"BIRDING “DOWN UNDER”
Two months in New Zealand
Judy Waring
Phil and I
first planned to move to New Zealand for a year. That idea was soon scrapped for a
six month stay, followed by the three month idea, and finalized as a two month visit
in February and March of this year. New Zealand is not a hot destination for
the serious birder intent on racking up the species but our agenda was to try
everything, including birding.
Upon our
arrival we bought a 1985 Honda Civic for $500 US and traveled this way for the
duration. The car worked perfectly. Phil and I were the problem. We had some
harrowing moments until we mastered driving in the left-hand lane and clockwise
roundabouts. The country is composed of two main islands with a scattering of
lesser islands offshore. The south island is mainly green, rolling sheep
farming country with mountains and lakes as a backdrop and a ratio of sheep to
humans said to be 50 million to 5 million. Equally interesting, the north
island has the larger population and has more development. We spent one month
on each island.
We stayed almost exclusively in private rooms in hostels and that worked
very well. They were clean, well-run businesses with fully equipped kitchens so
that we could fix our own meals. The evenings were often spent visiting with
people from all over the globe. We met more than 15 nationalities using the
hostel system.
Birds of interest
The Kiwi bird
is the New Zealand national symbol, a flightless ground-nesting bird that has
been decimated by predators like stoats and opossums. Humans have also played a
part in their troubles as the hair-like feathers are sought by natives for
ceremonial wear. The government has now moved populations of these rare birds
to predator-free islands where they are making a slow comeback. We visited one
of these sanctuaries off of the north island and, while we did not see the
Kiwi, we saw several species that were new to us and beautiful. But never say
never. This adage led to an interesting hunt for the Kiwi in an ancient kauri
forest one night where a few of the birds remain. Knowing that the Kiwi is
nocturnal, we arrived at dusk, walked into the forest, and sat silently in the
pitch black for an hour, hoping to at least hear the distinctive call. Nothing,
only the drone of mosquitoes.
The Yellow-eyed Penguin is endemic to
New Zealand and is one of the world’s rarest penguins so they were high on our
priority list. The recommended way to view them is to arrive at the seashore
just before dusk when they return for the night from feeding at sea. This we
did and sure enough, at the given hour, they popped out of the surf and waddled
up to the cover of brush to preen and settle in. A dangerous time for the
Yellow-eyed is following the fledging of chicks. The adults go to sea for an
intensive three weeks of feeding and then come to shore to molt. The feathers
fall off entirely and they are vulnerable to predators so they must remain
hidden until the new feathers grow.
There is no feeding done during this period.
A bird that is common in New Zealand and that we expected
to easily find is the Pukeko. It is the size of a chicken and is a cousin of
the Purple Gallinule found in the American southeast. Search as we might, it took us five weeks to come across this
bird. At last we found three of them walking delicately over the top of
shrubbery feeding on seeds. They are quite spectacular with a glossy purple and
black feathering and bright red beak, forehead and legs. An unusual nesting
practice of the Pukeko caught my attention - they have communal nests. Two or
three females will lay eggs in the same nest and the incubation and feeding is
shared with the extended family.
Our New Zealand experience was successful
in every way. The country is beautiful, safe, and English is the language used.
We would be happy to field inquiries about travel ideas.
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Raptors:
Magnificent Birds Of Prey
It’s that time again:
raptor migration! Refresh your raptor knowledge, play games, learn about raptor
rehabilitation at: www.audubon.org/bird/Raptors/index.html.
After
reading about raptors on the Audubon website,
visit the website of "Birds
of Prey Northwest" and find out about
their plans for a rehabilitation and educational center at Wolf Lodge Bay. Find out how you can help raptors and make this center a reality. Go to:
www.birdsofpreynorthwest.org/index.html
Mission of the
Birds of Prey Northwest
Established in 1993, Birds of Prey Northwest
promotes stewardship and conservation of raptors through educational programs
with live birds of prey. We provide medical treatment 
and
rehabilitation to injured birds of prey with the ultimate goal of returning
them to the wild. The organization also collaborates with others on raptor
research projects.
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NOON TIME
BIRDING
SEPTEMBER 18
Lynn Sheridan
(This popular one hour event led by Lynn Sheridan is a good way to
get to know what our chapter is all
about.)
Ken and Kathryn
Green, new-comers to the area, Sherry Breitenbach, visiting from Utah, and
regulars, Dale Holst, Roland Craft and Kris Buchler joined me at noon at the
west end of Fernan Lake.
Mallards and
their "hybrid cousins" dabbled and dozed at the waters edge, while an
otter swam by. The Great Blue Heron rookery was empty, but one was
spotted in the shallows. Two Northern Flicker called from the top of a
tree, while a few House Finch and Pygmy
Nuthatch skittered through the
bushes.
All, except
Sherry, piled into a couple of cars to drive to the far end of the lake. Along
the way, Kris stopped to show us where the resident Bald Eagle pair nested this summer, but none were seen.
However, at the marshy east end, we
found an juvenile Bald Eagle in a tree
preening itself.
Kris's scope
proved to be invaluable. We all enjoyed close up views of a Solitary Sandpiper that Kris discovered
while scanning the area. Other bird
sightings included several pretty male
Wood Duck, some in eclipse plumage, a lone female Wood Duck, a Pileated
Woodpecker, arriving noisily to eat
hawthorne berries, a Double-crested Cormorant, American Coot, Great Blue Heron,
Mallard, a lone swallow (sp) and a
Black-billed Magpie.
This was a
wonderful outing--thank you, everyone.
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conservation easement property
Lynn Sheridan
On September
15, 2007, Joan Gundlach and I joined a group of conservation enthusiasts
from Washington and Idaho to tour the newly established "conservation
easement" property at Hauser Lake, property of John and Nancy Matheson.
Their 150 acres of woods and meadows, and a portion of the lake will be
kept free of development in perpetuity. We were invited by Chris
DeForest, Executive Director of Inland Northwest Land Trust. We walked the trails, admired the old trees,
saw nests of Great Blue Heron and an
Osprey , and noted a few birdhouses for bluebirds. It will not be
open to the public,as it is still private property and John and Nancy will
continue to do a small amount of
farming and logging. The property has been in his family for 90
years. A worth-while project!
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Observaton Post
From the journal of Kris Buchler
PEREGRINE FALCON ANTICS
Lisa Hardy has
been monitoring shorebirds in the Chain Lakes all summer and decided to do a
census at Boundary Creek Wildlife Management Area for Jeff Knetter, the
manager. It was a good opportunity for
me to brush up on shorebird ID so I agreed to go along. Jeff has used water level draw-downs to
manage the habitat and vegetation growth.
Earl Chapin, of Sandpoint, has been doing a state Big Year Count and had
noticed excellent shorebird activity on the exposed mud, a rarity here in North
Idaho. Ball Creek Ranch Preserve has
also seen a great number of shorebirds, even though the mud there is from
natural causes and our lack of rain.
Earl and Bev
Chapin joined the Knetters, Lisa and me early Saturday morning on the first
weekend of September. While focused on the wetlands and mud, someone actually
looked up into the sky and noticed a large bird fly behind the cottonwoods
lining the road. Soon, two large
raptors appeared in the sky and were quickly identified as Peregrine Falcons. The next 
25
minutes or so were a birder’s dream – falcons doing what comes naturally. The pair first buzzed the Canada Geese,
causing a ruckus but not appearing to be a serious threat. Both birds eventually landed on the ground,
quite a distance apart. One hopped
around and appeared at first to be in trouble as it turned stones over. Close scrutiny with the spotting scope
showed that it had a small mammal in its talons and it finally began to eat
it. At the same time a line of about a dozen
geese slowly marched towards it as if in an old west standoff. The falcon looked at them occasionally but
didn’t act alarmed.
In the
meantime, the other falcon was harassed by a female Northern Harrier. This dispute took place both on the ground
and in the air where talons were used and much fluttering went on as the
harrier tried to drive the falcon away.
If they had taken flight high into the air, the falcon may have
predominated with a strong power dive, but the altercation never went that
far. Eventually, all three birds flew
away. Northern Harriers are fixtures of
the WMA and the falcons may have been a migrant pair. We saw one of them later further south over some ponds filled
with waterfowl.
While rafting
on the Clark Fork River this summer, I saw a Peregrine Falcon eyeing us from
its perch on a pinnacle above the canyon.
I later encountered two observers who are part of a project in
Montana. Check out his website:
www.montanaperegrine.org.
This was the
first I had heard about the extensive monitoring Montana is doing. Jane Cantwell, of Birds of Prey Northwest,
was involved in Peregrine Falcon restoration in the Midwest. Like the Bald
Eagle, populations of the Peregrine Falcon were seriously decimated by the use
of DDT. Captive breeding and releases
have turned the numbers around but they are still a rare sight. There are rumors of a pair being seen along
the cliffs of the Kootenai River near the junction with the Moyie River. A pair is known to nest in the Cabinet Gorge
above the Clark Fork River. I have seen
one bird at Johnson Creek, not far, as the falcon flies, from that site.
Shorebirds are
interesting and an identification challenge.
However, Peregrine Falcons in the air, doing what comes naturally, are a
symphony. The memory remained with me
the rest of the day.
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BIRD TRIVIA
The largest living bird is the Ostrich of North
Africa; it can grow to a height of 9 feet and a weight of nearly 350 pounds. It
takes roughly 40 minutes to boil an ostrich egg, and although the shell is just
6/100 of an inch thick, it can support the weight of a 280-pound man.
THE FISH HAWK 
