The Māori name of the New Zealand scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae) is pāpango, which means kinda black in colour. And from a distance, the scaup certainly appears to be brown/black, but up close they do the common bird trick of actually being a lot of different colours. They’re not just brown and black, but also green, [...]
Nelson Lakes National Park
Black-billed gulls (Larus bulleri) have the most amazing white eyes ringed in what look to me like tiny stitches crocheted in scarlet wool. Then there’s the crisp, smooth white of the head and the deep black of its bill… the black-billed gull is a beautiful bird.
Gulls are often thought of as seabirds, but the black-billed gull (Larus bulleri) is more likely to be found around freshwater: rivers, lakes, marshes, pastures. They breed on the gravel beds of braided rivers, which provide them with a clear space to nest on and easy access to a reliable food source. In 2016, a [...]
Anklets are trending in 2018! Especially among New Zealand’s more threatened bird species. Black-billed gulls (Larus bulleri) have been banded as part of studies trying to determine how many chicks fledge each season, how many survive to breed in subsequent seasons and where they spend their winters. Birds are given two bands, a metal band with [...]
If you think this black-billed gull (Larus bulleri) isn’t looking too impressed, you try being the most threatened gull species in the world. The black-billed gull is very similar in looks to the much more common (but also declining) red-billed gulls (Larus novaehollandiae) often found around the coast. The black-billed gull is a more slender bird, [...]
On one hand, you have New Zealand’s most common coastal gull, the red-billed gull. On the other hand, you have this guy, the black-billed gull (Larus bulleri), which is not just New Zealand’s most threatened gull species, but the world’s most threatened. Their numbers are still okay, but the rate of decline is a serious [...]
The mosses growing over this rotting log are typical of South Island beech forests. The leafy bits are the mature moss, called gametophytes. The gametophytes produce the stalky bits on the left-hand side of the photo. At the end of the stalk is a spore capsule, which will germinate to produce the next generation of [...]
The South Island’s beech forests (Nothofagus species) play host to a species of aphid-like scale insects. These scale insects attach themselves to trees and suck up sugar from the tree’s vascular tissues. The fluid ingested is so rich in sugar that the scale insects secrete it, providing a high-energy food source to other forest life, including tui, [...]
This South Island robin (Petroica australis) was checking us out along a track at Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park. Although quiet, these guys aren’t shy. They will come very close to you to check out what deliciousness your footsteps are stirring up.
This is Amanita muscaria, fly agaric. There’s some discussion about whether Amanita muscaria is just one species or many, as specimens can look very different. See Fungi of Nelson Lakes: Episode III: Fly Agaric for a cluster of fly agaric that looks not much like this one at all.
