Over the past few weeks the young falcon ball of fluff has become a falcon fledgling. Repeat visits have been rewarded with repeat viewings of the rapidly growing youngster as it got bolder, bigger and then started making short hops that eventually turned into flying. Photo by Brendon & Keryn Ineffective hiding. Photo by Brendon […]
Moving to the other side of the log
The Karearea pair at Zealandia hatched a chick on around the 28th August and last week some brave experts from Wingspan went in and managed to put an identification band onto one of the chicks legs (as documented here, and there are more photos here from Steve Atwood who was lucky enough to attend). Yesterday […]
Spring is in the air, just about
The snow has gone and the temperature is generally getting warmer (except for the last few days where we’ve had what is hopefully winters last hurrah). We’ve been out and about a few times and I’ve been getting out to Zealandia a lot to check up on the wildlife. The day after the last post […]
The Zealandia takahe
A pair of takahe were introduced to Zealandia at the end of January and spent their first few weeks in isolation outside of the public eye. In the last month they have been let out into a larger area encompassing much of the swamp at the top of the lower lake. Named Puffin and T2 […]
The Union Mine track
On a hot afternoon a few days back I went in search of wildlife at Zealandia. Each visit I tend to make up the route I walk, tending to target areas where I’ve seen interesting animals in the past. Recently this has meant walking the path linking the Union Mine track and the Beech track […]
One Saturday
Saturday was another in a long line of sunny, warm days to have hit Wellington so we got outside and spent a few hours walking around at Zealandia. We got to see lots of wildlife, Keryn say the falcons for the first time and we managed to get dive bombed by the feisty male, even […]
Karearea
As mentioned on twitter a while back I’ve become addicted to watching the Karearea (NZ Falcons) at Zealandia. The breeding pair have one chick this year and it has recently fledged. I was lucky enough to stumble upon the chosen resting spot earlier this week and got some good photos. I’m also lucky enough not […]
Before the rush
Keryn’s parents are here to celebrate their 40th Wedding anniversary and Travis and Sophie came down as well so we’ve had a busy few days. Zealandia was open for free to Wellington residents and I’ve heard it was crazy busy on Saturday (today has been strong winds and a bit of rain, so maybe wasn’t […]
Back following birds
The weather has been very nice for a few days now and on Monday I spent a few hours back at Zealandia taking photos and enjoying the walk through the forest. The usual suspects were seen and photographed, here are a few photos. Photo by Brendon & Keryn A saddleback having just found a tasty […]
Volunteering
On Thursday I visited Zealandia to meet Al Dicks the marketing manager. My Uncle Steve had suggested to Al that I might be able to help out with some of the IT stuff required to market Zealandia, specifically help with editing and uploading videos to their YouTube channel. Al is a busy man and in […]
Recently
Spring is in the air, there is lots or rain and wind about. Photography has taken a back seat recently, coinciding with one of my lenses being sent up to Auckland for repair after the auto focus motor failed. It was an expensive fix, but much cheaper than buying a new lens. Naturally, back seat […]
Sun, Surf, stones?
With a break in my shifts and some nice weather I got out early in the morning to see what the sunrise would look like from Wainuiomata beach. The beach pretty much faces south, not so good for sunrise perhaps, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway. The morning was cold and driving […]