Okarito Boat Tours» birds

Okarito Early Bird Tour & Updates

admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:39:39 +0000

We are enjoying the most amazing summer weather – and to help people take advantage of the beautiful early morning conditions on the Okarito Lagoon we are adding a new trip to our tour itinerary

Sunrise over the Okarito Lagoon

Our new Early Bird Tour departs the Okarito Wharf at 7:30 am and returns at 8:45 am. (bookings essential please!) Cost is $60/adult and $35 for youths (8-16) (All Okarito Boat Tours are free for children under 8 when accompanied by an adult.)

We have always advocated the morning trips as being the best at Okarito - Conditions are typically brilliant for interested photographers and nature lovers who are keen to get up a little earlier to experience this beautiful time of day.

Spoonbills feeding on the tidal flats of Okarito Lagoon

The 9:00 AM departure is a more casual start, but superb morning conditions and usually plenty of birds to see feeding on the tidal flats. The plunger coffee and Swade’s home baked cookies are always a surprise and what a treat up in the rainforest!

The 11:30 trip is also a great option, especially if you are arriving from further afield (25 minutes from Franz Josef and 1-1.15 hours from Fox Glacier or 1.5 hours from Hokitika) One hour afternoon trips are at 2:30 and 4 PM.

We have NO minimum numbers for our 2 hour tours and just 2 people minimum for our 1 hour tours. Check in is at Okarito Nature Tours – watch for our sign at the entranceway – just a few minutes before departure. We meet you there and it’s just a 2 minute walk to the wharf. (Note: the Early Bird Tour only meets right at the Wharf – plenty of parking there now with the improvements made this season)

White Heron in Okarito Village

Bird update! We are just coming into the best time of year to view birds on the Okarito Lagoon!

The white herons have had a remarkable breeding season and the young will now be leaving the nests and arriving on the Lagoon to feed alongside the adults and the Royal Spoonbills. We have a good number of Bar Tailed Godwits (they come here from Alaska & Siberia!), Pied Stilts and even the occasional shy Bittern. We can typically see about 20-25 different species of birds on a two hour tour.

The views!of the mountains have been spectacular – we’ve probably had more Mount Cook and Tasman views from the water this year than usual – again the morning tours are best.

Okarito Mountain Views

Okarito Accommodation – we offer a package price for cottage rentals with a morning boat tour – please call for availability. Prices start at $255 for 2 adults – accommodation & 2 Hour Nature Tour.

And! we have just added our Kiwi Sizzler BBQ to the boat for an added feature – available for small tour groups, families or charters with advance notice (min 24 hours) we can offer an optional BBQ lunch. Prices and times available on request.

Hope you are enjoying a fabulous summer! see you soon in Okarito!

Once bittern…twice very lucky!

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:23:16 +0000

It was a great week for bittern sightings and both of us (Swade and Steve – our guest) thought ourselves terribly fortunate to have not one, not two, but three bittern sightings on this magic morning. Although, to be fair, the third sighting may have been a repeat, but exciting nonetheless. Here a couple of Steve Harford’s photos taken March 23, 2011 while on our morning tour…the photos speak for themselves!

Thank you Steve for the photos – what a great morning!

Summer summary

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:33:58 +0000

Summer this year was beautiful on the West Coast and we enjoyed one of the best seasons for birds in years. The native flax flowered profusely starting early in the spring and carried on for a good few months. Flax flowers provide birds with a bounty of nectar and the village and Okarito waterways were loaded with Tui’s and bellbirds.

The white herons had an incredibly successful breeding season and by early January we had juvenile birds joining the adults on the lagoon. Swade took this marvelous photo of an adult bird with a small eel while on a morning trip.

Royal spoonbills were also around in huge numbers and entertaining as always with their animated feeding habits. We also had spotted shags, good numbers of pied stilts and oystercatchers, white fronted terns, caspian terns and some lesser knots.

The godwits arrived early in the spring, then vanished for a few weeks when the lagoon water levels were quite high. They returned as the water levels retreated and then all summer we saw them feeding on the tidal flats. They looked rounded and rosy before heading back to Alaska for their breeding season just a few weeks ago – we wish them well on their arduous journey. There remains a grouping of juvenile godwits here for the winter.

We are now having a “mast” year with fruiting of many trees including the tall kahikatea trees which are absolutely loaded with bright orange berries. These are very sweet and another great source of food for tui’s and bellbirds. We also have a large number of fantails around right now and have had some incredibly good sightings of Australasian bitterns! very exciting to have these birds around, both in the village and up the Okarito River.

Our tours will be operating with regular hours until the end of May when we will be readying to leave for Canada for the next few months (June-August) and will resume our trips in September.