Wader Watch Tour


The focus of this tour is on the migrant waders and we run this tour between September and April. We travel to Farewell Spit as the tide is rising and spend time near the base of the Spit, observing the birds flying in to roost as the tide chases them across the inter-tidal plain. The opportunity for this tour only arises about one third of the time and we are restricted to a maximum of 4 people per trip.

The tidal range at Farewell Spit is huge - at low tide over 9 kms of sandflats sweep out to the clear blue waters of Golden Bay. This is where the migratory arctic waders come to feed and you will be able to see many of them, though the number of species observed on some trips depends on tides, weather conditions and the time of year.

Over the years we have studied the best times to see the bird life; the godwits, knots, turnstones and other arctic waders are usually on the Spit from late September until early April.

Please contact our Office for further information.

This tour includes:

Wader Watch Area