Birders Rest & Kiwi Tours
Birders Rest offers visitors quality accommodation in attractive garden surroundings coupled with trips to see local birds. Our speciality is the North Island Brown Kiwi of which there is a good population in our area.
Kiwis are notoriously difficult to see but although they are traditionally native forest birds, some local sites are in open fields & paddocks with scattered patches of bush & in such habitat, sightings are more reliable. On average we see Kiwis on c.85% of our trips; when we do not see them, it is usually through adverse weather (strong wind & rain) or under a bright full moon. If we don’t succeed in finding a Kiwi on the first trip & visitors are able to stay longer, subsequent attempts are free.
Other interesting native birds in our area include Fernbird, Tomtit, New Zealand Dotterel, Wrybill, Royal Spoonbill, New Zealand Dabchick, Australian Little Grebe & Australasian Bittern. Fernbirds are widespread in New Zealand but hard to see; a riverside swamp near us has a high population of them & they can usually be seen there. New Zealand Dotterels and Wrybills are locally common on Far North beaches, some of the many dune lakes north of here have both New Zealand Dabchicks and Australian Little Grebes. There are still patches of native forest where Tomtits and occasionally Kaka can be seen. We hope that after further predator control, there will again be Kokako singing in these forests. Visitors driving to Kerikeri can incorporate a detour to Waipu to look for the rare Fairy Tern & to Teal Bay, a reliable site for wild Brown Teal.
We have 2 self-contained units attached to the house, these have en-suite bathrooms & kitchenette, one has a queen-size bed & the other 2 single beds. There is also a spare en-suite room in the main house. Breakfast is usually on a ‘DIY’ basis where we provide the food, visitors can leave as early as they wish. There is access to the deck & garden (for which the bird list is 38) & free use of the swimming pool. There are a number of other activities available for visitors to the Bay of Islands such as sailing, kayaking, fishing, scuba diving & tramping.
Please contact us for prices & availability.
