Wild Bird Wednesday 242 - Tui

The Tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) is an endemic that is common throughout New Zealand.  This species was one of the first birds I identified in the garden of our accommodation in Auckland.

The Tui is one of the largest honeyeaters, and is a little bigger than most thrushes.  Because of the white  throat tufts, this bird is sometimes called The Parson Bird.  In dull light they can look almost black, but when they catch the sunlight, their feathers taken on a metallic sheen.

These images were all taken in the Queen Charlotte Sound area of South Island.

My main computer is off having emergency surgery this week - and my bank account is on life support, so I will have work my way around these issues for a week or so!

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A walk in the park

I spent last week in Jakarta, Indonesia. As ever, things were far more hectic than I anticipated - I must be a slow learner. This was the second trip in a month and I have to say I am looking forward to spending a few consecutive weeks at home!

On the morning of my last day in Jakarta I went for a walk around that National Monument Park - I was guided by a local bird guide, who is excellent.  Unfortunately from a birding point of view the park was very busy with preparations for some form of military display.  However, we did get to see Javan Pied Starling, which is a bit of a rarity.

Given that the birding was a bit quiet I took up my second hobby - photographing people (and cats).  I did not get any pictures of the 2000 or more soldiers there as most of them had a 'don't point that camera at me' face, and the 250+ people all dressed in red and dancing to the "Chicken Dance" was so surreal I was to stunned to do more than watch!

The National Monument

You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

Wild Bird Wednesday 241 - Kea

New Zealand is a remarkable place.  Apart from bats its has not native terrestrial mammals.  In the absence of native cats, rats and rabbits, birds have evolved that fill some of the ecological niches left vacant by the absence of mammals.  Another way of looking at this is to consider New Zealand as a possible example of what the worlds ecosystems would have looked like if they had not come to be dominated by mammals after the extinction event that removed dinosaurs.

One of the birds that has filled a 'mammal niche' is the Kea (Nestor notabilis).  This is a large parrot - about 50cm long - with mostly green feathers, although it shows orange under its wings and tail.

This bird has a surprisingly large curved beak which it uses to find food.  Its food includes roots, berries and insects, but it will also take carrion and has been recently filmed feeding on the 'back fat' of sheep.  Like many parrots the Kea is intelligent and inquisitive.  These traits have led it to gain a bit of a reputation as a vandal, as they tend to explore new materials and objects in there environment.  Unfortunately, this includes parked car where they seem to have bit of a fondness for the rubber seals around car doors and windscreens.  

The Kea is the worlds only Alpine parrot and the one in these pictures visited us as we were have a cup of coffee at Arthurs Pass in South Island.  This individual was very keen to have a look - and maybe a feed - inside my bag and camera case!  Given that it can't be all that easy to find food in the high mountains, this 'searching' behaviour of new and novel materials is certainly adaptive.  It's also rather entertaining!

As ever, click the blue button to join in with WBW!

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Hungry?

It's hard to escape from food in Delhi - most street corners and road junctions contain a few stalls selling food of some kind or another.  There are fruit sellers, potato fryers, peanut vendors and butter milk hawkers everywhere.

However, despite such abundance, it may be wise as a tourist, with a flimsy western immune system, to be very careful about such food.  The last time I was in India - which was 26 years ago - I succumbed to the gastric collapse that is not uncommon for visitors.  Luckily this time I did not suffer such a fate!

You can find more shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.

New Zealand Skies

Just to move away from India for a while - here is a series of skies from New Zealand.

I have to say that the light in NZ was often rather good.

The three pictures above were taken from the front drive of our accommodation in Taupo.

The shot above was taken by the shore of Lake Taupo itself.

The last two shots are of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe, which were both used as film sets for Mordor - or more specially Mount Doom - in the Lord of the Rings films.

You can find more skies at Sky Watch Friday.

Wild Bird Wednesday 240 - White-throated Kingfisher.

As you may have noticed, sometimes get become more than a little amused at the way birds are given their common names.  After all, these names are there to help us sort and understand the world.  However, we end up with larks that are not larks, magpies that arenot magpies and all other manner of strange names.

But this weeks seems even more strange - The White-throated Kingfisher does have a white throat, but it's best field marks are the white patches in its wings and the wonderful teal blue of its back.  Of course, neither of these are mentioned in the common name!  Go figure!

Despite its rather exotic looks the White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis) is reasonably common in India, and I got some really good views of this species.

I'm pretty sure that this bird falls into the broad category of 'cracking birds'!

As with almost all of my Indian bird shots these were taken at the Sultanpur National Park.

To join in with WBW just click on the blue button below.  SM

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