BIRD WATCHING ON THE WEST COAST OF NZ
Okarito Lagoon is one of the best places for bird watching on the west coast of New Zealand. You will find that the bird life in this place varies, giving the tourists an overview of what they are likely to see and the best time for touring this area.
To make bird watching at this place an easy task, there is a company located in this place that engages in taking the tourists out to see the birds in addition to experiencing the life of birds in this place. This company is known as the Okarito Boat Tours. It ensures that the visitors are fully enjoying bird watching at a lagoon that is located in New Zealand’s pristine environment. Okarito Lagoon is considered the only and largest wetland in a part of New Zealand that is unmodified.
The atmosphere of viewing the birds plays an essential role in making a trip to this place a special one. There are a number of residents who love nature and who live alongside Okarito. This the best place when it comes to taking excellent photos. You can take a good photo anytime, be it in the morning, midday, afternoon or in the evening. What makes it more appealing are the mountain peaks that emerge above the lagoon’s wetland and the blue skies that are brilliant.
There are more than seventy bird species that you are likely to see in Okarito. A large number of bird species have been recorded to be frequent visitors and you are in a good position to see approximately 22 species on a two-hour trip. You will see some of the wading birds on the tidal flats of this place, mostly in the mornings and during mid-tides.
Some of the birds that you will see in Okarito Lagoon are the elusive bittern species, the banded dotterels bird species, the magnificent white heron species, the delicate pied stilts bird species, the smaller birds like the tomtits species and the fantails species, the eastern bar-tailed godwits bird species, the kingfishers bird species, the white-faced herons bird species, the bellbirds bird species, the comical royal spoonbills bird species, the tui bird species, the south pied oyster bird species and the New Zealand pigeon bird species.
The Okarito Boat Tours normally take the visitors out for a two-hour trip where they are able to see a number of bird species. At this incredible place, the visitors are likely to appreciate seeing this bird species in addition to learning more about these types of birds. They have two tours at this location per day. The first one starts at 9 AM as the next one starts at 11.30 AM. However, 9 AM is considered as the best since you are likely to see a number of bird species.