‘Very surprised’ to spot rare visitor

Former wildlife ranger Sandy Bull was delighted to see a northern shoveler, visiting from afar, at Orongo Wetland.Wikipedia picture

by Loren Sirl

Keen birdwatcher and former wildlife ranger Sandy Bull described his excitement at spotting the rare northern shoveler recently at the Orongo Wetland at Nick’s Head Station.

The rare visitor was spotted on July 7.

“I was very surprised,” Mr Bull said.

“I haven’t seen them since 1996 and then I only saw one drake on the Awapuni Lagoon which to my knowledge was the first recorded visit of the northern shoveler to our Gisborne / East Coast district.

“At Nicks Head I was able to establish that there were three male Northern Shovelers and possibly one female”.

From a safe distance of about 100 metres Mr Bull used his phone camera to magnify images for a close-up view.

“The distinguishing feature of these birds is a white  breast and another white patch on the tail of the bird.”

The NZ Birds website says the northern shoveler is usually a Northern Hemisphere bird, with some 500,000 located in the east Asia area. They do not usually venture this far south.

“There are about 30 northern shoveler records from New Zealand, with an influx of at least five males in breeding plumage in 2017. Some birds were still present in 2020,” the website says.

The Orongo Wetland was established in 2013 and has been attracting wildlife such as mallard ducks, dabchicks, grey ducks and the New Zealand shoveler (kuruwhengi) as well as a wide range of other wetland species.

Mr Bull said that at the southern end of Nicks Head, there is a nesting colony of the blackbill gull (about 250) in summer — a critically endangered bird and the rarest gull in the world.

Mr Bull was the wildlife ranger for a number of years in the Gisborne, East Coast and Wairoa area. Now semi-retired, he still maintains his position on a quieter level.

“I’ve been lucky to be still involved with the wildlife monitoring for Nick’s Head Station in association with station manager Kim Dodgshun and Steve Sawyer of Ecoworks.

“From time to time where wildlife species are new to the area, it is always a notable event for avid bird watchers,”  Mr Bull said.

“The joy of it is that such a variety of wildlife species have come to visit us here on the East Coast.”