Living 40 years on the orchard reinforced the habit and now living above an estuary has extended my constant observing of birds.
Since we moved here over 4 months ago we have compiled a list of birds we have seen.on or near our property.
Some daily, some only occasionally and fleetingly.
These books are a good reference.( the 3 fiat ones now old, were got when our kids were little ) (the top one Birds of the Waikaraka Estuary and Tauranga Harbour,is more recent.)
( That's not our estuary but the next one along. Ours is an off shoot of the Te Puna Stream. )
Royal Spoonbills are the most recent interesting sighting. Apparently there are 6. We have seen 5 on several occasions. I can't yet get a good close photo, so have shown the one from the book.They are quite large birds and really good at vacuuming!.
One morning I spotted 4 in this old dead tree I can see from the upstairs window.
From a different angle I can see where the estuary comes in a narrow channel to the bottom of our garden.
This is what I can see downstairs from the dining room windows.
The birds we have on our list are:-
Sparrows; Thrush; Blackbirds; Tui; Hawk; Fantail; Silver eyes; Doves ; Pukeko; Ducks;Canadian geese; Mynahs; Kingfishers; Pheasants; Seagulls ; Quails; Plovers; Shags; White faced Herons; Chaffinch; Goldfinch; Welcome swallows; Pied stilts; Malay spotted doves; Rosellas;Grey Warbler and Royal Spoonbill.
The Canadian geese and ducks of course leave a awful mess by the water so we watch where we walk.
Here are some evening photos I took down near the water's edge.
I wonder how many more different birds we can add to our list?
( Click on photos to enlarge ).
I wouldn’t call myself a bird watcher, but I love seeing the different birds. One morning when we lived out of town I saw14 different varieties in our yard. Now that we have moved into town the numbers are far less. I enjoy looking for different ones when we travel and havr a bird book that lives in our caravan. Fo enjoy looking for different birds now you have moved and I wonder what will turn up with the different seasons. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos of the waterfront.
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