My Sunday evening is cool and wet with gale force winds and I've decided it's a much better idea to write a blog instead of checking my rat traps. Not sure where the summer has disappeared to but I hope the tourists are donning raincoats and leggings and enjoying their island holiday.
Jen left on Monday and had an early check-in for her flight so we left home at 5.30am and walked the tracks in the hope of seeing a kiwi. We walked down to the Bay accompanied by a melodic dawn chorus; no need for a torch as it was light enough to see. We walked the Fuchsia, Golden Bay and Petersen Hill tracks and heard lots of birds and as we rounded a corner a two-legged ground bird was there on the track in front of us - not a kiwi but we were entertained by a weka who continued walking towards us and then called before veering off into the bush.
Rakiura wasn't letting go of Jen easily; her plane couldn't land due to low cloud and had to head back to Invercargill. Stewart Island Flights got her the last seat on the 9.30am ferry and she made her NP flight connections at Invercargill Airport with 30 minutes to spare. Not easy managing travel to this wee island - they had over 100 people booked to fly to the island that day and the low cloud didn't lift until after lunch.
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| Jen's ferry leaving |
The Tui vs All Other Birds contest continues to amuse; the tui is an aggressive bird and has a heightened sense of ownership of its food sources; it will take on kereru and kaka and I'm sure the korimako (bellbird) teases it just for fun.
Update 6 Jan: As I walked to work, a kereru perched on the power lines suddenly lifted its wings and swooped silently down to a nearby tree. A rattle of leaves, a surprised squawk and a tui hightailed away from the tree with the kereru flapping not far behind. Ha ha, chalk one up to the kereru!!
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| A kereru responds to a tui attack by waving its wing |
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| Mr Tui getting ready for another bombing run |
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| Game on |
I got up early again this morning and was on the road at 5am - it was already too light to need a torch, even in the bush. I walked the Ryans Creek Track, a 3-4 hour tramp that circles the airstrip. Initially I was disappointed with the lack of native birdsong (there's far more at my place) but great views of Paterson Inlet made up for it. Just 5 minutes after telling myself that it was too light to see kiwi, I struck gold with a young bird breaking cover 5m in front of me and running off down the track, giving me just enough time to snap a photo of its fast-disappearing rump. Fantastic - and well worth losing some sleep.
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| That blob on the track is a kiwi!! |
A large dollop of bird poo on the deck by the doormat greeted me on New Year's Day; I'd love to think that a kiwi had paid a visit overnight but will put it up on NatureWatch under the
'Whose poo' project (opens in new window). Will let you know what the experts think but I'm sure it's a good luck omen for a great 2014.
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| Definitely big enough to be kiwi poo |
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| Close-up |
