Okay so enough complaining... onto other bird species... I know a few people who will appreciate a "Birds of Golden Bay" blog post, and for those who aren't interested, the pictures are pretty sweet anyway.
So there are 2 very similar Oystercatchers in Golden Bay. There is the Variable and the Pied Oystercatcher. I know I have seen the Variable because it is the only one with an all black phase, but this one also has a pied phase. The book says the difference is the the border between black and white on their lower chest. The Variable has a "smudgy" edge, whereas the Pied Oystercatcher has a sharp edge. From the picture I believe that those photographed on the Farewell Spit are Pied, but the pictures aren't perfect.
Above I believe to be the Pied, the "smudgy" border looks smudgier than this picture. Below is the Variable Oystercatcher in his black phase.
Now I know some of these pictures are pretty blurry, and its because I cropped and zoomed them to death, but this next one was easy to identify despite the distance it was taken from. This is the Royal Spoonbill. (ahh it looks so small on blogger, but I think it gets bigger if you click on it, and i'll eventually get all the bird pictures on Flickr)
This next bird gave me so much insight into my childhood in a very strange way. When I was a child, Nickelodeon played a cartoon called Doug (most of you are probably familiar), and he had a alter-ego named "quail man" Picture of Quail man and Quail dog. He wore his underwear outside of his shorts (I suspect to relate the a child's sense of humor) and a belt around his head. It was not until I saw the California Quail at Totaranui Beach that I understood the reason for his belt (and the corresponding name "Quailman"). Also we saw the male and female with their babies running close behind. Soooo cute!
Quail Man
And the babies...
The best is still yet to come. Jeff and I were sitting in the tent layering up for night fall when this awful screeching came from what sounded like right outside our tent. I open the rain fly only to see a Weka right there!! There was a slight problem though, the camera was in the car, and Weka's can run like hell. They are flightless though, so I sad that on my side. I slid Jeff's boots on, hobbled to the car with lightning speed, and chased the Weka to get as close as possible before he snuck into the bush. Jeff claims this was very funny to watch. It was no doubt a Buff Weka. He ran quickly, but he was a little on the chubby side, probably from not being able to fly.
I have now identified and photographed 20 bird species here, and I think I saw a Bell Bird, but I didn't get a good enough look, and they are far from the only bright yellow, small bird in New Zealand. I hope to continue seeing new species regularly now that Summer is about to begin. My must-sees are the Kiwi and the Fiordland Penguins!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! As cheesy as it sounds, I am thankful for all of you who have supported Jeff and I throughout the idea and fruition of this adventure.
Goggle gobble :)
Since I have a blog I know how difficult it is to get feedback. I'm going to give you my thoughts on a post idea. I'm curious to know how the people think. What do they think of you? Do they work strictly for financial gain like here in the US? Is it a 9-5 like daily routine? Is it laid back? Are you guys hanging around the locals after work drinking beers together? What is different about the living accommodations you're used to in the States? Have you felt a tiredness to the scene? Will it get old? Do you see yourself preferring to live there over here?
ReplyDeleteYou do a great job with description of the events you guys do. I'd like to read a post about your thoughts on the land. The New Zeal-Land. That was clever. Keep up the good work Nicole. Try to force Jeff into a post or two. I can only remember once that I was thinking to myself "this is definitely Jeff writing."