The Rest of our Second Day in Kaikoura

 

After our morning nap we drove out to a prime birding spot common to most regions of the world, the local sewage lagoon (not to outshine that other birding hotspot, the municipal dump).

Fun fact:  Those cruise passengers who recently died of  hanta virus are believed to have contracted it while birding in a Peruvian dump!

We had to walk down a train track and then peer through a wire fence to bag a few new birds today.

Australasian Shoveler (lifer)

Grey Teal (seen in Australia)

Eurasian Coot (seen with mallard).  Also seen in Australia

And a few other waterfowl:

Black Swan

New Zealand Scaup

This may be a Grey duck (Pacific black duck) but it also may be a hybrid with a mallard. Certainly it was hanging out with the mallards

Grey duck?

Later in the day we drove out to the Mount Ffyfe Forest Walk.  It was a nice country drive.  We got stopped twice while herds of dairy cows were crossing the road for the milking.  They were long waits with over 100 cows.

We climbed a style and crossed a field