A walk on Waitangi Day

Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand, the national day and the anniversary of the signing initial signing on 6 February 1840 of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi was an agreement between the British crown and the Māori chiefs and is regarded as the founding document of the country. The day was first celebrated in 1934 and became a public holiday in 1974.

The sun was shining, with summer having returned for now at least, so we headed over to Zealandia, the wonderful urban sanctuary in Wellington. The fantastic work that has gone on there in terms of conservation which has contributed to the huge increase in native birds in the city and surrounding area cannot be underestimated. It has been ages since we were there, partly due to my foot injury last year. Anyway, some of you will have gone there with me in the past, but here is what we saw today.

There is a wetland area created to ensure fresh water for native fish. Usually round here you see lots of shag and other birds but not today.

We also didn’t see the takahē, who we guess are still being kept away from visitors with their new offspring. We did however see several quails, including a couple of chicks.

From there we stopped to watch the kākā at their feeding station, one of my favourite birds with their distinctive call that often wakes me up in the morning. They have become a regular sight over much of the city, thanks to Zealandia.

We were lucky to see several tuatara who seemed to be enjoying having the sun out again. These fascinating reptiles are the only living members of an ancient order of reptiles that evolved about 220 million years ago. You can read more about them here.

We continued our walk around the sanctuary, spotting a couple of other birds, one I could not identify and one which I believe was a hihi. In any case, it was great to blow away the cobwebs and celebrate the wildlife of Aotearoa.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and watching dance. You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook and Instagram @thistlesandkiwis.