Many thanks Eliane and Gwen for asking me to join the Birding New Zealand post breeding dotterel count today at Big Sand Island. With a couple of thousand godwits and red knots and the largest number of Caspian terns I have ever seen at one site, well over a hundred.I love this place and have fond memories of my first visit about a year ago.
It was good to be able to compare the little tern, white fronted tern and a solitary Fairy tern that were all together not too far from where we were observing.
Other birds seen include whimbrel, skua, South island Pied Oystercatcher, three Vocs, Turnstones, banded dotterel and a lone wrybill.