Te Waihora - Lake Ellesmere - birds

This set features bird photos taken in the environs of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere.

Lake Ellersmere/Te Waihora is New Zealand’s fourth largest lake. The 20,000 hectare brackish lake is shallow. Average depth is 1.4 metres with a maximum depth of 2.7 metres near Kaituna.

Te Waihora is of outstanding national and international importance for wildlife. 166 species of birds have been recorded here, including 133 indigenous species - with up to 98,000 birds on the lake at one time.

The lake also supports a diverse range of introduced and native fish including whitebait/īnanga and tūna/eel.

Te Waihora is an area of cultural, natural, historic, recreational and commercial importance to many people. To Ngāi Tahu, Te Waihora represents a major gathering place for food and natural materials and an important source of mana.

While supporting many birds, the lake is degraded from nutrient enrichment, largely from neighbouring farms. This sometimes causes toxic algal blooms. There is a campaign to get cattle, especially, out of the lake riparian zones and manage the land around the lake more effectively to help reduce the amount of nutrient run-off into the lake.

Kaitorete Spit (actually a barrier formation) on the seaward side of the lake is an impressive landform, about 28 km long. It was formed about 6000 years ago by gravels transported by the Rakaia River and pushed into place by the Pacific Ocean.

It’s the largest remaining area in New Zealand of native sand binder/pingao, a bright-orange plant prized for weaving. Kaitorete is also home to other threatened plants and animals, some of which are unique to this location, such as woolly head Crapspedia ‘Kaitorete’, and a flightless moth! It’s a fantastic place to spot katipo spiders and lizards too.

Photos in this set also include nearby Te Waiwera/Lake Forsyth which shares the same catchment