Tuesday, 27 August 2019 09:13
The birds’ place – the Ahuriri estuary
Well used: Looking East across the estuary towards Napier. Photo: Ian Jensen
An interesting visited during the AGM Conference
was the long, narrow Ahuriri estuary. We travelled by bus, so there was no chance to dip a toe in the water. With its wide range of fresh to salty, shallow to deep, and sandy to muddy habitats the estuary supports a diverse range of birds, fish, invertebrates and plant life.
It is a sanctuary for a wide variety of wading birds including Grey herons, Royal spoonbills, Pied stilts, Shags, Kingfishers and Gannets. Over 70 species of resident and migratory
waterbirds use the estuary as a feeding and resting area. Bar-tailed godwits/kuaka, Knots and Golden plovers migrate here each year from their arctic breeding grounds.