Somewhat unusually many of the birds spent January roosting at the north end of the stilt ponds. Sightings of the Little Curlew continued sporadically through January. Wrybills and Oystercatchers returned in force. A banded rail family was seen regularly at the entrance to the carpark.
Migrants and Vagrants
5900 Bar-tailed Godwit
800 Red Knot
1 Hudsonian Godwit
2 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Little Whimbrel
2 Eastern Curlew
1 Whimbrel
2 Marsh Sandpiper
3 Curlew Sandpiper
3 Red-necked Stint
11 Turnstone
2 Pectoral Sandpiper
5 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
41 Pacific Golden Plover
2 Arctic Skua
1 Little Tern
NZ Species
1300 Wrybill
40 Banded Dotterel
1300 South Island Pied Oystercatchers
24 Royal Spoonbill
140 Black-billed Gulls
6 Caspian Terns
White Fronted Tern
400 Pied Stilts
Hybrid Black Stilt
4 New Zealand Dotterel
6 Variable Oystercatchers
Best birdwatching is two hours either
side of high tide.