01/11/03 Little curlew, Numenius minutus, at the Manukau Harbour, Auckland

This bird was first seen during Labour weekend (26-28 October) 2003 by Gwenda Pulham and Gordon Gorby (the same bird as last year?). A quick visit on 1 November found the bird still present, but rather wary. The following photos were quickly snapped of the bird, which unfortunately could not be easily approached. Although they certainly won't win a photo competition (!) they show the classic little curlew 'jizz' and features.

Footnote - This bird was seen right through the 2003/04 summer and appeared to winter at the site. It has again been seen regularly throughout the 2004/05 summer and Brent saw the bird again when there on 15 January 2005, during the trip on which the grey plover was seen.