White Herons nesting

We did a tour to see these wonderful looking creatures, the tour consisted of J and self and two young girls, (the daughters of our guide - who were very well behaved). The tour started in his mini bus along an unsealed road for 15 minutes, followed by another 15 minutes of excitement in a jet boat, zooming along a shallow river twisting and turning, another great WOW!!! The access along here is by permit only with views of over hanging shrubs, ducks with their young paddling happily and native bush in swamps near the nesting site. Also people fishing from the bank for whitebait, quite a thing on the west coast. The only access to this area of bush is by the river and estuary. We reached the sanctuary and bowled over by these beautiful birds. We are lucky enough to catch the early days of nesting although the guide didn't expect more than 40 breeding pairs this season. And bear in mind this is the only breeding site for White Herons in NZ. What a privilege.
The extra shows the spoonbill mentioned below, the jet boat and the view of the nesting site.

I will include a few sentences from the tour operators web site:
The location of the nesting site deep within the Waitangiroto Nature Reserve is only accessible by boat. The Nature Reserve is administered by the Department of Conservation and entry is by permit only.Royal Spoonbill (kotuku nutu-papa) and Little Shag (kawapaka) also nest in this reserve. The preserved rainforest and its surrounds is also home to a great array of other birdlife.Experience the untouched beauty of the prehistoric White Pine (Kahikatea) rainforest and absorb the natural Flora and Fauna as you visit one of the special places in New Zealand.“White Heron Sanctuary Tours” has been operating for over 26 years. It is the original and only tour to visit the White Heron nesting site. Experienced guides with local knowledge.