Nelson Camp 2024 — Young Birders New Zealand

Nelson/Tasman Camp 2024

The first day of camp began with the members meeting at Nelson Airport, and heading out to our first stop along the way, Hoddy Estuary park. This and the Playhouse Ponds area are well known for sustaining a population of Maned Ducks, a species common in Australia but not so much in New Zealand. We were lucky enough to see 4 of them, a lifer for many on the trip! Following on from that stop, we passed by the Kelling Rd pond, and located the resident Australasian Grebe. Then to end the night, we had a night walk at Triangle Flat to locate moths, spiders, and other critters

Maned Ducks at Hoddy Estuary © Alfie Benbow

September 28th:

Day 2 was a big one! It began with a tour of the seabird colony at the Puponga farm park, with glimpses of seabirds spotted in the distance, and a Fluttering Shearwater inside a nesting box. Next on the itinerary was a walk across farmland near Puponga, on which we found a camp highlight, multiple Starred Geckos! After this, we made our way back to the accommodation and did some birding on the extensive mudflats at Triangle Flats before heading out for an evening of birding on Farewell Spit. It was a brilliant excursion, large flocks of birds were seen and a beautiful sunset topped it off as a spectacular day of birding.

Indian Peafowl near Wharariki Beach © Alfie Benbow

September 29th:

Another impressive day, more waders were seen along the coast of Golden Bay, highlights being some banded SIPO at Pakawau and a variety of birds at Totara Ave inlet. Forest birds were next on the list, and a Whio hunt! We headed up Cobb Dam Lower Rd in search of Whio on the river, but no luck. Still though, some Weka at the summit and a visit to Waikoropupu Springs on the way back made up for it.

A friendly Weka at Waikoropupu Springs © Alfie Benbow

September 30th:

The morning of day 4 mostly consisted of driving to Mangarakau Swamp, our home for the next 3 nights. We settled in and headed out for some short birding around Mangarakau Swamp, and a nearby beach for a short seawatch. Then later that night, we heard Australasian Bittern, a brilliant moment, and one of the targets of the camp. Also heard during that nocturnal walk was a couple of Spotless Crake, and multiple Morepork.

The forest-covered cliffs around Mangarakau © Alfie Benbow

October 1st:

We kicked off the day early on with some 5MBCs around Mangarakau Swamp. The group split into two, and both groups recorded some great birds. Booming bitterns and Spotless Crakes were present for both groups, while Fernbirds and Brown Creepers were highlights. Later on, we drove out to the coast, and checked over more shorebird spots. More banded SIPO were found at Pakawau, 6 this time, along with a Northern Giant Petrel spotted offshore.

A pair of Caspian Terns at Pakawau © Alfie Benbow

October 2nd:

Camp was coming to a close, yet plenty of the day was still available for more activities! We jumped in the van and headed south to a beach with a good seawatching opportunity. We arrived and walked down a rather damp track along a creek out onto the beach, and got set up for seawatching on the dunes while some of the group went exploring round the coast. 4 White-capped Mollymawk, 22 Sooty Shearwater, 24 Australasin Gannet, and 4 unidentified seabirds were all seen offshore, marking a quality seawatch. The rest of that day was spent back at Mangarakau, participating in educational activities and packing up for the following day.

October 3rd:

The last day! The camp had gone by so fast, and it was hard to believe that today it was all ending. Very little was planned for the day, as driving back to the Nelson Airport would take up the majority of the morning. Despite this, many birds were still seen as we passed by, all the way up to Nelson Airport where members dispersed, back to their homes all across the country.

Looking back, this was a brilliant camp and many thanks goes to Mark Ayre, Rachel Hufton, Bradley Shields, Chris Turton, and the other camp helpers for making this happen. Additional thanks goes out to the wonderful staff and volunteers at Cape Farewell, and Friends of Mangarakau. This was a magnificent experience for everyone involved, and we are looking forward to the next one!

Here is the eBird trip report for this camp: https://ebird.org/tripreport/278944