Creeks near The Prom

I spend a rather wonderful three days at Wilsons Promontory National Park at the start of this week.  The weather was unseasonably mild, and the park very quiet.  In other words, it was near perfect.

There is a small town, Foster,  about an hour from the park and I stayed there. 

As you drive from The Prom to Foster you pass over a series of small creeks and their names have always amused me.  I wonder if they tell a story.  I also wonder if the story should be read in the opposite order!

Its either a sad story, or a happy one depending on direction!  

SM

Wild(ish) Bird Wed 629 - Takahe

The Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family. 

The Takahe is an impressively large bird: its average length is about 63 cm and its average weight is about 2.7 kg in males, with females being slightly smaller. Its standing height is around 50 cm. (When I first saw them the thought occurred to me that they looked like purple swamp hens that had been inflated with a pump!)

Like many of its close relatives these birds mainly eat plant matter, although they will eat insects and have even been seen to eat small ducklings.

Takahe plumage, beaks, and legs show typical swamp hen colours. In adult takahe the plumage is silky, and remarkably iridescent, with dark-blue or navy-blue on the head, neck, and underside and peacock blue on the wings.

For many years the Takahe was thought to be extinct, but in 1948 a small population was found in a remote part of South Island in the Murchison Mountains.  Since that time there has been considerable effort put into saving the species.  It has not always been a simple task, with the known population of the bird fluctuating considerably.  It is now thought that there are about 500 of these birds, some in the wild and others in protected sanctuaries.

These birds were photographed at the Orokonui Ecosanctuary, near Dunedin.  They are free roaming birds, within the sanctuary - but they have been released there as part of the conservation effort.  (Hence 'wild-ish')

As ever, to joining with WBW, click on the link below.  SM

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mammals on Monday 10 - New Zealand Sea Lions

New Zealand Sea Lions (Phocarctos hookeri) are one of the least abundant sea lion species in the world.  They are endemic to New Zealand and have a total population of about 12000 individuals.

These animals were loafing around on the far end of The Mole, a sea wall at Aramoana near Dunedin in New Zealand.

You can see some of the features in these pictures that make these animals sea lions, rather than seals.  Sea lions are able to support themselves on land using their large front flippers, and can use these flippers to 'walk'. They also have visible ear flaps. Seals on the other hand, have small flippers, wriggle on their bellies on land, and lack visible ear flaps.

As you can see, these Sea Lions were not doing a great deal!  I suspect that they may be sub-adult males just loafing about, waiting for time and opportunity to change their status!

Cheers  SM

Auckland, New Zealand

My recent trip to New Zealand really came about because Sal was singing in The World Choir Games in Auckland, and I tagged on a birding trip prior to meeting up with her and her choir for the games.

The second week of the Choir Games kicked off with a Parade of Nations, which was a street parade of all of the competing choirs organised by nation (!). 

I took some pictures of this event and the city.

The event started with a Māori ceremony, and the group led the parade along the water front.  Those who know Sal should be able to find her in a couple of these images.

SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 628 - Kōkako

The North Island Kōkako (Callaeas wilsoni) is an endemic New Zealand Wattlebird, and almost certainly the only surviving species in the genus. The South Island Kōkako (Callaeas cinereus) has not been confirmed to be seen since 2007, and the prior to that had not been seen since 1967.  The South Island species is now classified as data deficient, rather than extinct - but it's probably gone.

The North Island Kōkako is doing a little better, but only with significant conservation effort.  This species was once common over much of North Island, but now they are restricted to a few predator free sanctuaries. 

Predation at nests – mainly by ship rats and possums, and occasionally stoats – is the primary cause of the North Island Kōkako's decline. Female Kōkako are particularly at risk of predation as they do all the incubation and brooding throughout a 50-day nesting period. Years of such selective predation resulted in populations that were predominantly male and as such had very low productivity rates. In one example of this type of predation, the population of North Island Kōkako's in Hunua Ranges was reduced to have just one breeding female in 1994.

An active program of translocation from individuals to predator free sanctuaries has resulted in a rise in bird numbers, and now there are about 2300 breeding pairs spread across a number of sites on North Island.  The island of Tiritiri Matangi - which is just over an hour by boat from central Auckland - is one of these sites, and I was fortunate to see at least two birds on a day visit there. 

The bird itself is more often seen than heard and it has wonderful, far carrying, voice that is described as 'a slow string of very loud rich mournful organ-like notes' - and I can vouch for the fact that it was loud.  They can be frustratingly hard to see in the tree tops,  but I was lucky enough to find (with help!) two birds lower in the canopy.

Kōkako weigh around 230g and are about 38 cm long. They have long legs and a long tail, and a short, strong bill. They are not strong flyers. The North Island Kōkako has distinctive blue wattles (fleshy pads hanging from each corner of the bill), while the South Island bird’s wattles were orange. 

I have to say, they are a pretty spectacular bird.

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the link below.  Cheers  SM

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Mammal on Monday 9: Domestic or House Cat

The Domestic Cat (Felis catus) is probably one of the most familiar mammals in the world. As of 2021, there were an estimated 220 million owned and 480 million stray cats in the world. About 1 in 4 adults in the UK is owned by a cat (!). 

Cats that are similar to our house cats have been around for a long time, with the genus Felis genetically diverging from other Felidae (ie all other 'cats') around 6 to 7 million years ago.  

For a long time the domestication of the cat was thought to have begun in ancient Egypt, where cats were venerated as Gods from around 3100 BC. (and as the joke goes: they still remember this!)  Recently, the earliest known evidence for the taming of an African wildcat was excavated close by a human Neolithic grave southern Cyprus, dating to about 7500–7200 BC.

Domestication has changed cats very little, with only minor changes in anatomy and behaviour.  This means they are still capable of surviving in the wild, and in many places feral cat populations pose a significant threat to native wildlife.  As always seems t0 be the case, this is a significant problem in Australia.

I keep two cats, but would not do so if I was not able to keep them contained.  My cats has an enclosed outdoor door area which we refer to as the 'pleasure palace', which keeps both the cats and the local wildlife safe.  

Cuban Cat

Cuban Cat

Cuban Cat - showing its nictitating membrane in its eye

Cuban Cat

Dutch Cat - living on a house boat!

My cats Hector and Freda - showing total disregard of any rule setting!

My first Australia cat - Mr. Hudson

Cats feature in many mythologies, one of my favourite being the idea that the Norse Goddess Freyja, the goddess of love, luck and (I think) things domestic, had a chariot that was pulled by two black cats.  This resulted in cats being common wedding presents, to bring the favour of Freyja on the newly married couple.  I can think of worse traditions!

Cheers - SM