Wildlife often seen include Hectors dolphin, penguins and seals, but there are also lots of other birds, mammals, lizards, fish and insects along the way.
White flippered penguins are the endangered Canterbury sub-species of the Australasian Little Penguin, its' Maori name is Korora.
Flea Bay boasts the largest mainland colony of any little penguin on mainland New Zealand. The penguins breed between September and mid - January, and adults moult between December and end of February. The best viewing month is October
A penguin colony also exists at Stony Bay
On the second evening of the four day walk, Francis Helps invites Track walkers to join him on his evening tour of the white flippered penguin nesting boxes that he has established and maintains on the farm. Sometimes Yellow Eye penguins (Hoiho) are also seen.The tours are seasonal, spring and early summer, stopping around the end of January.
Free, (optional conservation donation)
Shireen Helps offers a special price of just $15 for Track walkers on her kayaking trips at Flea Bay/Pohatu Marine Reserve. The most usual time is in the morning after staying the night there. See your chosen walk for more details.
Coastal birds you may see include
Spotted shag, little shag, pied shag, blackbacked gull, redbilled gull, white-fronted tern, pied and black oystercatchers, albatross, mollymawks, petrels, gannets and caspian terns (these last two both catch their fish in spectacular plunges from mid-air into the sea).
Native birds
One of the best loved and most frequent visitors around the accommodations is the Kereru (woodpigeon), and the many pairs of paradise ducks.
Other native birds you may see and hear, include
Bellbird, brown creeper, tomtit, rifleman, grey warbler, fantail, silvereye, morepork, pukeko, shining cuckoo, kingfisher, grey duck, pipit, welcome swallow and spur-winged plover.
Tui have recently been re-introduced to Hinewai Reserve and are now frequently seen and heard. The only bird of prey you are likely to see is the harrier hawk, common here and native also to Australia and New Guinea. If you are lucky you might catch sight of a falcon.
Introduced bird species
Redpoll, chaffinch, yellowhammer, greenfinch, goldfinch, starling, house-sparrow, Californian quail, rock pigeon, white-backed magpie, blackbird, thrush, skylark, mallard, semi-wild domestic geese, Canada geese, black swan and pheasant.
The south eastern bays of Banks Peninsula are often referred to as the 'conservation bays' or more colloquially as 'the wild side' and almost all the residents are active or supportive of a large number of conservation projects.
Long before the Track opened in 1989, local landowners were involved in protecting and sustaining native vegetation and wildlife on their properties.
Operating the Track has provided impetus for further conservation initiatives. Native forest has been fenced against farm animals, feral goats eliminated, possum populations reduced, and predators rigorously controlled in and around penguin colonies.
Penguin protection by the Helps and Armstrong families of Flea Bay and Stony Bay have in large measure ensured the survival of robust populations of white-flippered penguins, and smaller numbers of yellow-eyed penguins (Hoiho) here at the northern limit of their breeding range.
The waters in and near Flea Bay/Pohatu are now a marine reserve, Banks Peninsula's first and so far only such reserve.
Hinewai Reserve, owned and managed by a private Charitable Trust but freely open to the public, is Banks Peninsula's largest conservation area at 1230 hectares. An interesting development is that when the Track opened, Hinewai was the smallest property involved, whereas it is now more than twice the size of the biggest farm. The Reserve ranges from the subalpine summit of Taraterehu/Stony Bay Peak, down to 20m above sea level near the coast, and embraces the catchments of Otanerito, Sleepy, and Stony Bays. Increasingly it links in with surrounding smaller reserves - some are Department of Conservation reserves, some Christchurch City Council, some are on private land protected in perpetuity by legal covenants.
All the landowners along the Banks Peninsula Track have protected some (or in Hinewai's case, all) of their land in this way.
The Banks Peninsula Track guide booklet which you collect at the beginning of your walk was written by Hugh Wilson of Hinewai Reserve, and includes many interesting details about the history of the area, past vegetation and wildlife, as well as current plant and wildlife.
The incredible predator proof fence around the sooty shearwater breeding colony near Stony Bay was officially opened by being finally closed in early March 2010. The fence intrigued walkers during its construction process and is a great feat of engineering, enclosing about half a hectare of land on the very edge of the high cliffs. It replaced the fence erected 10 years before by Mark Armstrong which had secured the future of this breeding colony - the only known one on the mainland - but which had twice been breached by stoats with devastating results. The new fence was funded by grants from the Joseph Langer Trust with additional sponsorship from Christchurch City Council, Environment Canterbury, and the Lotteries Board. Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust managed the project applications with help from Anita of DOC.
There can be very few places in the world where the natural environment has unambiguously improved over the last 20 years. We feel very lucky to live in one of those rare places, and recognise the crucial contribution that people walking the Banks Peninsula Track have made to all the conservation and regeneration efforts here.
