A right bird chase
N8N has just returned from the metropolis that is Auckland; we weren’t there for the shopping or cafes, but to meet a visitor from overseas – a common sandpiper, which, in New Zealand, is anything but common.
The little bird was spotted at Cornwallis, dabbling in the mud near the lower Nihotupu reservoir. He’s a groovy little fellow who is fond of music by Dinah Lee, check this out.
We were, of course, spectacularly out of luck, and the bird had long flown back to Australia or Africa or possibly was hiding 200 metres upstream.
On the way home however, we stopped in at Whangamarino Swamp, and found the glossy ibis who has been hanging out there since December, and who we have searched for on two previous occasions. A particularly handsome bird, with beady eyes and a bendy beak. Honour was slightly satisfied.
- Anyone seeing a small greyish-brown wader, with short dark-yellowish legs on which it tends to bob about on, do tell.
