Attachment

Download

Monitoring of wetland birds was undertaken at the Avon-Heathcote Estuary and Bromley Oxidation Ponds between Aug 2009 and Jul 2010. Monthly totals exceeded 20,000 birds from Dec to Apr, with the highest count (36,637) recorded in Jan 2010. A total of 38 wetland bird species were recorded and 12 of these exceeded 1000+ individuals during at least 1 month of the study period. The 5 most abundant species were New Zealand shoveler (Anas rhynchotis; maximum 7046), grey teal (Anas gracilis; 5881), New Zealand scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae; 5739), red-billed gull (Larus novaehollandiae; 5000+) and South Island pied oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi; 4844). Ten species were recorded in numbers that met or exceeded the 1% Ramsar international significance criterion: pied cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius varius), paradise shelduck (Tadorna variegata), grey teal, New Zealand shoveler, New Zealand scaup, South Island pied oystercatcher, variable oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor), eastern bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica baueri), black- billed gull (Larus bulleri) and Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia).