New Zealand February - June 2015, Paparoa National Park

Famous for its rugged coastline, deep canyons, weirdly shaped pancake rocks and spectacular blowholes, Paparoa national park has become a major tourist attraction on the South Coast, but it rarely appears on the itinerary of birdwatchers. However this does not mean that Paparoa National park has one or two interesting birdwatching sites. To be fair, we did visit this place primarily to enjoy its stunning scenery, but the birdlife did not disappoint either. Being a famous touristic attraction does bring its advantages, and therefore Paparoa National Park can be relatively easily reached by public transport from either Greymouth (45 min) or Westport (45 min). However, once inside the national park or at Punakaiki, getting around may include quite a lot of walking along the main road.

The first place we visited inside the national park were the pancake rocks and the blowholes, which are by far the most frequently visited attraction inside the national park and for a good reason. The pancake rocks are truly other worldly and the blowholes most certainly entertain. High tide is the best time to enjoy the full force of this spectacle. For birdwatchers this site has little more than White-fronted Terns, Spotted Shags and Red-billed Gulls to offer. After having seen the main attraction, we decided to check out several trail heads, just to soak in the landscape of this place a bit more. The trail heads we checked out included the Inland Pack Track, Punakaiki River Track and Bullock Creek Road (see map below). Birds encountered at these sites included Wester Weka, Black-shouldered Lapwing, South Island Robin, Tomtit, New Zealand Fantail, Bellbird and Silvereye.

Western Weka (Gallirallus australis australis) up close. Taking at 17 mm!

Black-shouldered Lapwing (Vanellus (miles) noveahollandiae)

As night fell we drove towards the South, to enjoy one of the major draws of the area for birdwatchers: the Westland Petrel Colonies. This species of Petrel is an endemic breeder to the area and tours to visit one of the few colonies can be booked through Bruce here (50 NZD). While the sun is setting we climbed up a 25 year old (and still very decent!) stairway that was build by Bruce himself until we reached a sheltered viewing podium. We could see the petrels soaring along the hillsides and slowly they started to crash into the forest and made their way to their burrows. We enjoyed close-up views of these big petrels and even had one crash land next to us! It was a great experience and Bruce ensured that everything was as non-invasive on this vulnerable species as possible.

After this amazing experience we decided to drive along the Bullock Creek road to a site where Great Spotted Kiwi can be seen (see map). Even though we already obtained great views of this species at Hawdon Valley, we wanted to check this site out as well. We searched for 45 minutes, but apart from tons of the invasive Brush-tailed Possums, some Morepork and Wester Wekas our searches remained fruitless. It should be noted that that the Bullock Creek road can be subject to severe flooding and we had to maneuver through several streams and puddles to get to the car park at the end. Some British birdwatching friends of ours were not so lucky and got their van stuck on the way there, so come prepared! Visiting the local DOC office to check the weather conditions beforehand is definitely recommended.

Map of Paparoa National Park including Great Spotted Kiwi Site (GSK)

The next day we had a short stroll along the Truman Track and enjoyed some more close-up encounters with Western Weka's as well as more Spotted Shags (hey, they are endemic to New Zealand after all!), White-fronted Terns and Red-billed Gulls at the coast before we headed South again. We left Paparoa National Park behind with a very satisfied feeling, as it is truly a stunning place and we got to enjoy some good bird life here as well.

The rugged coastline of Paparoa National Park alone is reason enough to pay this place a visit!