New Zealand Dotterels
At the mouth of the Waiwera Estuary, there are round wire cages in the dunes. Enclosed within a taped-off section of the beach, these mark the nests of New Zealand…
Bar-tailed Godwits
New Zealand is home to some amazing birds. We have endemic species that live nowhere else in the world. We also play host to some migrant species that travel a…
Hihi – Stitchbird
Have you ever seen a Hihi? These beautiful little birds were very poorly known until the 1990's. They are also known as Stitchbirds, and were confined to a remnant population…
Little Blue Penguin
Today is all about the tiniest penguin in the world, the aptly named Little Blue Penguin! Of course I couldn't do a blog series on New Zealand Birds without including…
Kōkako
The voting for New Zealand's Bird of the Year has changed my blogging plans slightly. The next few will be about New Zealand birds! We're going to start with my…
Black Stilts – Kakī
One of our main goals while we were staying in Tekapo was to find and photograph Black Stilts - Kaki. They were once one of the most endangered bird species…
Friendly Fantails
Fantails are one of our ubiquitous native birds that are known for following people around. Friendly fantails don't really like us personally, but they do enjoy feeding on the insects…
Australasian Crested Grebes
We don't see Australasian Crested Grebes in the North Island. They're impressive waterbirds that look ridiculous on land because their legs are set very far back on their bodies! It…
Welcome Swallows
Welcome Swallows are usually quite difficult birds to photograph, in my experience. They're small and very swift, so flight shots are a serious achievement! Even when perched they don't stick…
Morepork
There's nothing I love more than falling asleep to the plaintive hooting of Moreporks. It's something that speaks of home to me - we live near a forest and they…
White Birds on White Backgrounds
People have noticed a few similarities between my two winning images from last year - they're (mostly) white birds on (mostly) white backgrounds! I've been asked why and how I…
Baby Blackbirds
If you've been keeping up with me on Facebook (I really need to work on posting to other social media sites, sorry!), you'll know that at work we had the…
Miranda
This poor post has been shunted back two weeks by the excitement of going to Tiri and Muriwai on the same day! It's not every day that my lectures finish…
Muriwai
It's always windy at Muriwai - it's why the Gannets nest there. There were serious gusts blowing when we spent the evening there after our day on Tiri, so much…
Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre
Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre is a place I should really visit more often. Located in Rotorua, they are leaders in the conservation of birds of prey in New Zealand,…