Day 4
Woke to the sound of a Long-tailed Cuckoo (didn't see it), year ticked a Wood Pigeon and saw a REDPOLL. We caught a boat across Lake Manapouri, and went for our overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound with Deep Cove. This was a fantastic experience, only marred by the lack of birds.
If the trip was 1 month earlier or 1 month later, there would have been Fiordland Crested Penguins everywhere. However, being the 31st of December there were none around, all it at sea, closer to Australia then where I was... A spot of fishing caught many fish plus a shark! Crayfish were brought up in pots, and fireworks marked the end of 2010, with my year list totalled at 440 (441 if you include the NZ Fantail).
Day 5
Fantastic weather, great views and Kelp Gulls woke me up. Our guide had a go at finding Blue Ducks but of course we didn't, a trend to continue for the rest of the trip despite looking in every mountain stream we drove over. Briefly saw a NEW ZEALAND FALCON flying over.
After a while on the road (and after ticking SOUTH ISLAND PIED OYSTERCATER) we arrived at Slope Point, the southern most point of the NZ mainland. Stewart Island was tantalisingly close, but unfortunately we wouldn't be going there. YELLOWHAMMERS were in abundance, and a walk down to the Petrified Forest to looks at fossils yielded a couple of YELLOW-EYED PENGUINS, my third target bird ticked. What amazing birds these are, though painful to watch people walk right up to and disturb the rarest penguins in the world (despite the DOC signs). I know most birders would say there are some times where they get a little bit too far into a birds comfort zone (me included) but this was still agonising to watch. Also spotted some WHITE-FRONTED TERNS flying around, which I still have to see in Aus.
Bottle-nosed Dolphin
Crayfish
School Shark
Yellow-eyed Penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguin and Chicks
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