Birds of Te Araroa 13 – Havelock to St Arnaud

Between November 2023 and March 2024, Natural History curator Colin Miskelly is walking the length of Aotearoa New Zealand on Te Araroa Trail – counting every bird seen or heard along the way. In this 14th blog in the series, Colin describes birds encountered while walking the length of the Richmond Ranges, which separate the Nelson and Marlborough provinces.

Havelock to Pelorus Bridge

This section is dominated by the Richmond Range. However, ‘Every Last Inch’ walkers setting out southbound from Havelock have about 33 km to walk before entering Mount Richmond Forest Park. The first 3 km are alongside Te Hoiere/Pelorus River estuary, and most of the remainder is across or alongside farmland on the river flats.

Highlights of the estuary section included 17 South Island pied oystercatchers │ tōrea and a royal spoonbill │ kōtuku ngutupapa feeding in a muddy channel alongside the road.

The farmland birds were the same as the rest of the country, apart from a single black-fronted tern │ tarapirohe (the first of the trip) floating buoyantly on pointed wings above a small stream.

The Richmond Range

The Pelorus River Track and Richmond Range Alpine Track provide a 120 km route through the length of Mount Richmond Forest Park that is true backcountry tramping – including steep poorly-formed tracks, numerous river crossings, and long sections of exposed tops that provide spectacular views in fine weather.

We chose to walk the Richmond Range without heading out to Richmond for resupply, and so had very full packs as we left Pelorus Bridge – including two days worth of extra food in case we had to wait out bad weather or high river levels.

The lower elevation sections of the tracks mainly pass through beech forest, with some rimu stands. Unfortunately, there is little evidence of pest animal control in Mount Richmond Forest Park. The understory has been eaten out by goats and deer, and possums chew on anything that the larger animals can’t reach (I only noticed Peraxilla mistletoe petals on the track at a single site).

The numerous goats were so unused to being hunted that they barely lifted their heads as we passed.

The tracks follow water courses in places, requiring multiple stream crossings – including crossing the Wairoa River eight times between Mid Wairoa Hut and Top Wairoa Hut. The rivers were low and clear for us, despite two mornings of rain. However, the rivers can rise rapidly after heavy rain and can be dangerous. This is the section of the trail where Te Araroa walker Petr Cech perished while attempting a river crossing in May 2023.

Red Hills and ultramafic rocks

The southern end of Mount Richmond Forest Park has only small patches of forest due to the unusual geology of the area, centred on Red Hills Ridge. Te Araroa Trail skirts around Red Hills Ridge and the adjacent Porter Ridge for 28 km between Top Wairoa Hut and Red Hills Hut.

The distinctive red rocks are due to rust. Ultramafic rocks are formed by volcanic activity and are rich in iron and magnesium, along with high concentrations of toxic heavy metals. The red colouration is formed by the same process as iron rusting – the oxidation of iron when exposed to moisture.

The top of Red Hills Ridge is almost bare of vegetation. A few low, shrubby species manage to survive along the route followed by Te Araroa Trail, but the landscapes are reminiscent of outback Australia or Arizona badlands, rather than the lush greenery typical of Aotearoa. We did not re-enter extensive tall forest until we departed Red Hills Hut after 1.5 days of ‘badlands’ walking.

Forest birds of Mt Richmond Forest Park

I knew little about the birds of the Richmond Ranges before entering the forest park, and soon discovered why. There was little to know. The forests were depressingly devoid of birds due to the complete absence of ship rat or stoat control. We did not see any trap boxes until we reached Tophouse Road near St Arnaud, and I am unaware of sustained use of aerially-applied 1080 baits in any part of the park.

Only three forest bird species could be considered common within tall forest in Mount Richmond Forest Park, with silvereye│ tauhou the most abundant (412 birds counted), followed by bellbird │ korimako (293) and tomtit │ ngirungiru (265).

South Island robins │ kakaruai were locally common (47 counted) in some high-altitude forests where cold winters likely suppress the numbers of ship rats and stoats. Even fantails │ pīwakawaka were scarce (60 counted, with 7.1 % black morph). We did eventually see and hear other endemic forest bird species, but in very low numbers: 33 grey warblers │ riroriro, 14 riflemen │ tītitipounamu, 13 tūī, 12 kererū │ New Zealand pigeons, 7 brown creepers │ pīpipi, 2 long-tailed cuckoos │ koekoeā, and a single kākā. The habitat appeared great for whio │ blue duck, yellow-crowned parakeet │ kākāriki, and New Zealand falcon │ kārearea, but we did not see or hear any of these species, and only heard ruru │ morepork at one of the six huts we stayed in.

Birds of the alpine tops

The open tops of the Richmond Range had even fewer birds than the forest. The main species present was New Zealand pipit │ pīhoihoi, at a rate of about 2 birds per kilometre. Welcome swallows │ warou hawked insects over the open tops on fine days, at a rate of just over one bird per kilometre.

The low bird density plus whiteout conditions over Mount Rintoul produced only the third ‘nil bird’ transect of Te Araroa Trail. The first two were on consecutive transects across the Mangatepopo lava fields on the Tongariro Crossing (see Birds of Te Araroa 8 – Taumarunui to National Park).

Birds of the ultramafic scrub

The mānuka and dracophyllum shrubs growing on ultramafic rocks had a bird community that was dominated by just three species: silvereye │ tauhou (71 birds counted), bellbird │ korimako (59), and common redpoll (an introduced finch) (51), along with a few dunnocks (11) and tomtits │ ngirungiru (5).

Bird species added since the previous section

Black-fronted tern │ tarapirohe, South Island robin │ kakaruai.

Summary statistics for section 13

Cumulative totals for Te Araroa sections completed are given in parentheses.

• Days on the trail = 8 (81)
• Kilometres travelled and surveyed = 181.2 (2,112.7)
• eBird/Atlas checklists completed = 107 (1158)
• Number of bird species = 44 (100)
• Total birds seen or heard = 2423 (78,036)
• Most abundant species = silvereye │ tauhou (708)
• Most abundant endemic species = bellbird │ korimako (385)
• Most frequent species = silvereye │ tauhou (82.8 % of checklists)
• Most frequent endemic species = bellbird │ korimako (71.7 % of checklists)
• Endemic bird score = 44

Other blogs in this series

• Every Last Bird – the Birds of Te Araroa Trail
• Birds of Te Araroa 1 – Cape Reinga to Kaitāia
• Birds of Te Araroa 2 – Kaitāia to Kerikeri
• Birds of Te Araroa 3 – Kerikeri to Whangārei Harbour
• Birds of Te Araroa 4 – Whangārei Harbour to Auckland
• Birds of Te Araroa 5 – Auckland to Hamilton
• Birds of Te Araroa 6 – Hamilton to Te Kūiti
• Birds of Te Araroa 7 – Te Kūiti to Taumarunui
• Birds of Te Araroa 8 – Taumarunui to National Park
• Birds of Te Araroa 9 – National Park to Whanganui
• Birds of Te Araroa 10 – Whanganui to Palmerston North
• Birds of Te Araroa 11 – Palmerston North to Wellington
• Birds of Te Araroa 12 – Cook Strait to Havelock
• Birds of Te Araroa 14 – St Arnaud to Boyle Village
• Birds of Te Araroa 15 – Boyle River to Rakaia River
• Birds of Te Araroa 16 – Rakaia River to Twizel
• Birds of Te Araroa 17 – Twizel to Wānaka
• Birds of Te Araroa 18 – Wānaka to the Te Anau Highway
• Birds of Te Araroa 19 – Te Anau Highway to Bluff
• Birds of Te Araroa Trail – Every Last Word

Related blogs

• Birds of the Great Walks of Aotearoa New Zealand

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