http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.aspx?id=7676713 September 2007
Christchurch (New Zealand) Cathedral's bells will ring out at midday to herald the arrival of the godwits.
The birds started arriving last night after their 11,000km journey from Alaska.
Council park ranger Andrew Crossland says 62 bar-tailed godwits arrived at Sumner estuary and 14 birds at Brooklands lagoon. He expects to see the arrival of up to 1400 of the birds at the city's waterways over the next few weeks.
One of the first godwits known as E7 arrived in the Firth of Thames in the North Island earlier in the week. The female was one of eight birds which had electronic tracker devices implanted in February by researchers from Massey University. She is expected to feed and rest in the area until March, before making her way back to Alaska, via a brief stop in China, to have her chicks.
Godwit populations are also found at Farewell Spit and at the Manukau and Kaipara Harbours.
Godwits
Godwits
These birds travel a huge distance from Alaska to New Zealand.