"Anybody Want a Freshwater Bath?" Island Bay Things to Do Tip by Kakapo2

I was amazed at the shore- and small birds’ love of a little stream that flows into the sea at Owhiro Bay.

All species of seagulls and Variable oystercatchers could not get enough of the freshwater and bathed extensively. Whole flocks of Black-backed gulls and their brown-feathered young kept themselves amused.

Also starlings and sparrows flew in. The starlings kept on working after their swims, collecting the feathers the bigger birds had lost in the water and carrying them away in their beaks for nest-building. The Black-billed gulls were more interested in more solid building materials.

I will post a travelogue with more photos of the bathing birds.