Sunday, February 20, 2011

West Lake Halswell


A suburban birding option - situated in Halswell, WestLake is a set of two artificially created lakes- originally the site of a gravel pit. A wide range of birds can be sighted at the lakes, which have refuge islands on them for birds to roost and breed. As WestLake is situated on the flyway beechen Ellesmere and the estuary- it would be a spot worth keeping on eye on for oddities. I have sighted royal spoonbill roosting on islands. To my knowledge crested grebe have not been sighted but are a possibility. Both the lakes take 15 minutes to walk around. They also have a healthy population of short-finned eels and possibly rudd and perch. Note the smaller lake is not shown on the topo image.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Bitterns pushed into drains around Lake Ellesmere-


Bitterns pushed into drains around lake Ellesmere- with high lake levels bitterns are now concentrated around drains flowing into the lake. Any sightings are welcomed for the regional database- Please contact me- Peter Langlands- langlands@xtra.co.nz

Monday, February 7, 2011

Armers Beach- a top birdwatching spot at Kaikoura Peninsula


A top spot for a wide range of sea and shorebirds- a huge species diversity within a small space- perhaps one of the top ten sites for species diversity within such a small space in the South Island. Beach best walked along at mid tide. Use broad walk at high tide, adjoining beach, to minimise disturbance to roosting shorebirds.