More Kiwis

The long drive north for a few days’ birding with Sav to Warkworth and a visit to the nearby Tawharanui Regional Park - a headland reserve fenced securely from rats and stoats etc. The endemic and rare Brown Teal was new for me and we saw more endemics including Whiteheads, Kakas and Northern Saddlebacks. The real goal though was Northern Brown Kiwi, which needed a return visit at dusk after we’d eaten.

On site again a long-ish walk through dry sloping woodland produced two very brief sightings in the red beam of Sav’s torch and then a prolonged view of an adult Kiwi feeding, located by another group of birders. A much darker bird than the Stewart species and with a shorter bill and more obvious ear. We also heard calls from quite a few other Kiwis. I never imagined I’d see a Kiwi, let alone two species.Read more