What time of day is best?
The best time to see the birds from the bird hides is within two hours either side of HIGH TIDE. The birds feed out on the mud flats while the tide is out and as it comes in they use this time to roost, sleep and preen. See the tide tables below. For future dates visit the LINZ predictions website and search for Thames.
You can visit the Shorebird Centre 9am-5pm to learn about the birds, seven days a week, all year round.
What time of year is best?
There are always birds to see at Pūkorokoro, but different species are here at different times.
Godwits, and other Arctic migrants arrive in September and are here until the end of March.
Wrybill and other NZ migrants arrive in January and are here until June.
We also have birds that are resident here all year round.
High Tides – January 2023
| Sun 1 3.40pm | ||||||
| Mon 2 4.30pm | Tue 3 5.30pm | Wed 4 6.20pm | Thu 5 7.00am | Fri 6 7.50am | Sat 7 8.30am | Sun 8 9.10am |
| Mon 9 9.50am | Tue 10 10.30am | Wed 11 11.10am | Thu 12 11.45am | Fri 13 12.20pm | Sat 14 1.00pm | Sun 15 1.45pm |
| Mon 16 2.30pm | Tue 17 3.30pm | Wed 18 4.20pm | Thu 19 5.20pm | Fri 20 6.30pm | Sat 21 7.15am | Sun 22 8.15am |
| Mon 23 9.10am | Tue 24 10.00am | Wed 25 10.50am | Thu 26 11.40am | Fri 27 12.30pm | Sat 28 1.20pm | Sun 29 2.15pm |
| Mon 30 3.00pm | Tue 31 4.00pm |
High Tides – February 2023
| Wed 1 5.00pm | Thu 2 6.00pm | Fri 3 6.50pm | Sat 4 7.25am | Sun 5 8.10am | ||
| Mon 6 8.50am | Tue 7 9.30am | Wed 8 10.00am | Thu 9 10.40am | Fri 10 11.15am | Sat 11 11.50am | Sun 12 12.30pm |
| Mon 13 1.15pm | Tue 14 2.00pm | Wed 15 2.50pm | Thu 16 3.50pm | Fri 17 5.00pm | Sat 18 6.10pm | Sun 19 7.00am |
| Mon 20 8.00am | Tue 21 8.45am | Wed 22 9.40am | Thu 23 10.30am | Fri 24 11.15am | Sat 25 12.05pm | Sun 26 12.50pm |
| Mon 27 1.40pm | Tue 28 2.30pm |
High Tides – March 2023
| Wed 1 3.20pm | Thu 2 4.20pm | Fri 3 5.20pm | Sat 4 6.20pm | Sun 5 7.00am | ||
| Mon 6 7.45am | Tue 7 8.20am | Wed 8 9.00am | Thu 9 9.30am | Fri 10 10.10am | Sat 11 10.45am | Sun 12 11.20am |
| Mon 13 12.00pm | Tue 14 12.50pm | Wed 15 1.40pm | Thu 16 2.30pm | Fri 17 3.30pm | Sat 18 4.45pm | Sun 19 6.00pm |
| Mon 20 7.00pm | Tue 21 7.30am | Wed 22 8.30am | Thu 23 9.15am | Fri 24 10.00am | Sat 25 10.50am | Sun 26 11.30am |
| Mon 27 12.20pm | Tue 28 1.10pm | Wed 29 2.00pm | Thu 30 2.50pm | Fri 31 3.45pm |