A very rare shorebird
When I first heard there were tūturuatu/Shore Plovers on Plimmerton Beach, just north of Wellington, I got very excited! Shore Plovers are a very rare bird, in fact one of our rarest. There are only around 250 birds left and they are intensely managed and only found in remote places. Just before lockdown a number were translocated to nearby Mana Island, where they were kept in an aviary before being released. The problem with these birds is that they don’t stay where they should, and two of these birds headed straight to Plimmerton Beach. The beach is very popular with people and dogs, and the birds are very vulnerable but they seem to have survived for a couple of months so far.
Once lockdown was over I could go and visit them, so took the opportunity on a nice still day and found one. After seeing the Shore Plover I ventured up to QE2 Park, where amazingly I managed to get some photos of Fantails in flight! I had never been to QE2 park before, and I really enjoyed the wetland area with cute Dabchicks racing through the water and Fantails fluttering around. Here are my photos from the day!
