Another pic of the Paradise duck (Tadorna variegata) babies we spotted along Staples Street last weekend. Paradise ducks are a real grassland-loving species, they’re happy with a bit of paddock and a stream running through it, a riverbank with plenty of grasses alongside or even just a park where too much rainwater has accumulated on [...]
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Our quest for baby animal photos along Staples Street wasn’t entirely frustrating, as we spotted this pair of Paradise ducks (Tadorna variegata) with three brown and white striped babies. Technically, Paradise shelducks. Paradise shelducks are, obviously, sexually dimorphic, but it’s the female who sports the spectacular white head. Male, female or delicious-looking babies, their colours [...]
This horse (Equus ferus caballus) seemed determined to get our attention as we walked along Staples Street, zipping around her paddock, showing off her lovely coat and her flowing mane. But she went all shy when we crossed the road to her side and said hello, although she did stand still long enough for us [...]
Why did the duck cross the road? Well this particular duck was following a bunch of other ducks, but by the time we were close enough to take a photo, this one was the only one who hadn’t made it across.
The paddocks on Staples Street host a few different species, including pukeko, grey ducks, mallards, Paradise shelducks, spur-winged plovers, blackbirds, thrushes… Walking along Staples Street on Sunday night, we heard spur-winged plovers (Vanellus miles) giving their ‘I don’t like what’s happening’ calls and saw one take off after a harrier (Circus approximans) that was flying [...]
As State Highway 60 exits Motueka to the north, Staples Street runs off towards the coast, to the Raumanuka Scenic Reserve and the Motueka sandspit, where the birdlife is abundant. Staples Street before the reserve runs alongside a paddock that also abounds with wildlife. Pukeko (Porphyrio melanotus) are often spotted in that paddock, and although [...]
Looking at this photo and knowing it’s a variable oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor), the question that comes to mind is: What exactly is so variable about the variable oystercatcher? Its plumage is completely black, its species name is unicolor (truly!), and what’s going on with those orange chopsticks strapped to its face? As with the fantail, [...]
The blue-green colour of the New Zealand kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) can show up as iridescent in the sunlight, but on a grey, overcast day like the one on which this photo was taken, its colours are muted. But they still stand out from the brown mud and debris of the estuary. Their genus name, Todiramphus, [...]
Most of the common names for Zosterops lateralis are based on its most striking feature: the rings around the eyes of the adults. Silvereye, wax-eye, white-eye. Even its genus name, Zosterops, refers to the eye ring: it means “eye girdle”. Looking beyond the bright eye ring, though, the silvereye has an astonishing array of striking [...]
We have here my old nemesis, the Southern black-backed gull (Larus dominicanus dominicanus). Black-backed gulls are aggressive and predatory; I once saw two black-backed gulls hanging out near a duck with her ducklings, one gull had a duckling in its beak while the other gull and the mother duck were eyeing each other up. Black-backed [...]
