David Attenborough is undoubtably one of my heroes, and so I thought I'd make a quick post with a video I found online today. It's a classic clip of him in Madagascar in the early days of his work as a BBC wildlife presenter, as he explains in the clear and eloquent way that has been the hallmark of his illustrious career about the Leaf-tailed Gecko.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Opua Pelagic trip
After we arrived we set up camp in the town of Kerikeri and got a well earned night's rest. Then were up at 5:30 to head to the jetty in Opua, about 35 minutes south.
We set out from Opua, Bay of Islands, on a very calm and clear morning on a very comfortable boat - a nice combination of conditions...
Our goal was to head out about 30km offshore to a 400m deep canyon that cuts in from the deep blue water much furher out. As our boat was a bit slow it took us about 2 hours to get out there. But we had a good time spotting birds on the way.
We passed huge flocks of Fluttering Shearwaters and even passed a Gannet colony before we got into the open water. But first, here are a few photos...
We stopped on the way out at a small island to pick up an extra person, and the jetty had a few dozen of White-fronted Terns loafing on it.
We stopped on the way out at a small island to pick up an extra person, and the jetty had a few dozen of White-fronted Terns loafing on it.
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| White-fronted Terns |
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| White-fronted Terns lazing around |
As we began to enter more open water a few Arctic Skua flew past (both light and dark phases) as they harried the terns for their lunch.
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| light phase Arctic Skua |
A few Little Penguins floated along as we motored past. Note the typical way of lying low-in-the-water.
Then we started passing a few Buller's Shearwaters...
...and a few Flesh-footed Shearwaters came in for a closer look at the boat.
And of course this beauty should be carefully observed also...
And here was the most enjoyable bird of the trip. Such a dainty bird hardly bigger than a sparrow that seems to hop and skip on the water, gracefully dancing as it searches for krill and other arthropods to feed on.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable trip! A big thanks to Detlef Davies for organising everything, bringing the burley to attract some of the birds, and for letting us camp in his beautiful garden!
Then we started passing a few Buller's Shearwaters...
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| Buller's Shearwater |
...and a few Flesh-footed Shearwaters came in for a closer look at the boat.
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater |
Some even had a go at snorkeling. Haha, nah they're just after the fish bits we threw overboard.
This species can be hard to tell apart from the next one, but look closely at the beak - notice a difference? I'll explain more in a later post about this initially challenging ID.
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| Flesh-footed Shearwater searching for fish scrap |
This species can be hard to tell apart from the next one, but look closely at the beak - notice a difference? I'll explain more in a later post about this initially challenging ID.
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| Parkinson's (Black) Petrel |
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| Parkinson's (Black) Petrel |
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| Parkinson's (Black) Petrel |
And of course this beauty should be carefully observed also...
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| Mermaid |
And here was the most enjoyable bird of the trip. Such a dainty bird hardly bigger than a sparrow that seems to hop and skip on the water, gracefully dancing as it searches for krill and other arthropods to feed on.
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| White-faced Storm-Petrel dancing on the water |
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| White-faced Storm-Petrel dancing on the water |
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| White-faced Storm-Petrel dancing on the water |
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable trip! A big thanks to Detlef Davies for organising everything, bringing the burley to attract some of the birds, and for letting us camp in his beautiful garden!
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