Thursday, 3 December 2009

Thursday 3rd.December 2009

After two completely different days hedgelaying up on the Greensand Ridge , Tuesday in very pleasant sunshine and teeshirts , and Wednesday in miserable cloudy , showery conditions, and full wet gear , I was hoping for at least a dry day today . But , it wasn't to be , and the workparty on the Common was called off again this morning , as the relentless rain started falling again . It did ease a bit after lunch , but by then I was well into cleaning and sharpening all my tools , so didn't get out at all today .
So I have fallen back on some more shots of our trip to NZ . The only Corvids that I saw there were a pair of Magpies , looking much more like our Carrion Crow , although the black and white plumage said Magpie . The pair were very shy , keeping well away from the road .
Had to post another shot of the Purple Swamp Hen or Pukeko .

This male Silvereye was singing his heart out one morning , on the top of the shelterbelt conifers .These Swallows were taking a break from collecting flies around a very pleasant lake .
My favourite NZ bird again , the Tui , or as ShySongbird was kind enough to point out , also known as the Parson Bird , and it is easy to see why .Although I saw the White Faced Heron in our daughter's garden , I also found it a couple of times whilst out and about . This one was fishing in a small waterfall .As I have said before , I spent ages , mostly unsuccessfully , trying to get decent shots of the introduced Australasian Harrier . I found two species of Cormorant whilst in NZ . This one was the Black Cormorant , seen here amongst Red Billed Gulls ,and also the Pied Cormorant , which I photographed at a place called Monganui , where they serve up the best fish and chips that I have ever tasted .A really friendly little bird was the Fantail , and at one reserve , this male was in danger of being stepped on , he came that close .And finally , one of the birds I never tired of photographing in the garden , the Kingfisher .

2 comments:

ShySongbird said...

Oh to have Kingfishers in the garden! I do hope your deep love of Nature has rubbed off on your daughter.

It really is interesting to see the NZ birds, I do like the Fantail, a very attractive and unusual looking bird and very nice to be able to get close to it.

Thank you very much for the kind mention Greenie.

Warren Baker said...

Nice compilation of Kiwi birds Greenie.

Hope you've got plenty more - the weather doesn't look like cheering up anytime soon,