In the South Island, about one in 20 fantails is a black morph, this chocolate brown guy with a grey/black head. It’s the same species (Rhipidura fuliginosa) as the more common pied morph, it’s just a genetic anomaly. Oddly, the fantail’s scientific name is more suggestive of the uncommon black morph than it is of the more well-known pied morph, “fulignosa” means sooty.
This beautiful beast was one of a fold of Highland cattle grazing beside the Canaan Road down to the Harwoods Hole track. Highland cattle have been bred in the Scottish highlands and the Outer Hebrides for centuries. They have two coats of hair—a soft undercoat and an oily, long outer coat—that helps them weather the harsh Highlands.
It’s always nice when you’re in the bush and a South Island robin (Petroica australis) shows up to check you out. They watch closely, looking to see if your footsteps throw up some interesting food.
A view across Lake Rotoiti on a summer day. Rotoiti is one of two large lakes in the Nelson Lakes National Park. Rotoroa, which means “long lake”, is the larger and deeper of the two lakes. Rotoiti means “small lake”. Both lakes are home to introduced trout.
Early European explorers released goats in New Zealand so they would have something to eat when they came back. Later, once settlement went into full swing, more goats were brought in, for their wool and to control weeds when land was cleared. As with many of New Zealand’s pest species, they like it here and, today, an estimated few hundred thousand feral goats can be across about 15 percent of the country, including in our national parks. They can be hunted in our national parks, and DOC actively controls feral goats, especially in areas where rare native species are at risk.
The red bit on the pukeko’s forehead is called its frontal shield. The frontal shield on chicks is black and turns red when the chick is about three months old.
Pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus) chicks leave the nest after just a few days and spend a couple of months being fed by adults who aren’t necessarily their parents. If there’s more than one female pukeko around, everyone will lay their eggs in one nest and the group’s males will take care of most of the incubation. Once the chicks hatch, everyone takes care of them.
This pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus) chick was one of a family roaming the campground at Totaranui. It really is mostly feet, which it will eventually grow into. Kind of. Let’s face, even adult pukeko have pretty large feet relative to their body size.
This pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus) was grazing the grass in the camp at Totaranui, no doubt keeping an eye out for some human to take their own eyes off their camp so it can conduct a raid. Pukeko are as bad as wekas at getting into your gear when you’re camping. The pukeko’s large feet are used for feeding, fighting and finding their way across unstable, swampy ground.
It’s not uncommon to see pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus) roaming paddocks. They’ve done well following European settlement; land cleared for agriculture is a favourite habitat, especially when there’s some sort of waterway nearby.
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