travelling back to New Zealand after many years.
My purpose was to visit old friends, revisit some bird hotspots and look for new New Zealan bird species.
My first stopover was in Auckland to stay with my good friend Wendyl.
The first place that I headed for was the Muriwai Gannet colony.
This is an incredible place as there is a walkway which allows one to observe the Australasian Gannet colony at close quarters.
Many of the chicks in the colony were practicing to fly.
This seabird species can also be observed in Australian waters such as Moreton Bay (see photo right).
After having a restful evening, we headed out the next morning to the Shakespear Regional Park to the north of Auckland.
This particular fenced sanctuary I had visited in 2011 and only a small number of native birds could be observed such as the New Zealand Pigeon, New Zealand Fantails and Grey Warbler.
Fast forward to 2025 and the bird life was astounding!
From the carpark, I could see North Island Saddlebacks and Red-fronted Parakeets.
Once we started to explore further into the sanctuary, we saw Tui, Hihi, Whiteheads and Ruru (New Zealand Boobook) to name a few.
Some species such as the Hihi have been introduced and other species such as the Red-fronted Parakeet has possibly flown from the nearby island sanctuary, Tiritiri Matangi Island.
It was incredible to see how the New Zealand bird species rebound when they are not subjected to predation of introduced predators. A wonderful place to visit if one has limited time and would like to see some of the North Island native birds.
My last few days staying in Auckland, I was on the hunt for the New Zealand Shore Plover.
This small wader bird can only be found in New Zealand and can only be seen on one island in the Hauraki Gulf.
My journey to see this special bird will have to wait until next month’s article!
