New Zealand and Fiji

October 13-20: New Zealand: South island

We left LAX on the 13th and flew non-stop to Auckland, NZ. My veg food didn’t get on board, but the staff was accommodating and I finally got some food. The individually controlled movies were a cool feature, but thank goodness for Ambien. I had a much better night’s sleep than I could have ever imagined. Since we flew across the International Date Line, we arrived in Auckland in the early morning on October 15. We then traveled by plane south to Queenstown which is known as the “Adventure Capitol of the World.” It rained much of the time there and there was even a little snow. It is very beautiful, sitting right on Lake Wakatipu with snow capped mountains called the Remarkables all around.

When we arrived, we went on a jet boat ride in the lake. We squished inside the boats as Mark, our guide explained the rules to us. It was fun getting some fresh air after all that time on planes and busses. Mark pulled many 360's on the water which got everyone very wet. After checking into our hotel, we met up and walked to the Skyline Gondola which rises steeply from Queenstown. The view from the top was awesome and we happened to catch a rainbow over the town.

That night a 6.7 earthquake shook me awake around 1:30am. The next morning, we found out that epicenter was about 38 miles west of our destination for that day. We were a little concerned about avalanches, but our bus driver, Dawn, assured us we would be OK.

We loaded on the bus and headed for Milford Sound. The drive to Milford Sound was filled with waterfalls and snow-capped mountains. Along the way I also saw lots of White-backed Magpies which looked very much like crows except for their brilliant white backs that shone when they flew.

Once we arrived at Milford Sound in the fjord lands, we went on a three-hour scenic/lunch cruise. While waiting for the cruise to leave, I was able to catch my first glimpse of New Zealand’s chaffinches which then seemed to be everywhere. The scenery on the cruise again filled with waterfalls. Some of the waterfalls would literally get blown away by the wind before they could reach the water below. The most exciting part of the trip for me though was the three Fjordland Crested Penguins we saw from the bow of the boat. They hopped among the rocks and jumped into the water. I had never expected to see penguins!

I had scheduled a birding trip on Lake Dunstan near Cromwell, but it was canceled due to the horrible weather we were having. Undaunted, I set out on Wednesday morning for some “lammie” pictures. I knew there was a farm just outside the town and decided to walk to it and get some pictures. I took my bins so that I could bird along the way. It turns out that I waked (according to Google maps) 9.8 kilometers one way which makes about 12 miles round trip. Wow! No wonder I was tired and had sore feet at the end of the day. But it was all worth it because this was the only real birding I got to do in New Zealand.

The first birds I saw were a small flock of silvereyes acting very warbler-ish at the ends of a tree. Among them I saw my first “Blackbird” which looks like a completely black robin. In the lake were some New Zealand Scaup and Australian Coots. Underneath a conifer tree was a single Song Thrush among several Redpolls. When I finally reached first a deer farm, then a sheep farm, and then a cattle farm all in the same general vicinity, I checked out the birds in the fields. Among the many White-backed Magpies were also some Island Pied Oystercatchers which looked and acted like typical oystercatchers. The sheep were quite shy and took their lammies with them almost as soon as I got close to the fence, but I did manage a few good shots while I had a bit to eat (some NZ cheddar, crackers, and a power bar). Tired, cool and wet, but happy, I headed back to the hotel. That night on the way to a bar called Minus Five Degrees (where they dress you in parkas, snow boots, and mittens, take you into a room make, quite literally, of ice and serve you a vodka drink in a glass made of ice – just what I needed after the cold and wet of the day!), I spotted a Yellowhammer and several Red-billed Gulls.

On Thursday we left Queenstown and started toward Mt. Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain. Although the bus drove to the viewing point, we couldn't see Mt. due to the clouds. The next day we get a good view of it while driving towards Christchurch along Lake Pakaki. This lake is incredibly beautiful! It’s water is tropical blue and so clear. I wanted to jump in, but I’m sure I would have turned to a popsicle in a instant.

Our last stop in New Zealand was Christchurch. I loved this place even though we were only there less than 12 hours. It’s a very English city and was much warmer and sunnier than we’d experienced anywhere in New Zealand. A few of us spent some time exploring the pubs and found a terrific Thai restaurant that was so good I licked my plate clean!


October 20 – 26 (Fiji island)

On Saturday, we arrived into Nadi, Fiji Island. The Hideway Resort was our home here. Ahhhh! Warmth and relaxation! The sun didn’t really want to show it’s face for the first two days, but it was warm and I didn’t care. I didn’t get to do much birding here, but there were both Common Mynas and Jungle Mynas everywhere.

On Sunday, a few of us went to the Kula Ecopark which housed a whole bunch of caged birds. I got to see a lot of Fijian birds, but to me, they all looked sad to be there. The natural birds I the park where all well hidden in the trees, and, not knowing the vocalizations, I wasn’t able to ID any of them.

On Tuesday, some of us started on what we thought was to be a kayaking trip. It turned into “a three hour tor, a three-hour tour!”, Anyway, this story is better said by one of my fellow travelers, Pam West. Here’s the story blatantly stolen from her blog:

…nine brave souls embarked on the adventure of our entire trip. We had originally signed up for a kayaking trip, but because of all the rain the road leading to the river had been washed out. So the river company instead treated us to a whitewater rafting trip on the Upper Navua River.

The ride up to the river was the scariest thing I had ever experienced. It was a steep and very narrow mountain road and I just kept praying that the bus wouldn't slip off the edge into a deep gorge. Once we made it to the top, we had to walk about 20 minutes through a muddy slippery path to the river. We loaded up two rafts and off we went. Talk about awesome. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but the brochure referred to this river as the "Fiji's Grand Canyon" and I concur.

We rafted for 15 miles and then the "fun" began. We jumped on the bus to take us back but shortly after we started out, the bus became mired in mud. We jumped back out and the guides told us women to just start walking and they would pick us up. Inez, Joe & I followed their directions. About an hour or so later, Brian, Tony, Connie & Pier caught up to us. The monsoon rain soon started and after walking nearly 3 hours or approximately 7 miles in a jungle rain forest, the bus finally comes to our rescue. We were cold, thirsty & hungry, and our feet & legs were killing us. But it certainly didn't dampen our spirits. We laughed about it all the way back to the resort. And of course we became the talk of the group over the next couple days.

My only additions to Pam’s narrative would be the two birds I managed to see without binoculars while we were walking through the Fijian backcountry jungle: Golden Dove (totally unmistakable in its brilliantly golden plumage) and Scarlet Robin.

On Wednesday, a few of us took a cab ride to Suva to check out the Suva Museum which house the leather boot soles of Thomas Baker. He was a missionary who was cannibalized right down to his boots, but when they got to the boot soles, the cannibals found him inedible. His boot soles, along with the fork, cooking pot and other utensils used to consume him are house in the Suva Museum. We also did a little shopping here and ate at a wonderful Indian restaurant called (I believe) Gandhi’s Curry House. We then stopped at a Fijian Cultural Center on the way out of town. A lovely day!

After all that running around, I was glad to hang by the pool and soak up the sun on Thursday. It was a very quiet day as almost all of the others went on a sailboat trip for the entire day.

While not a birding trip specifically, I did get to add a few species to the world list and make a few friends in the process. Not sure I would go back to New Zealand unless it was later in the spring or in their summer months, but I would go back to Fiji in a second. The people there were so nice and the food was awesome!
You can check out my pictures from this trip at: Picasa

Esperanza Ranch

Fourteen birders, including our leader Kendall Kroesen assisted by Moaz Ali, birded the Esperanza Ranch conservation area between Amado and Tubac. The area follows the riparian area along the Santa Cruz, but also has a number of other habitats which make for a great variety of birds. One of the most prominent birds seen was Lawrence's Goldfinches which seemed to be everywhere. Kendall estimated there were about 100. We got some excellent scope looks at them in really good light.

Another prominent bird was Swainson's Hawks which were migrating in large kettles above us. We also saw Gray Hawk, Northern Harriers, American Kestrel, Cooper's and Red-Tailed Hawks. Also in the air, we saw a small flock of both Great Egret and Cattle Egret. Of course, there were also many Turkey Vultures scanning the fields.

Lots of sparrows and a couple of warbler species were founded among the grasses and mesquites. Rufous-Winged, White-Crowned, Brewer's, Vesper, Chipping, Lark, Grasshopper and a few only the experts could see well enough to identify. Warblers included a fairly large flock (10 or 12) of Orange-Crowned Warblers. We also got good looks at Wilson's, Nashville, Lucy's, and Black-Throated Gray.

We had a great view of a Greater Roadrunner running down the path and leaving us in his dust. Also a good day for tyrant flycatchers: Black Phoebe, Say's Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin's Kingbird, and Western Kingbird. Other passerines included: White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Gila Woodpecker, Northern Flicker (Red-shafted), Loggerhead Shrike, Chihuahuan Raven, Tree Swallow (one only), Barn Swallow (many), Bewick's Wren, House Wren, Phainopepla, Summer Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Lazuli Bunting (female), Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch and House Finch.

Next up...birding New Zealand!

Las Cienegas

I’m coming to hate birding with large groups and today was no exception. Twenty-seven birders showed up for the TAS trip to Las Cienegas and even though we split into two groups, it was still very noisy and generally not good birding for me. Despite that, there were a few friends and good birders among the group which more than made up for the lack of “seeables”. Raptors were perhaps the highlight of the day, with excellent comparisons*Zone-tailed and *Gray Hawks. Red-tailed, Swainson's, Cooper's, Northern Harrier and American Kestrels were also there for good measure.

Another good study was the comparisons between Western and Cassin's Kingbirds. Western Wood-Pewees were numerous on any exposed snags. The weather was a bit windy and that combined with the noise levels made warbler numbers seem very low. I did see Wilson's and Orange-crowned as well as a Warbling Vireo. Also seen were Summer and Western Tanagers, lots of Blue Grosbeaks, Green-tailed Towhee, plus Brewer's, Lincoln's, and Song Sparrows.

Updates

Updates

It’s been a while since I’ve updated, mostly because I don’t feel as though I’ve done a whole bunch of birding lately even though I’m aware that migration is in full swing here. Let’s see… the hummingbird feeder was pretty intense the part two or three weeks as Costa’s, Anna’s, and Rufous hummers fought for seating. However, all of a sudden this week it’s very quiet on the balcony. Tonight I saw 2 birds sharing the feeder - no noise, no fussing.

Got out to support Liz’s TAS trip at Sabino Canyon a few weekends ago. Best bird there was *Vaux’s Swift. Also got some awesome looks at the desert regulars through the eyes of a pair from Britain. It’s refreshing for us “locals” to look again at a White-winged Dove or a Cactus Wren and try to see it for the first time.

Yvonne came out for a visit last week. We went to the Desert Museum where she got her first looks at Gila Woodpecker and Curved-billed Thrasher. On Tuesday, we started with a short trek up the street and found a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. Then we went to the morning walk at Agua Caliente, but due to high wind, it was almost a complete bust! She did get Broad-billed hummer which she ID’d herself. We then went to Mount Lemmon to pick up Mountain Chickadee, Acorn Woodpecker, Arizona Woodpecker and (I think) Yellow-eyed Junco. What was disappointing were the birds we didn’t get her: Verdin, Phainopepla, and Painted Redstart among others that should have been little tiny feathered pieces of cake. We had a good time nevertheless doing the Tucson tourist thing. I already wish she were back here :-(

Last weekend was a bit better. Liz, Rosie and I headed for the Chiracahuas for some high altitude mountain birding. We rented cottages at Cave Creek Ranch in Portal. I do think the ranch grounds were one of the best places, if not for birds, for wildlife in general. We saw deer, javalina, squirrels, chipmunks, and a bobcat with bob kittens (a first for me!). The bobcat and I startled each other. It was lying underneath the shade of a tree near the office property. S/he jumped up when we spotted each other and for a moment I thought it looked crouched to spring, but it turned and scampered off. We saw it a few more times throughout the weekend.

As for the birds, the ranch feeder list is extensive: Black-headed grosbeak; White-breasted Nuthatch; Gambel’s Quail; White-winged Dove; Black-chinned, Anna’s, Costa’s, and Rufous/Allen’s hummingbirds. Also on the grounds were Red-tailed Hawk, Greater Roadrunner, Curve-billed Thrasher (by far the first one vocal in the mornings!), Cassin’s Kingbird, Common Raven, Cactus Wren, American Robin, Cassin’s Vireo, Western Tanager, and Ladder-backed Woodpecker.

On Saturday, we drove a few of the roads around Portal. Most of them were pretty dead, but we did get some good activity on South Fork Road. The very first bid we turned up was a female Elegant Trogan! She squawked as we invaded her “space” by the creek, but allowed us to look at her for quite some time. Also along this road we found Hermit Thrush; *Mexican Chickadee; Mexican Jay; Bridled Titmouse; Painted Redstart; Sharp-shinned Hawk; Cooper’s Hawk; Red-shafted Flicker; Orange-crowned Warbler; Black-throated Gray Warbler; Canyon Wren; Brown Creeper; Turkey Vulture; and Arizona, Hairy, and Acorn Woodpeckers.

After that, we dove down to the Museum of Natural History’s Southwest Research Center to watch their feeders. There was a larger assortment of hummers here including Blue-throated (monsters!), Magnificent (also monsters!), and Rufous. There was also a female Summer Tanager hopping among the branches.

On Sunday, after a very quite drive up the mountain road, we decided to optimize our birding and head for the George Walker House in Paradise. The feeders were alive with little buzzing jewels and we added Calliope and Broad-tailed to our hummer list. Say’s Phoebe, Canyon Towhee, and Lesser Goldfinch rounded out the list for that region. The owners of The George Walker House, Winston and Jackie Lewis, are wonderful people. Jackie was so helpful in ID’ing the hummers! What a great life that must be.

As we left GW House, the storm clouds were brewing, so we decided to head for home. On the way home though, I was awakened from my snooze (Rosie drove) to find that we were going to Willcox to look at “Cochise Lake.” The lake is really part of the sewage treatment system in Willcox and is well known for its waterfowl and shorebird populations. It turned out to be a great stop even though the storm clouds (and lightening and thunder) had followed us west. The list here included: Great Blue Heron, Northern Shoveler (large numbers), Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, American Avocet (gets my vote for most graceful bird), Ruddy ducks, American Coots, Northern Harrier, Northern Pintail, Mourning Dove, White-faced Ibis (a lifer for Rosie), Long-billed Dowitchers, and two *Sabine’s Gulls that only got identified after the fact through the WG05 listserv.

I guess that about covers it. I feel as though I’m starting to get back into the swing of things again (finally!). Here’s to good bird and birding friends!

Arivaca Cienega

Bolstered by yesterday’s successful trip, I met the TAS group for a trip led by new executive director, Paul Green. Paul and his wife, Ang Li led about 20 of us to Arivaca Cienega in the Buenos Aires WMA. This was my first trip to this area. It’s very green right now because of all the monsoon rain we’ve gotten this year. The mosquitoes were probably more numerous than anywhere I’ve ever seen except in Cape May. We all used a lot of bug goop and after a few encounters with some big biting ants, many of us also tucked our pants legs into our socks. P.S. an ant still got up into my hip area and bit me leaving a huge welt that is only now receding.

It was all worth it though as the birding was as good as it gets. The first bird we saw was a Lark Sparrow, quickly followed by a rather grungy Blue Grosbeak. We watched Vermillion Flycatcher and Cassin’s kingbird feeding young with bugs almost too big to carry. The youngsters swallowed them whole. Yellow-billed Cuckcoo and *Tropical Kingbird allowed good, but fleeting looks as did several *Varied Buntings. A single *Gray Hawk was harassed out of sight by a kingbird. Liz found a great Black-throated Sparrow perched on a branch and two Yellow Warblers, but no one had to go out of their way to find the Yellow-breasted Chats that were everywhere we looked. Others seen or heard were: Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, Northern Flicker, Black Phoebe, Canyon Towhee, Summer Tanager, House Finch, Red-winged Blackbird, Barn Swallow and Turkey Vulture (and not one yellow-eyed Junco the entire morning!).

Mount Lemmon

Liz and I spent a fine day of birding at various spots along the Catalina Highway on Mount Lemmon. We started out with a quick spot at Le Buzz for a caffeine fix and then headed up the mountain with two finely detailed lists from the listserv. We first stopped at Bear Canyon where we found Yellow-eyed Junco, Painted Redstart, Western Wood Peewee, Acorn Woodpecker, Black-headed Grosbeak, Abert’s Towhee, American Robin, Cassin’s Vireo, and White-breasted Nuthatch.

We stopped along the highway to try to identify an accipiter sp., but no such luck! It flew straight away from us too quickly, so we traveled to the General Hitchcock’s campground area. Here is was eerily quiet for a long time. There were lots of campers making human noises, but not much bird activity. The only birds we found were more yellow-eyed Juncos and a lone female Hairy Woodpecker which we watched for a while, but eventually we decided to move on. .However, also as soon as we made that decision, a mixed flock of warblers fluttered in to give us great looks at Painted Redstarts, Red-faced, Wilson’s, Black-throated Gray, and *Grace’s. There were so many painted Redstarts in this group that started to tire of them. Surely we here in southeastern Arizona are spoiled! The Wilson’s stuck around for great looks and having the Redstarts and Red-faces in one’s bins at the same time was awesome. We also saw a female Western Tanager, Hermit Thrush, Bewick’s Wren, and Cassin’s Vireo.

A little further up the road we headed toward Mount Bigelow. We drove the entire loop to Bear Wallow picnic area and back. This area was even more quiet then Hitchcock’s. The only birds here were Yellow-eyed Juncos (we had started calling them not-very-nice names by this point) and a single male Hairy Woodpecker.

As it was noon and we were starving, OK I was starving, we stopped at the Summerhaven Pizza and Cookie shoppe for a few slices, a soda and a monsterous chocolate chip cookie. We saw several hummers at the feeders above the shoppe and also Stellar’s Jays and more Turkey Vultures while we waited for our food. I should mention that the weather on Mount Lemmon was wonderfully crisp and almost cool enough for a jacket. I’d say it had to be in the 70’s.

After lunch we made the side trip to Ski Valley and checked out the view. Not too much going on there, but we did see Broad-tailed hummers at the Iron Door restaurant’s feeders. Feeling somewhat disheartened as the birding seemed to be drying up, not to mention the carb coma that was hitting us, we almost had to force ourselves to ascend the top of Mount Lemmon even though it’s a short drive from Ski Valley. However, we were soon glad we did as the bird gods smiled on us once again. This time in the form of a wonderful mixed flock consisting of Mountain Chickadees (my closest looks ever), all three nuthatches (white-breasted, red-breasted, and pygmy), Orange-crowned Warbler, *Hermit Warbler, *Cordilleran Flycatcher, Lesser Goldfinch, House Wren, Brown Creeper and let’s not forget the numberous Yellow-eyed Juncos!

Today’s great total is 30 species and 3 lifers in 8 hours of birding! The bird gods are smiling :-)

Huachucas

Huachucas

A small group of birders left the Houghton meeting spot at 6:30am and drove to Fort Huachuca. The list of species at this site include:
• Cassin’s Kingbird
• Western Kingbird
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Say’s Phoebe
• Eastern Meadowlark (in beautiful bright yellow plumage)
• American Kestrel
• Northern Cardinal
• Lesser Goldfinch
• Swainson’s Hawk (most prevalent raptor of the day)
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Rufous-crowned Sparrow
• Northern Mockingbird
• Canyon Towhee
• Violet-Green Swallow
• Blue Grosbeak
• Ladder-backed Woodpecker
• Cooper’s Hawk
• Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher
• Western Wood Peewee
• Phainopepla
• Acorn Woodpecker
• Yellow-eyed Junco
• Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

After leaving the fort, we traveled to Beatty’s and watched a few hummers at the store, but the numbers were really small, mostly females and juveniles. I did spot one Black-chinned though. The monsoon storms blew in around noon and we headed home. A short day, but it was good to be back to my favorite hobby again.