It is changing of the guards time at Miranda. Wrybill numbers are now down to a few hundred as birds move south to their South Island breeding areas. Meanwhile Bar-tailed Godwits have begun returning to join the 250 or so birds that overwintered. Also regularly seen recently are a Black-tailed Godwit and a Marsh Sandpiper. There is currently an adult Black-fronted Tern here as well: from time to time we have had a juvenile turn up, but adults are less common.
Migrants and Vagrants
Bar-tailed Godwit – numbers are changing every day. Look for red stain on the faces of new arrivals. It comes from iron oxide in the Alaskan feeding grounds.
Red Knot
1 Asiatic Black-tailed Godwit
1 Whimbrel
1 Marsh Sandpiper
1 Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
NZ Species
200 Wrybill
South Island Pied Oystercatchers
Pied Stilt
36 Royal Spoonbill
New Zealand Dotterel
Banded Dotterel
Variable Oystercatcher
Banded Rail
Black-billed Gull
White-fronted Tern
Caspian Tern
1 Black-fronted Tern
2 White Herons
Bittern – recently seen in the pond where they bred last year. Not seen every day, but sightings of birds in flights are regular.
Banded Rail