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Springtime in New Zealand: Baby Lambs in Shakespear Park

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Springtime in New Zealand. This lamb is in Shakespear Park, just north of Auckland.
The first baby lamb I saw this season, a bit early as it is still winter.

As I look at the hills dotted with baby lambs, I know why springtime in New Zealand is my favourite time of year. A modern country, New Zealand still has the highest density of sheep per unit area in the world. We have significantly more sheep than people.

In fact, in 2022 the country is home to nearly 5.1 million people and 26 million sheep. The most popular breed of sheep is Corriedale.

Historically, springtime in New Zealand is lambing season. I am not sure why Shakespear Park breeds a bit early. On any given early spring day, if it’s not raining, you can find me up in the hills with my camera. Here are my two best shots from the start of this season, plus some baby lamb highlights from past years:

Twin baby lambs in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
These twins were born about two weeks ago.

Random Fact: Did you know that lambs and sheep only have lower teeth, and are without upper teeth.

Sheep and three lambs in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
This busy mama was part of last year’s collection of adorable fluffy pink-eared cutie-pies. Imagine triplets, actually, I am not sure they are all hers.

Getting to know Shakespear Park

Baby lambs on the South Island of New Zealand
These two lambs were resting on our path during a South Island hike a few years ago.
Adorable lamb on the South Island of New Zealand
Another adorable baby lamb, this one from New Zealand’s South Island.

More information on baby lambs and New Zealand sheep farming

  • Aside from being adorable, sheep are vital to New Zealand’s economy. From the mid-1800s to 1987, sheep farming was New Zealand’s most important agricultural industry. Today, dairy farming is number one.
  • Most of the photos on this page are from Shakespear Regional Park. It is one of several Auckland Regional Parks that has a sheep breeding and farming program. Shakespear Park is an open bird sanctuary, recently celebrating five years predator-free. It is the only mainland home to the little spotted kiwi birds that were released in the park a few months ago.
  • It is generally safe to walk through a paddock of sheep, however, watch for “do not enter signs” in some areas during lambing season. If you are allowed entry, remember not to disturb the lambs.
  • If you are visiting Shakespear or any park with baby lambs, please remember mothers and babies are bonding. It’s important to leave these new families be. Never hassle them.  If frightened, lambs will run away from mum, risking hypothermia or starvation. Don’t go between ewes and their babies, and NEVER pick up baby animals.

More photos of frolicking adorable baby lambs

Here are a few more baby lambs at play. The first four with my Olympus OM-D Em5 and the last one on my iPhone.

Baby lambs playing in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
Baby lambs playing.
Adorable baby lambs resting in a field in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
Adorable black lamb in a field in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
The year I took this shot was a special treat, despite there being no black sheep, neither ewes nor rams there were a few black lambs.
Adorable lamb in a field in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
What do you suppose this one is trying to say? It sounds like “maaaa”.
New born lambs in a field in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
On a different walk with friends, we came upon these newborn lambs. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera only had an iPhone.
  • You will find Shakespear Park at the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, north of Auckland, about 50 km outside Auckland’s city centre in New Zealand.
  • If you have a car, you can easily drive here from Auckland city. Or, you can take a public bus directly to the park from the city.
  • There is a ferry that runs from Auckland to Gulf Harbour, but getting to the park from the marina would be a several-kilometre walk.
  • There are a number of lodging options on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. Check for the best Whangaparaoa accommodation prices at Booking.com.

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Adorable baby lambs resting in a field in Shakespear Park, Auckland New Zealand
Two Adorable baby Lambs at Shakespear Park in Auckland New Zealand
Springtime in New Zealand. This lamb is in Shakespear Park, just north of Auckland.

Do you wish you could take one of these adorable baby lambs home (just for a day)? Is springtime in New Zealand your favourite season?

More from Shakespear Park and nearby that you might like…

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Goodness, just adorable! Your photo of the pair running down the hill together is too much!! Thanks for sharing. Added to my list of reasons to visit NZ 🙂

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  5. OMG! the lambs are so cute. I wish I could pack them in my bag and run away. Love New Zealand and its lambs 🙂

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    • Ah, but they grow up quick. In a few months they will be the same size as their mamas, then what will you do with them?

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  6. This is soooo cute and lovely, I can’t remember seeing that many sheeps in my life. They look so adorable. And Im amazed to know that there are 28m sheeps in new zealand thats so cool! Hopefully, I will visit this beautiful country soon!

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    • This is only a tiny number of sheep compared to what you would see if you went to the South Island. New Zealand is wonderful. I hope you do get here.

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  7. What cuties! We live in Texas; for us it’s cattle. We have lots of cute little calves romping through the fields every spring. Shakespeare Regional seems like quite the park! Not sure when we’ll make it to NZ, but that’s looking like someplace we’d really want to spend some time at.

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    • We have calves around too, just not near where I live. For me, it’s the fluffy white wool that makes the sheep so cute. Shakespear Park is right out my door, so we go there often.

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  8. Aawww, the baby lambs are sooo adorable! I’d probably take loads of photos of them when i see them – one can never get tired of cute lambs 🙂

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  9. Such beautiful photos Rhonda! We’ve just moved to Tas, kind of across the road from NZ if you like, and because we’re based rurally, all of the neighbors seem to have new baby lambs! There’s even a black lamb who appeared a few days ago in the paddock next to our backyard, so it made me smile to se a little black lamb in your photos too! It baffles me though lol because we’re not quite at spring yet, though there are so many babies … hopefully it means the nicer weather is also coming early this year!

    Reply

    • Sorry to break the bad news, but the lambs come based on the when the farmers want them to arrive. The boys and girls are only together for a few days a year. I don’t know the gestation, but the farmers do.

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  11. Oh how cute these lambs are. It’s amazing how I enjoy eating lamb with these cute animals. Oh well, they taste wonderful with some mint on the side. Sorry about that Rhonda. I just got back from my tests and I’m really hungry. See ya my friend.

    Cruisin Paul

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  12. Those lambs are just too darn cute! I don’t know what it is about sheep, they are just so photogenic!

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  13. I’m often asked what I miss most about New Zealand and I resist saying the sheep, too much stereotyping but honestly the vivid green of our NZ pastures and the baby animals in springtime, even within the city areas like One Tree Hill and Ambury Park are such a special part of being home. We always make sure we add a couple of the Regional Parks into the mix even on a quick trip back.

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  14. We dont see lambs where I am from. The lambs are so adorable! Ahhh too cute. I want to be see them too.

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  16. When I use to drive along the matakana valley road from tawharanui to mangawhai I use to see baby sheep all the time especially on the whangaripo valley road in farms etc.

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  18. Honestly, there will be nothing sweeter that I see all day now than your photos. I skied at Mount Hutt more than 20 years ago now and remember driving through the countryside and seeing all the sheep against the deep green grass. It was a spectacular sight! #wkendtravelinspiration

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  20. 28 million sheep! That’s a stunning number. But, oh how adorable they are! I love the photo where the 2 lambs are running and playing side by side. And, who knew they only have lower teeth?? So interesting! Thanks for sharing the cuteness.

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  21. My daughter was very disappointed to discover that adult sheep look nothing their cartoon counterparts, are not that cute, and smell terrible. These ae awfully cute though, and woolly. And if they do smell a little like wet wool, that doesn’t come through the photos…luckily!

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    • Tell your daughter I was disappointed too when I made that discovery. And, when we leave our windows open in the rain, our house smells like wet sheep.

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  24. I am screeching after seeing these photos! These lambs are so, so cute. You got them with their tongues out, “kissing” and jumping. Lon live the sheep! #wkendtravelinspiration

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    • I brought a group of 5-6-year-old girls to the park last week to see the lambs. I’ll bet they made the same sound.

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  25. I love the fact that NZ has more sheep than people. I think more countries could do with more animals than people! Maybe the environment would be better-off… And baby lambs are so adorable! Thanks for sharing, Rhonda.

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  26. Too cute! Spending time with lambs would be my dream day. I’ll have to make a note to visit during Springtime.

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    • Actually, if want to see the total cuteness, you might want to come late winter. That’s what it is now, the spring lambs are early.

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  27. Oh, Rhonda, you are so lucky to be able to get so close to these cute lambs! I’d love to cuddle with them (please don’t laugh at me!). Your pictures are so beautiful and they capture so well that peaceful atmosphere. Absolutely adorable!

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  30. These baby lambs are adorable! You really captured their playfulness. I’ve never really been around sheep, maybe when I was a child at a petting zoo or something of that nature. I didn’t realize that lambs had such shaggy looking legs. Very cute!

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    • I was never around sheep until I moved to New Zealand. In fact, when we first arrived I wasn’t even sure if it was safe to walk in the paddock with them.

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  31. Those baby lambs are SO cute! Your pictures are great. I can’t believe how many are looking at the camera. And some of the faces they are making!

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  34. When my daughter was young lambs were her favorite animal. I still remember her wailing “How could you!?” and bolting from the dinner table in tears when I served lamb chops one evening. Oops.

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  35. Sooo cute! Baby lambs are much more attractive than the brown-ish landscape hues they take on after being out in the pasture for awhile! In Australia, I swear the sheep just blend into the dry landscape sometimes!

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  37. I want one! Not just for a day, I want to keep it, at least until it isn’t a cute little lamb anymore – lol.

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  39. Ahhhh, I love baby animals! These are so adorable I don’t know how anyone could stand to not fall to the ground in tears around them. Ugh. So adorable.

    Living in New Zealand sounds amazing. I would love to go there one day soon.

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    • Falling to the ground is a bit dangerous with all those sheep in the fields, you will probably land in something not so nice.

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  40. Can they be any cuter??!! My mom was a shepherdess as a girl, and absolutely loved sitting under a tree, reading a book, watching the sheep. Lambing season was the best. She got to name them all. But when that big truck came, she was so distraught. She had to convince herself that they were only
    being shipped off to be shorn. She is now a vegetarian.

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  41. Eeeeeeek! So cute! I am definitely envious of New Zealand right now. Yes, I absolutely want to take one home. Maybe two or three.

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  42. Lambs are so adorable, especially when they go charging round the field and play king of the castle with any slightly raised area. My aunt used to have a sheep farm, although it wasn’t really a commercial concern. Spring was always a bit mad, as was dipping season.
    Tasha

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  47. In the early 90’s I played rugby with a Kiwi universally known as Sheep. I knew him ten years before I knew his real name. Good luck with the challenge and the book launch.

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  48. Yes, I do wish I could take one of those cuties home! I love that you gave interesting facts about the sheep population in New Zealand. I’m always up for learning new tidbits of information.

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  51. Aww… Yes I do wish I could take one of those home, but I know that would be wrong and would probably freak out the cats.

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    • I would never take one home either, but I sure want to – but only when they are cute and little like this.

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  52. So adorable! We now live in Scotland, which is very well known for sheep and we have been very excited waiting for the baby lambs. The sheep next to us have not yet started having little ones, but when we drove South we say lots of newborn sheep. Love seeing all the baby animals arrive in Spring:)

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    • We loved Scotland, and yes, it reminded us quite a bit of New Zealand. We were lucky and had a week of fabulous weather.

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  53. Now I feel guilty about eating lamb. Gorgeous pictures. No wonder it’s used as a setting for so many films.

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    • A day would be enough – they grow up super quick and loose that adorable bouncy baby lamb feature that makes us want to hug them.

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  56. How quintessentially Kiwi! Lambs are always so adorable. Whenever I see one, I always want to wrap it up, put a pink ribbon around its neck and take it home with me.

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  57. I think I’d prefer to leave them with the mothers. Don’t know enough to feel confident about parenting baby lambs. Your pics are simply beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

    Best
    Nilanjana.

    Reply

  59. Everyone loves a baby and lambs are certainly no exception. Mary, my namesake, even had one that followed her to school one day. I hear his fleece was as white as snow. At least that’s what has been said for decades.

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  61. Those baby lambs are adorable! When my husband would get upset about things going on in our country, he’d often suggest we move to New Zealand and raise sheep. I think we would have had way too much competition. 🙂

    Reply

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