Our mission yesterday was to find a blue duck (or two) up the Wangapeka River. In the past I’ve always found them in one particular spot in groups up to 6. After a touch and go crossing of the Dart river we made it to spot x. Although the conditions were perfect (except for the slippery cliff face) there were no ducks in residence.
Deciding to move on we headed up to Blue Creek to take some landscape photos and look for rare plants. Amongst the tailings and abandoned machinery we found an awesome grove of Pseudopanax macintyrei a rare tree only found in limestone areas. The resurgence at Blue Creek was impressive with a mix of tranquil blue water and gurgling rapids emerging from underground.
It was really encouraging to see loads of Whio Forever traps along the track. Without pest management areas like this will end up losing precious native species like the blue ducks. I believe the more people get to have in-the-wild encounters with our unique wildlife the more they will care about the species survival and conservation.
Just as we were about to head home we then spotted a blue duck out of the corner of our eyes. Having evolved to hide from sight predators (birds of prey) blue ducks are truly masters of camouflage, making it no easy feat to spot one when its not moving. Quickly grabbing our gear we sneaked up ahead of the pair and watched them feed their way up past us seemingly oblivous of the clicking of our cameras and the huge smiles on our faces.
After what seemed like ages, but what was probably only 15 minutes we crept away and left them happily foraging in the stream. A very cool day indeed!
Leave a Reply