We started out heading through agricultural lands on the eastern bank of Lake Te Anau, New Zealand’s second largest lake. With the snow-covered mountains rising in front of us, Dad stopped the car for Sarah and myself to be able to take some pictures. As I got out of the car, a Eurasian Skylark started trilling its liquid melody from high above on the breeze. I looked up and saw its little body suspended by whirring wings in the same exact position I had seen before in British Columbia and Europe.
Our next stop was at the Mirror Lakes, where even the sign is printed upside down so that the reflection reads correctly. These lakes reflect amazing views of the snow-capped peaks on the far side of the Eglinton Valley, and hold New Zealand Scaup and Mallards. In the trees around the lakes, I saw several Common Chaffinches and three individuals of a New Zealand’s smallest bird: the adorable little yellow-green Rifleman. After many more photos of the reflections and mountains in and around the Mirror Lakes, we drove onwards.
Mirror Lakes
Amongst majestic, snow-covered mountains, we stopped at Monkey Creek to look for Blue Ducks in vain. While we were stopped here, however, two curious Kea decided to fly down, and one actually landed atop our car and started pecking at the rubber. We got into our car while a bus was pulling up, put on our seat belts, turned around, and found twenty tourists taking pictures of our car with the Kea still on it. A few seconds later, the bird flew down and the tourists’ attention shifted so we were able to make good our escape. The drive lasted thirty more glorious minutes full of huge mountains and pure white snow.
We got to Milford Sound with time to spare, so we ate a quick lunch in the car before heading over to the boarding area. On the way to the boats, I took a quick look at the mud flats near the parking lot, and, among the Mallards and Gray Ducks, there was a single Eastern Great Egret! I snapped a quick picture of it, even though they look the same as our Western Great Egrets, and continued on to the building.
Twenty minutes and two Great Cormorants later, the boat opened up for boarding. This boat was really cool in that most of the surface of the main cabin was made up of glass windows. We grabbed a table and dropped our stuff off, then I headed out to the bow of the boat while Dad went up above and Mom and Sarah stayed at the table. After we had gotten underway, I went up into the wheelhouse to ask the captain about the possibility of seeing Fiordland Crested Penguins, dolphins, and seals. He responded that there had been a pod of dolphins on his earlier trip, the seals were always up on the rocks, and four penguins had been visible that morning. All in all a pretty favorable report.
We first cruised close by a few huge waterfalls and then stopped to photograph a pair of Kelp Gulls sitting on a nest on the cliffs. When we pulled away from the next waterfall, the boat headed out into the middle of the fiord. Unbeknownst to the passengers, the captain had spotted the pod of Southern Bottlenose Dolphins frolicking out in the fiord. Soon we had driven among them and two took up a position right off the front of the bow. This enabled me to take several good pictures of the dolphin on my side as the boat sped along. Soon, however, the dolphins fell behind and we pulled back to the south side of the steep fiord.
As the boat slid along, I kept scanning the few rocky beaches we passed for penguins, though all I got for my troubles were seven Kelp Gulls. On the fourth beach, however, Dad looked back and spotted a single Fiordland Crested Penguin underneath a boulder. The captain pulled close enough to allow for some good pictures, and a second one was spotted pretty close to the first. As we continued along the south shore, two more were seen, though all but the first had their backs to us.
First Fiordland Crested Penguin
Third Fiordland Crested Penguin
The trip went all the way out to the Tasman Sea, which stretches from New Zealand to Australia, and then it turned back and followed the north shore of the fiord that is Milford Sound. On the way back, we saw fifteen or so New Zealand Fur Seals, a few Kelp Gulls, one Great Cormorant, the same pod of Southern Bottlenose Dolphins, and lots of pretty waterfalls.
When we got back to shore, we drove all the way back to Te Anau, with the only bird life being one Kea on a snowbank west of the Homer Tunnel, one on a snowbank east of the tunnel, and four flying alongside our car for a few moments up above Eglinton Valley.
Upon arriving back in Te Anau, we drove straight to the Wildlife Center, where I got to see many captive birds including three Takahe, three Kaka, two Antipode Parakeets, four Red-fronted Parakeets, and two Canada Geese. There were also some wild New Zealand Pigeons, Tui, European Goldfinches, and Common Chaffinches. We drove back to out little cottage, had dinner, and then decided to drive over to Dunedin tomorrow, with a two tours reserved for the day after: the Northern Roayl Albatross colony and the Yellow-eyed Penguin colony. Not sure what the drive tomorrow might bring though.
57. Eurasian Skylark
58. Rifleman – 638
59. Eastern Great Egret – 639
60. Fiordland Crested Penguin – 640
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