Tiritiri Matangi - Part 2

The next three days on Tiritiri Matangi flew by. We recorded amazing numbers of many of New Zealand's endemic forest birds. I saw over two hundred Tui and Korimako, nearly three hundred Pōpokatea, twenty-five Kokako, fifty Hihi, and much more. Birding the island by day was truly amazing, but the island only really came alive at night.

My first night on Tiritiri was one of the best of my life. As I stepped out of the bunkhouse and looked to the sky, I was quite literally starstruck. Even being so close to Auckland, the starscape was one of the most amazing I've ever seen, rivaling the deserts of Arizona and the remote Galapagos Islands. The Milky Way stretched across the night sky and millions of stars were visible in every direction. As I gazed up at the night sky I realized I wouldn't be seeing any of the constellations I had known my whole life: The Big Dipper, Orion's Belt, and Pegasus for the next year and a half. These were replaced by a night sky that was completely foreign to me. I could no longer find direction with North Star, but now with the Southern Cross. I would now spend my stargazing sessions trying to pinpoint Alpha Centauri rather than Ursa Major.

My moment of realization was interrupted by the echoing call of a Little Spotted Kiwi, one of the species I'd most been looking forward to seeing on this trip. Kiwis are notorious for being tricky to spot and these were no exception. I spent several minutes trying to pinpoint it to no avail before continuing my walk. I spent the next half an hour slowly wandering through the forests of Tiritiri Island listening to the distant calls of kiwi and ruru while gazing up at the stars when suddenly I heard something rustling in the brush just a few feet from me. Thinking I had struck gold I turned my light towards the sound and came face to face with..... a duck. Pāteke (Brown Teal) is an endangered and endemic species in New Zealand and also happens to be primarily nocturnal. This particular Pāteke didn't seem too happy with me, and as I looked closer I could see why. Next to this gorgeous duck was a tiny ball of fluff, a baby Pāteke. After taking a quick photo I quickly moved on as I didn't want to stress out this already threatened species.

While kiwis were obviously one of the biggest targets of this nocturnal excursion, there was one other species I had in mind. The class Reptilia consists of four orders and approximately ten thousand species, three of which are known by almost everyone on the planet, turtles/tortoises, lizards, and snakes. The fourth order contains only one species, which can only be found in New Zealand. The Tuatara is essentially a living fossil, evolving into existence 150-250 million years ago, sometime in the Jurassic or Triassic periods. Unfortunately, in the millions of years since, Tuataras only remain in the wild on a few islands off of New Zealand, with Tiritiri being the most accessible.

I began my Tuatara search walking very slowly down a path that had been recommended to me the day before, peering into the undergrowth hoping to spot one of these dinosaurs searching for a meal. As I was nearing the bottom of the trail, where it meets the ocean, I spotted my first sign of life. It wasn't a Tuatara, but a Little Penguin that had been wandering down the trail before I scared it into the bush. It was quite apparent how these seabirds are not built for agility on land as I watched the penguin running through the woods, tripping and stumbling every couple of seconds before disappearing into the forests of Tiritiri Matangi for good.

Little Penguin at night.

I think the penguin may have been a good luck charm, as just a few minutes later I spotted my first of three Tuatara of the night. Seeing them in person made me realize how different they really are. I've observed nearly forty species of lizards in my life and this was like nothing I'd ever seen before. With their bumpy skin and spikes running down their spines, they really do look like the dinosaurs that they shared the earth with hundreds of millions of years ago.

Tuatara seen the following day.

As I began my return trek, I had another realization. This was the first day where I really felt like I was in a different world altogether. From the penguin to the dinosaur-like Tuatara to the gorgeous night sky, it was all so foreign to me. As I arrived back at the bunkhouse I took one more long look at the Southern Cross before calling it a night and getting some sleep.