Haast Pass within Mount Aspiring National Park is one a last places where the rare and endangered Yellowhead (Mohua) can be observed. Although lately this place has been everything but reliable, portraying how much this species is struggling with the introduced mammalian predators that roam New Zealand. The traditional site for seeing this species was at the Bridle Track, between the parking lot at Highway 6 and the first bridge, but the DOC (Department of Conservation) office in Haast informed us that Makarora, a bit further along the road, might provide some opportunities to see this bird as well. Both places are easily accessed by car and recognizable by DOC signs, but getting to these sites by public transport might prove less easy and hitchhiking may be the best option.
We searched the first part of the Bridle Track for an hour or so, but unfortunately we failed to find any Yellowheads. We did however observe loads of Rifleman, some neat black morphs of New Zealand Fantail and fly-by New Zealand was most welcome too. At Makarora we our efforts were equally unanswered and other birds observed here included Rifleman, Grey Warbler (Grey Gerygone) and New Zealand Pigeon. We enjoyed our time here nevertheless as the forest here is stunning and we even had some snowfall, which certainly added to the fairy-tale-like atmosphere.
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| The adorable black morph of New Zealand Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) |
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