Limosa lapponica

It's not the caliber of photo with which I'd like to honor this exceptional species, but it's one of the best shots I came up with today, and I got bit to the bone by sand flies for it, so it's the blip.

There are four species of Godwit in the world, the Black-Tailed of Europe, the Marbled and Hudsonian of the Pacific, and this one, also of Asia, Alaska, and Canada, the Bar-Tailed Godwit. This is one famous bird right here. Before you, unassumingly probing the mud of Toetoes Estuary, is the species which holds the record for the longest non-stop migration of any bird ever observed.

In 2007 a female Bar-Tailed Godwit flew from Alaska to New Zealand in one go, direct over the Pacific Ocean--a distance of 7,145 miles (11,500 km). It took her 9 days, and she didn't stop once to eat or drink.

Bar-Tailed Godwits routinely make flights of this magnitude, migrating from New Zealand to China, Alaska, and other equally distant locales to breed. Right now they are enjoying their second summer down under, so I've been able to see lots of them on my trip. In fact they are the only sandpiper I've seen yet. I've been making a point to hit wetlands when I can but there simply aren't that many left in New Zealand. Southland has offered the best estuary birding yet.

*****

My car rego expired today so I had to emerge (reluctantly) from the Catlins to get it renewed in Invercargill. Now that that's squared away me thinks it's time for....

Stewart Island!!!

Oh so very excited about this next leg of the journey. Like Oamaru's penguins it's an experience I've been looking forward to for months. The bird life is astounding and the island is largely undeveloped and blanketed with native forest. I booked the ferry for Saturday; no return date scheduled yet....