Friday 13 November 2009

Friday 13th.November 2009

An unlucky day , well it certainly was as regards the weather , with about 20 minutes of dryness from dawn to dusk . After three days volunteering , I was hoping to get out and about today , but that weather put paid to that . So I am going to have to fall back , again , on shots from our recent NZ trip .
Starting with insects , managed to get this Damselfly , looking very similar to out Large Red , on the vegetation down by the little stream at the bottom of the garden .
On one of the trips to the beach , on a windy day , found this Dragonfly , hanging on for all it was worth to the road surface . I managed to get it onto my finger and moved it to a safer position . It looked very much like our Brown Hawker .
Whilst working in the garden , removing a tree stump , came across this adult Cockroach , obviously a breeding specimen , as we also turned up several juveniles amongst the rotten wood . This one was about 4/5 cms. long .
A couple of plants found whilst out on walks , included this very striking member of the Cranesbill/Geranium family .
Whilst walking around the edges of the orchards , we came across more specimens of Broomrape than I have ever seen in one place before . In places under the shelterbelt conifers , they were growing like weeds .
Now a few birds . The Kingfishers that I have mentioned before that visited the garden , were I think a male and female , as I witnessed food passing and their breasts were different shades of white/cream . Here , the two are on adjacent fence posts .
Whilst out in the car one day , I found this Eastern Rosella , perched on the wires alongside the road . It just allowed two shots , before it flew off noisily . I also recorded a pair quite regularly in the garden , but they always kept in cover .
On another trip to the beach , recorded this Tern , which I think is a Caspian , as it was much bigger than the Common , but if it isn't , I know I will be put right .
Also from the car , I got these male Wild Turkeys , seemingly having a stand off , and showing their finery . Just a short distance away was a single female , which was what all the showing off was probably about .
Another favourite songster , was this Little Grey Warbler . This male was singing his heart out , and seemed quite oblivious to my presence . A descending scale , like a very melodious Willow Warbler .
And finally , couldn't post re. NZ without a Kiwi . Well not actually a Kiwi , more of 'a Kiwi was here' shot . This hole , I was assured by the Ranger at a small reserve we visited , was made by a Kiwi searching for worms . There were many more holes along the track in the area , and I believe him !

4 comments:

Ken. said...

Hi Greenie.
More nice photo's. Do you think the wild Turkey's are lecking for the females attentions?

ShySongbird said...

Another very interesting post, so odd to see Parrots in the wild. I see Eastern Rosellas are native to Aus and Tas but introduced in NZ. Wild Turkeys seem weird too.!

It must have been a wonderful experience, do you go very often?

Greenie said...

Ken ,
Could be , but to me it looked as if they had just left the pub and were looking for a punch up .

Greenie said...

ShySongbird ,
Looking at the small amount of information re. the small number of native birds that I managed to find out there , it's not surprising that there are so many introduced species .
I saw the Turkeys several times in different areas each time , definitely wild , but probable introduced too , or escapees .
This was our third trip to NZ . Would love to go more often if someone could shorten the journey time . Coming home , from leaving our daughter's door , to reaching our's , 34.5 hours of planes , airports , buses and cars , and still waking at odd hours , wondering where we are .
Oh to be like some , who get on the plane and go to sleep , waking up to get off .