Christchurch Cathedral
November 25-December 3, 2006
Christchurch Cathedral
Following our November Venture to Eastern Australia, I was asked to take 2 of the group - Pru and Doris, on a short trip to New Zealand. As I had not actually birded New Zealand before, I had a lot of help from Gail and we settled on 8 days in the South Island, which gave us a great combination of scenery, birds and a great introduction to New Zealand. We were not disappointed at all in any part of the trip as we had several boat trips with a great selection of pelagic birds, a spectacular cruise in Milford Sound with waterfalls cascading of every hillside (thanks to days of rain!), delicious fish and chips, an evening hike to watch a Stewart Island Brown Kiwi snuffling for sandhoppers on a remote beach, snow-capped mountains and wonderfully friendly Kiwi folks throughout our time there. Watch for Pru's trip report here very soon.
Roses in Christchurch Botanical Gardens
| Birds | |
| Stewart Island Brown Kiwi | Weka |
| Fiordland Crested Penguin | Pukeko (Purple Swamphen) |
| Yellow-eyed Penguin | Pied Oystercatcher |
| Blue Penguin | Variable Oystercatcher |
| Great Crested Grebe | Pied (White-headed) Stilt |
| Wandering Albatross | Black Stilt |
| Northern Royal Albatross | Wattled (Masked) Lapwing |
| Southern Royal Albatross | Banded Dotterel |
| Salvin's Albatross | Bar-tailed Godwit |
| White-capped Albatross | Ruddy Turnstone |
| Black-browed Albatross | Kelp Gull |
| Southern Giant Petrel | Red-billed Gull |
| Northern Giant Petrel | Black-billed Gull |
| Cape Petrel | White-fronted Tern |
| Grey-faced Petrel | Black-fronted Tern |
| White-chinned Petrel | Rock Pigeon |
| Westland Petrel | New Zealand Pigeon |
| Sooty Shearwater | Kea |
| Short-tailed Shearwater | Kaka |
| Hutton's Shearwater | Red-crowned Parakeet |
| Wilson's Storm-Petrel | Yellow-crowned Parakeet |
| Common Diving-petrel | Rifleman |
| Australasian Gannet | Eurasian Skylark |
| Little Black Shag | Welcome Swallow |
| Great Cormorant | Dunnock |
| Pied Cormorant | Eurasian Blackbird |
| Stewart Island Shag | Song Thrush |
| Spotted Shag | Grey Fantail |
| Little Pied Cormorant | Tomtit |
| White-faced Heron | New Zealand Robin |
| Royal Spoonbill | Brown Creeper (Pipipi) |
| Black Swan | Grey Warbler (Gerygone) |
| Canada Goose | Silver-eye |
| Paradise Shelduck | New Zealand Bellbird |
| Australian Shelduck | Tui |
| Grey Teal | Saddleback |
| Mallard | Australasian Magpie |
| Pacific Black Duck | European Starling |
| Australasian Shoveler | Yellowhammer |
| New Zealand Scaup | Chaffinch |
| Australasian Harrier | European Greenfinch |
| New Zealand Falcon | Redpoll |
| Wild Turkey | European Goldfinch |
| California Quail | House Sparrow |
| Mammals | |
| Dusky Dolphin | European Hare |
| NZ Fur Seal | European Rabbit |
| Hooker's Sealion | Black Rat |
| Brushtail Possum | |
| Butterflies | |
| Cabbage White | |
NZ Pigeons
Lupis and Lake Tekapo
Immature Black Stilt
Kea Parrot
NZ view
Milford Sound boat trip
Fiordland National Park
Kaka Parrots on the hotel railing
Rainbow over Stewart Island
Copyright 2007 VENTURES INC.