Courses
BIRD WATCHING with Peter Langlands
Saturday 10th January 2026 / 9.00am - 4.00pm
Cost: Standard $110 / Early-Bird $80
Venue: Mt Hutt College and Awa Awa Rata Reserve (meet at Mt Hutt College for registration)
BIRD WATCHING
Participants can expect to get an overview of the key bird species in the region where there have been some quirky encounters over the years, and insights into the lives of birds and learn practical ways to get out and explore the region and find maximum fulfillment in your bird watching experience.
A set of notes from the talks will also be made available and there will also be a field component looking at some practical field skills of bird watching.
Introducing Peter Langlands
Peter started bird watching in 1980 when he spotted the Crested Grebes or Pūteketeke in the North Canterbury high country. It peaked his interest in birds, so much so that he joined the Ornithological Society that has now become Birds New Zealand.
Through his teenage years in the 1980s he was lucky to get out bird watching regularly and sight some extremely rare birds, including the opportunity to add several species to the New Zealand bird checklist.
Over the last 40 years he has spent a significant amount of time bird watching throughout Canterbury exploring the region's bird life. He loves the diversity of bird watching opportunities that we have in the region and being based in Christchurch, is fortunate to have Lake Ellesmere, the Avon-Heathcote Estuary and Banks Peninsula at his doorstep, which are hotspots for bird biodiversity.
He has also done a lot of bird watching in the Canterbury high country, and has researched endangered birds for both the Department of Conservation and in the private sector, and has specialised with six years of research on the Wrybill Plover. He also completed research on the critically endangered Australasian Bittern.
He loves getting out bird watching, seeing new places off the beaten track, learning new field skills and communicating and sharing his experiences and knowledge of bird watching through a variety of media, photography, writing, and also as a public speaker. He is looking forward to participating in this in the Methven Summer School.
