Walk #92, 24th October 2022

It was a public holiday and I met my sisters in the Manawatu for a family walk. The Manawatu estuary is the most important aquatic and wading bird habitat in the lower North Island and it was declared a Wetland of International Importance in 2005. I wanted my sisters to see the Godwits on our walk and I wasn’t disappointed. They are amazing birds.

I got to know the Godwit bird species when I lived up north at Snells Beach. These birds make a non-stop 11,000 km flight from Siberia. Godwits are not big gliding birds, they flap their wings the whole way. The Godwits arrive in September and leave in February / March.

There are other birds at the Estuary, the Banded dotterill (endemic), the Wrybill (endemic), and Royal Spoonbill (native) winter over here. There’s also the Shag (native), Spur-winged plover (native), Pied stilt (native), Oystercatcher (endemic), and White faced heron (native) that are there all year round. The Bar-tailed Godwit (native) and Lesser knot (native) summer over.

I think there were Lesser knots resting with the Godwits. They have shorter legs and bill and they return to Siberia to breed.

Walk: Manawatu 28