Farewell Spit Eco Tours Blog

Farewell Spit is often described as a windy place.

What makes it seem windier is the fact that you can not only feel the wind but when the sand really flies you can see it too.

This photo was taken in January with a 25 knot westerly blowing.

Yes it is sometimes hard on paint

Our new Argo eight wheeled all terrain vehicle is just the thing for viewing Wading birds whilst they are roosting on the Spit.

We have been doing tours to see these birds for a number of years now but until this Summer have been denied the ability to see large flocks and to remain on the beach until high tide.

Having a maximum of four people each time makes it really seem like we have the place to our selves.

This photo was taken a few days before they left the Spit and shows just how colourful they become.

One our recent Wader watching tours to Farewell spit we have noticed an increasing number of Godwits and Knots changing colour indicating that they are getting ready to begin their migration to Alaska.

This photo was taken a few days ago.

The little Argo five seater is proving a real hit with bird watchers on Farewell Spit. The ability of this small vehicle to move over very soft terrain enables us to come off the Spit at high tide, more than an hour later than we could in a conventional van or bus.

This means we see more waders in bigger flocks which is what we like.

I recently found this link with lots of information about the migration of godwits.

Some of E7s cousins from Farewell Spit were also implanted with transmitters.

This flock of South Island Pied oystercatchers roost on the beach in Collingwood at high tide

Then in Christchurch maybe it was an alien?  It turned out to be part of a whale.

Each time one of these becomes washed up we get a little more information.

The photos here are of the blob we found beyond the lighthouse on Farewell sit in 1990 or there abouts. We could find no information about it then and guessed it was part of a squid. A few years ago something similar was washed up on an Australian beach and identified as part of a whale but not which part.

Look here to see what it really was.

Last night on TV One there was a very interesting segment on close up about the effects of a sea wall on the migratory waders, have a look here to see it.

This morning our tour group spied the first flock of Godwits for the summer.

Very thin and tired looking they were too having just flown nonstop from Alaska in 10 days.

Their main focus for the next wee while is food and rest.

Farewell Spit has been on Television a number of times but Saturday was the first time a television was seen on Farewell Spit. It washed up out near the Gannet colony we are waiting till it dries out to see if it works.

On the same trip two crayfish were seen walking along the ocean beach.

Today is the first this season for Gannet colony tours so we are looking forward to seeing changes there.