Twizel

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Twizel 18th - 20th February

Our main aim in Twizel was to try to see the rarest wading bird in the world, the black stilt. Rob and I went on our own to the Black Stilt Centre. They have a recovery and breeding centre there. It was interesting to see a couple of the birds up close (in enclosures) and also at a bit of a distance in their large enclosures. We watched a DVD about the birds and what the breeding programme is trying to do. All very interesting. Afterwards we couldn't wait to try to find some in the wild. The DOC guy wasn't giving anything away though and kind of hedged his answers about where they might be found. I don't blame them for trying to protect the birds from too much disturbance. Nevertheless, we decided on an early start in the morning around a lake we thought might be hopeful.

The next morning dawned with thick fog - back to bed as there was no point in trying to birdwatch. By late morning it had cleared and was a beautiful hot day. Lyn, Steve and Emily decided to join us for a walk around the lake. We walked along one side with no joy, so settled down for a picnic by the lake edge. Rob went to make a coffee and suddenly started flapping his arms around and making strange noises (nothing new there!). He had seen a black stilt fly in and land on the opposite edge of the lake. It was really exciting - we could see it clealy and managed to get much closer without disurbing it at all. It was amazing to think we were looking at one of only about 90 black stilts in the world! Wewatched and photogaphed it for about an hour.

To celebrate we all had a game of cricket on the green by our campsite when we got back.

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Photos

Black stilt
This was one of the captive birds in its enclosure

Black stilt enclosures
This is where the breeding programme and raising of the stilts takes place

canal
This was the turquoise coloured canal we drove along to get to the Lake, where we saw the wild black stilt

Black stilt
This was our first view of the stilt on the opposite shore of the lakeside

Our picnic site
You can just see us getting ready to have our picnic by the side of the lake

Black stilt
Another view of the stilt on the far side of the lake

Black stilt
This was our best view of the stilt