Wednesday, March 12, 2014
After a fantastic crayfish and blue cod dinner at the South Sea Hotel, we tried our final shot at Kiwi spotting. We set off at 10:20pm, 20 minutes earlier than last night, and Mom was feeling lucky. We took a wee wander up Main Street’s residential section, and didn’t take but 10 minutes until we could hear a male and a female Kiwi bird having a conversation across the street from each other. (We previously visited the Department of Conservation and heard a recording of their calls, so we were properly educated bird nerds.) And wow, were they loud. Apparently you can hear them up to 3km away. Not even 5 minutes later, but a figure appeared from the right tree line, and there before us was the treasured New Zealand Kiwi bird! We were now one of the few who had the great fortune of spotting one! My trip here can now be considered complete! It’s no longer a myth! I’m a believer!
It resembled very much the actions of a Weka bird, and I had to double take to make sure we hadn’t mistaken a Kiwi for this cheeky native bird. Looks like we were following the right one! A rat looking thing with a long beak. What a funny little creature with funny little behaviors! It came onto the street and scurried around aimlessly and almost looked like it was running in circles. Then, as quick as it appeared, it vanished up someone’s driveway. I would have tried to snap a photo, but flash photography isn’t conducive to their sensitive eyesight. So you’ll just have to settle for this victory pose in front of the crossing sign instead. I do promise that Kiwi birds are a real live creature and not a conspiracy theory though. Or do I?…
Steph Dobson 