Southern black-backed gulls (Larus dominicanus dominicanus) are found all around New Zealand’s coast, up rivers and around farmland. They are even occasionally found quite far inland. Notorious scavengers, they hang around people in public spaces hoping for some cast off fish and chips and other scraps of food. They also prey on still-living things, such [...]
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This is the New Zealand pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), which is a bit smaller than a song thrush, about 16-19 cm long compared to the thrush’s 20-24 cm. Pipits belong to a family of birds called wagtails, because they kind of wag their tails as they walk. Numbers in New Zealand are over 100,000 but they [...]
On the drive down Canaan Road to the Harwoods Hole track, we rounded a bend and found a fold of Highland cattle grazing on the corner. The term “fold” is used for a herd of Highland cattle because, in Scotland, they used to be kept in stone shelters called folds during winter to protect them [...]
Standing at the Pohara Boat Club looking out to the north, you’re looking across Golden Bay towards Farewell Spit. Turn around and look towards the road and you might just glimpse this place, hiding behind rock and scrub.
The Baton Valley is remote, covered in native New Zealand bush, and the road up to it is shingle. So this guy is a bit overdressed for the environment. Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) in New Zealand are usually escapees from farms or lifestyle blocks, although there are some isolated feral populations. The male is all showmanship [...]
There’s more than one way to see the Abel Tasman National Park, and from just offshore is a pretty popular way. If kayaking seems like hard work, there are water taxis that regularly go up and down the coast. This photo was taken in a water taxi trip from Kaiteriteri to Totaranui.
About a 20 minute drive north of the Tasman District boundary sign on state highway 65 is the turnoff to the Maruia Falls Scenic Reserve. It’s just a short walk down a hillside track to the bottom of the Maruia Falls, which were formed as the result of a landslide during the Murchison earthquake of [...]
This is a juvenile piled stilt/poaka (Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus). The black neck and back of the head of the adult develops as the bird matures. This one near Motueka has caught what may have been a tunnelling mud crab.
Female South Island robins (Petroica australis) are a paler grey than the males and their chest patch tends to be less clearly defined than in the male. I think this is a female, because she is quite light in colour and her chest patch is pretty irregular, certainly more so than the Fenella hut robin.
Golden sand beaches are typical of the coast around the Abel Tasman National Park. This photo was taken above Little Kaiteriteri beach, looking north towards Kaiteriteri, with the hills of the Abel Tasman in the distance. In the foreground, if you look closely, a tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) is flying over the beach.
