Birds

The above little guys were everywhere, introduced to make NZ more "homey," just like they were here!

We did see lots and lots of native birds, however - and we got photos of a few of them! Wish we could have captured more, but we did pretty good just taking snapshots on our walks, and had a lot of fun trying!

Kakariki:
A pair of Yellow-Eyed Penguins:
Variable Oystercatchers:
Takahe: he wouldn't turn around so I could take a photo of his red beak and face!
White Faced Heron:
I think that I remember them calling this a Buller's Albatross, but I'm not absolutely sure: We also saw a Royal Albatross, but didn't get a photo.
Putangitangi, Paradise Duck: the female has the white head, and the the male has the dark one.

"Skags:"
A hobbit town of dens for little blue penguins:
The best shot I got of these beautiful birds, which fish all day unless they are breeding. They are tiny and have wonderful iridescent blue feathers. You can watch them come home from the ocean at dusk - unfortunately, we hit the sanctuary at noon.
Chaffinch: (introduced)
Mohoua - maybe! I'm not sure!
Kaka: He has brilliant orange feathers under his wings, and wasn't at all afraid of us - I posted an earlier photo of him sitting on top of our car!
Matata:
Kereru: New Zealand Pigeon: These are much larger than our pigeons, and have bright iridescent feathers, blue back and green neck.
Fantail: these birds were very busy and fast - we saw them quite a lot, but this is the best photo: doesn't show much - you can maybe get an idea of the tail, however:
This is the best shot I got of the very elusive bellbird. We frequently heard their wonderful call , but we rarely saw them unless they were flying very very fast away from us:
Sure look like Canadian geese! Only saw them once, a long way from home!
Stilt:
Another flightless bird, the weka - I think that the next two photos are of the same kind of bird, but not absolutely sure! One black, one brown:


As I mentioned, we did see a kiwi, in a sanctuary, and also a couple tui, flying between trees. A miromiro and lots of warblers. A spoonbill and white heron and other sea and shore birds - and a lot of birds which we have no idea what to call! Harrier hawks, some kind of black and white crow. And the bird songs! Walking in the woods was a continual concert of unknown calls, I often wished for a recorder. The woods were full, but the mud flats where the tide went out had surprisingly few birds, especially when compared to our shores.