A big global day for birds

You don’t have to go far from home to see a diverse range of birds in the Nelson Tasman area and May 10 is the day when enthusiasts around the world record online the different species they see that day.

Locally, Kathryn Richards is the BirdsNZ Nelson representative of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand and she says there are 50 different bird species just on the Motueka Sandspit.

While the region has the mountains for bush birds and the sea for wader species, including the Motueka Sandspit which is an internationally-recognised site for local and migrant shorebirds, she says there’re numerous species close to where people live.

She says the group is lucky to have some very experienced birders and researchers in its midst who are well-known for their work with birds in New Zealand and throughout the world.

“It’s one thing to read a book to learn about birds, but nothing beats meeting locals and learning about what we have here in the Top of the South.”

As well as birding trips and sharing sightings and photos, she says the group has a number of projects running related to different species, including gannets on Farewell Spit, fernbirds, spoonbills, oyster catchers and Australian wood duck.

She says bird enthusiasts can report their bird sightings on eBird or with the free eBird mobile app. Another app, Merlin, helps identify birds by pictures or by sound. More information is at Birdsnz or email [email protected].

At the end of next month, there’s a bird survey really close to home when the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey takes place. From June 28 to July 6, bird enthusiasts can choose an hour on one day to count the number of birds and their species to submit to https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/.