Colleen and I managed to take photos this morning of the thermal pools in Rotorua. We then left this tourist area and drove to the east coast but near Auckland to Miranda Shorebird Centre. The trip took longer than expected. We have now learned that a 120 km trip takes three hours and to double and a half any travel time estimated. There are hills and passes everywhere and small towns which the highway goes through where one can only go the designated 30 or 50 or 70 km.
At Miranda we saw the quirky Wrybill which has a bill that curves to the right. We saw what seems hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Black-winged Stilts. We were late due to the drive and had missed high tide a bit so the birds were moving to the shore further out. This place offers very nice accommodations.
We then drove about 30 miles north of Auckland (over the Auckland Bridge) to an peninsula north of Auckland as tomorrow morning we are taking a ferry to Tiri Tiri Mantangi. This is a place where all predators have been eliminated and the native birds have returned. It is supposed to be a great place for shorebirds and land birds on this island. We plan to visit Auckland tomorrow afternoon and evening and then we are staying in a motel near the airport for our morning departure on Saturday morning.
So we had a another busy day and some nice birds with the lifer mentioned above. Two more sleeps before we get home.
WE have had nice warm weather this week and we are wearing shorts and T-shirts or sleeveless tops so it is going to be tough to get homw. It is spring here and flowers are blooming and people are walking the beach and summer is less than a month away here. it will be a shock to the system to be in winter mode.
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