Where have all these black-backed gulls disappeared to? Have a look at the photograph taken from the same spot on the next page.

We have two pair of swans with cygnets. One pair hatched six cygnets and lost one early on and the other younger pair raised five and also lost one.

Thirty years ago there were no scaup on our estuary lagoons. They are little diving ducks and as can be seen by the photograph are beautifully coloured in browns,

We had a white swan fly in the other day. The white swan is an introduced bird and can be found wild on Lake Ellesmere in the South Island, and in parks.

Mallard ducks and to a lesser extent the little brown diving bird the ‘scaup’ have been loosing their young at quite an alarming rate.

There have been dramatic [bird] life-changing events happening in the estuary within the last two years.

This estuary of ours is a wonderful place for the birds with hundreds living within the estuary and surrounds

The dabchicks are the smallest bird on our lagoons. They have quite a long neck, a russet chest and a bright eye.

If you observe the birds, you usually can tell what species you are likely to encounter depending on where you are looking.

The white-eyes are about. If you hang a banana up close to your window you can observe them at close range. T