Limosa - Birdwatching and Wildlife Hoildays Worldwide

A hundred million years of isolation have left New Zealand very much a world apart in evolutionary terms. The absence of land mammals has given its native birds room to adapt and occupy the niches such creatures would normally have taken. In a land relatively free of predators, they have evolved into a truly fascinating avifauna - including the nocturnal and flightless kiwi, but with many other unique and often tame species. A birding trip to New Zealand also features a feast of seabirds - albatrosses, penguins, shearwaters, petrels and prions - as well as excellent chances of seeing cetaceans.

The plants are also highly distinctive and we shall be seeing a splendid range of these as we journey through the austral spring. Perhaps best of all, there is the spectacular scenery: from the hot geysers and volcanic springs of North Island, to the deep cut fjords, alpine glaciers and rushing rivers of South Island, dominated by the towering peak of Mount Cook (3753m) and culminating in the awesome granite crests of Fiordland.

Our tour is a wildlife extravaganza, covering the islands from north to south, and visiting a superb range of New Zealand’s habitats on land and sea. We begin on North Island, with an easy first day along the spectacular west coast, with wonderful views of an Australasian Gannet colony. Next we sample an excellent array of endemic landbirds on Tiri Tiri Matangi Island, near Auckland; we’ll look for the peculiar Wrybill and rare New Zealand Plover amidst throngs of Siberian waders arriving to winter on the Firth of Thames, and spend a morning wandering the ancient ‘dinosaur forests’ of Pureora, where the endangered Kokako calls eerily from the treetops.

After crossing the Cook Strait, we will explore some of the wildest and most awe-inspiring parts of South Island - home to such alluring endemics as the carnivorous Kea, the elusive Blue Duck and the world’s rarest wader, the Black Stilt. We’ll cruise coastal inlets in quest of the world’s rarest cormorant, the Rough-faced Shag; experience probably the most stunningly close encounter with seabirds you’ll ever have; come face-to-face with penguins and parrots - sometimes even on the same beach - and undertake two of the most memorable of all nocturnal birding trips, in search of the endearing Southern Brown Kiwi.

In addition to a superb variety of birds and awesome scenery, New Zealand also boasts good accommodations and excellent home-grown food and wine. The tour has been devised and organised for us by New Zealand’s foremost wildlife tour operator, Mark Hanger - and has all the ingredients for the birding trip of a lifetime.

Please note: This tour can easily be incorporated into your own private visit to New Zealand. For those who’d prefer to travel out early and rest up a little ahead of the tour, or stopover in New Zealand after our tour, we can organise your flights out on almost any day you choose, or leave you to make your own arrangements. Please ask our office for details, or if you would like a ‘land only’ price for this tour.