rotokare
When a couple of other bird nerds and I went to visit Ghosty the leucistic white pīwakawaka / fantail in Stratford, we thought it would be fun to explore a couple of other places too. Ghosty lives in a patch of forest in the middle of Stratford, but there isn’t much else in Stratford in the way of birdwatching. I suggested we head to Rotokare, a fenced sanctuary that I’d wanted to visit since hearing about it opening years ago. We headed to Rotokare on a nice overcast day, and were immediately greeted by a bunch of pīwakawaka / fantails hanging out near the carpark, which is always a good sign.
I always love seeing pīwakawaka fluttering around, and this bunch were very nice and posed for lots of photos, they do look quite grumpy face on though, as you’ll see from the photos below! We walked around the lake and spotted some miromiro / tomtit, as well as a few hihi / stitchbirds, toutouwai / robins, tūī, korimako / bellbirds, and even some tītipounamu / rifleman!
One super exciting find was seeing mātātā / fernbirds! These birds are something else, they are such a challenge to spot, their habitat is scrubby bush and they are able to scurry through so sneakily that they barely make a scuffle. They do make some pretty amazing robotic calls back and forth to each other, which is the only way to know where they are, but even if you can hear them, it’s still a mission to spot them!
I was lucky enough to get some sneaky photos of the fernbirds when they popped their heads out to see us. They have such amazing looking plumage, it’s streaky brown with amazing subtle changes in colour, and they have they coolest scruffy tails. Seeing them inspired me so much that I’ve decided to include them in my 2021 calendars!
I really recommend visiting Rotokare, and I can’t wait to visit again. Summer would be a great time to be there, especially with the beautiful lake being in the centre of the sanctuary. They even do night tours at certain times of the year, where you can see North Island Brown Kiwi, that would be amazing! For more info on Rotokare here's their website: http://www.rotokare.org.nz
