Letter from New Zealand: fish feast

A volcano crater is the unlikely setting for herons and cormorants enjoying nature's plentyLate one afternoon, while walking around the Panmure basin, it occurred to me that one measure of the health of waterways might be the numbers of fish-eating birds. Panmure basin is one of Auckland's many extinct volcano craters. Filled with water, it is connected by a channel through a breach in the crater wall to the Tamaki river. A bridge spans the tree-lined channel, allowing walkers to circumnavigate the basin.Our walk passes a bank exposing the layers of volcanic ash and kingfisher nesting tunnels. At low water, we see them sitting on rocks that give them a view over the mudflats. There is a flash of blue as they dart off to catch unfortunate mud crabs straying from their burrows. In the shallow water, grey herons stalk. Suddenly they thrust their beaks into the water, bring up a tiny crustacean or larger fish, tossed into the air and deftly swallowed.Next we pass the mangrove trees growing along a sheltered edge of the lagoon. The extensive areas of mangroves in many Auckland estuaries are partly due to silt washed from land as a result of deforestation and subsequent farming and urban development: a transfer of resources from land to the sea. In the protection of the trees and their aerial roots, many invertebrates live and fish breed.The highlight of the walk comes when we reach a cliff top to view cormorants nesting in trees. The birds ignore people, enabling close observation when they are on the ground resting or gathering nesting material. The pied shag is black on top and white underneath with a yellow spot below each eye. Its nests of sticks seem precariously situated on thin branches, but somehow they survive the strong winds. Some are high up in a pine tree, while others are on a pohutukawa tree growing out the side of the cliff, allowing a view of the nestlings. On this hot afternoon, the dark grey fluffy birds are panting.Two years ago in later summer when the tide was going out, there was a line of cormorants in the water. At intervals one would dive down, sometimes coming up with a fish, which was tossed in the air before being swallowed head first.Judging by the thriving colony of cormorants, there must be plenty of fish in the Tamaki estuary.New ZealandAucklandWalking holidaysDeforestationBirdsNew ZealandNicholas Martinguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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