During the six to seven hours spent at Birdlings Flat and nearby beaches during two and a half days at the end of June, I collected just over eight kilograms of stones. These consisted of a number of different types of stones. After my two previous visits, I had a good idea of what I was looking for, based on the results of some tumble polishing as well as my own preferences. There are many greywacke stones on the beach, the common grey beach stones of New Zealand, as well as a wide range of other types.
Following are listed the seven types of stones I collected during this visit:
Yellow-patterned Quartzite; Red Jasper; Agates; Green (Quartzite?); Patterned; White Quartz and Other Light-Coloured; Others.
Yellow-patterned Quartzite – This can easily be found at Birdlings Flat and is perhaps my favourite stone from there. I discovered a small boulder of it, that filled both my hands – which I had to leave at the beach. I have brought home at least two hand-sized specimens. There are a number of subtle colour variations of this stone, the best seeming to be a clear to light coloured quartzite with curtains or swirls of “gold foil” throughout it. The intensity of the gold/yellow can vary from stone to stone as can the patterns inside it. During this trip, I sought to collect stones exhibiting these variations.
Dry stones, as collected in late June
The same stones, wet
An idea of size
Collected earlier, smaller and with brighter yellow through it
Collected earlier
Collected previously from Birdlings Flat – swirls of gold through the clear silica
Collected earlier
Collected earlier
Red Jasper – Red jasper stones can often be found on South Island beaches. They are reasonably easy to find at Birdlings Flat, where they can be of good size and quality. Many jasper stones have silica veins, sometimes bright red veins as well, and some other mineral staining can be present. They can be brittle, with chips and pits, making them difficult to smooth and polish.
Dry stones, probably jasper, collected from Birdlings Flat in late June
The same stones, wet
Collected at Birdlings Flat at an earlier date
Collected earlier
Agates – Birdlings Flat is well-known for its agates. A wide range of sizes, shapes and types can be found. It took me a while before I learned to spot them. The best way is to look towards the sun and your eye will be drawn to the light shining through them, even amidst a whole mass of other types of stones. On this trip, I found my largest agate so far, and a very small one with a green staining.
The agates collected at Birdlings Flat, late June, in their dry state
The same agates, wet
A sense of their size
Anagate collected at Birdlings Flat at an earlier date
Moss agate, from Birdlings Flat, collected earlier
Coloured agate, Birdlings Flat, collected earlier
Green (Quartzite?) – One of the interesting types of stones to be found at Birdlings Flat is green and I suspect is a type of quartzite. Again, there is a great diversity of them, from pale green through to lime green through to darker greens. I find them quite attractive and relatively easy to spot.
Dry green stones
The same green stones, wet
Patterned – I find myself drawn to even greywacke stones and other grey (or common coloured) stones if they have veins of white quartz through them or if they display layer patterns.
Dry
Wet
White Quartz and Other Light-Coloured – Going through the stones I collected, I find there are a number of white quartz stones and other white or light-coloured stones. These tend to catch my eye on any beach, standing out from the sand or the predominant grey of the most common stones on South Island beaches. I have learned to be more restrained in my collection of white quartz as it is easy to spot it and can soon mount up in the collection bag.
Dry
Wet
Others – What’s left in my collection bag after the rest have been taken away:
Pink stones are rare but present at Birdlings Flat. Some of these stones include ones of volcanic origin, characterised by small white pits
The same stones, wet
Dry, and…
…wet
