Taupo This was a non-wildlife day. We got another cheap deal on bookme and went for a walk around the Wairakei terraces. Nice enough but not a must-see. Next up: Mount Maunganui
Mount Maunganui On my last weekend in NZ I took a bus to Tauranga to meet Paul Cuming from Western Bay Wildlife Trust* to look for Grey-faced Petrels which nest there in small numbers. I stayed at Mount Backpackers which as the name suggests is close to the Mount and not too far away from the bus stop. We met in the evening and had to climb up through the bush to where the artificial burrows were located. We found two chicks which basically look like what you get when you open a full vacuum bag and on the way down we stumbled upon an adult bird as well. So a very successful night overall. We took some notes etc and then headed back to the car where we also saw a couple of Penguins on the way just off the path. It was a really good evening in nice company and my thanks go out to Paul and his assistant (who's name I can't remember right now). The next day it was back to Auckland. *(Paul was I think the only one in NZ that I was able to arrange sth like this with. A lot of the other organizations just didn't answer my emails at all, couldn't get their sh*** together (Friends of Mana Island) or were just flat out condescending c**ts (Seabird Trust).) Gallery Animals seen: Grey-faced Petrel Little Penguin And that's NZ done, finally. Biggest misses: Common Diving-petrel any Storm-petrel NZ Rock-wren Yellowhead Leopard Seal
There was a Leopard Seal shot by some low-life in Northland last week or so. Poor thing. Rather more scarce, a Weddell's Seal hauled out in Napier on Friday. Wish I could have seen that one.
