05 Jan 2013

Magenta and Chatham Island Petrels

The day was spent ashore in the private reserve at Awatotara. The weather cleared and everybody enjoyed great views of the endemic Warbler and Pigeon. It is always encouraging to visit with the Tauni family and see the work they are doing here. Most people spent an enjoyable social hour in the hotel before reboarding the ship for what turned out to be the most amazing evening. We steamed down the south coast of the main island in foggy light rain in a 20kt southerly. In the space of two hours we saw (and photographed) two of the rarest petrels in the world. The Magenta Petrel (Pterodroma magenta) and the Chatham Island Petrel (Pterodroma axillaris). Birding simply doesn’t come any better than that. As I write this we are getting underway from a Zodiac cruise at South East Island where we had great views of the endemic Shore Plover (Thinornis novaeseelandiae). We are now setting a course for Dunedin.