Whatipū Scientific Reserve

I head out to explore the birdlife in the Whatipū Scientific Reserve – the vast dune complex between Sargent Point at the foot of the Waitākere Ranges and the South Pacific Ocean.

I arrive as the sun rises above Mount Don McLean. It’s crisp and spectacular. Another mid winter bluebird day.

I follow riroriro | grey warbler into the kōcuka | ordyline and grasses, then make my way down to the black sand beach. It’s still in the shade of Ōmanawanui.

I follow two pūtangitangi | paradise shellduck and a pahirini | chaffinch as they grub around a tidal pool caught above the mid tide, then follow the tideline around to Te Toka-Tapu-a-Kupe | Nine Pin Rock.

The tide is out enough to clamber up and around the rock. Fisherfolk work the far side of Nine Pin. I wade Amphlett Stream, stop to photograph tarā | white-fronted tern, then cut into the Scientific Reserve proper, following sand dunes and lupin and high grass and Amphlett hidden by the high grass. I startle something that could have been petrel.

I sink into the long grass beside a dune lake in the interior of the reserve, and listen. After a while, I hear what I think might be pūweto | spotless crake. I play NZ Birds Online's calls – nothing responds.

I follow kāhu | Australasian harrier, matuku | white-faced heron, kaireka | Eurasian skylark, tauhou | waxeye, and kakīānau | black swan. It’s magnificently wild and desolate and rugged and fascinating.

And cold.

I pull my buff over my mouth and nose and glove up. I give up on cutting my way through – it’s too deep and hard going, and I feel like I shouldn’t. I backtrack, cut down to the South Pacific Ocean, watch tākapu | Australasian gannets as they scythe between breakers, then loop back, pīhoihoi | New Zealand pipit, kāruhiruhi | pied cormorant, māpunga | black shag, and tarāpunga | red-billed gull for company.

This birding adventure in one of our strangest and specialist wild places tops my soul up.

8 kilometres with a tiny bit of elevation over three-and-a-half hours, with another couple of thousand photographs, 107 kept.