After days of torrential rain, stepping outside into the bush is so rewarding. The track slides beneath my boots, slick with mud a loose gravel. I walk slowly so I don’t fall flat on my face. This has its benefits, by taking the time to watch each step, I start to notice the things at ground level I might normally miss.
Read More“Nearby is the South Georgia pintail, with bright yellow bill and cartoonishly round head. South Georgia lacks the lush plant and invertebrate life we have here on Waiheke, so the pintail forages his feed on the scraps of king penguin bones. They dabble in the shallow water and waddle in groups amongst the four-ton elephant seals.”
Read More“The unmissable trill of their descending call stops me in my pace. Above me is a flowering manuka tree, and hopping between its branches are a flurry of grey feathers. They are a monotone of moody clouds, with flashes of white on their tails and a speck of red in their eyes. I could fit all three of them in the palm of my hand they are so small.”
Read More“It’s another cold morning in the bush, I sling my pack to the ground and take a moment for a drink and a bite to eat beneath a canopy of gently swaying kanuka. As I lay back into the carex grasses, I realise that the branches are not swaying from the wind, but from the hopping of tiny green birds from branch to branch.”
Read MoreNot much in the bush will give me a fright, I love all…most…of the creatures I come across on my missions through our ngahere. This was tested when I shifted one of our traps and was very quickly confronted by a large, grumpy, brown spider with her eyes fixed directly on me.
Read MoreThere are a few precious taonga species remaining on my list of those yet to see. One had eluded me my whole life, until a crisp dusk this past Easter weekend. Just a few minutes out of town, we stood warming our hands in our pockets by the Whakapapa river bridge, a short drive north of Mt Ruapehu. Having been serenaded all evening by whio, or blue duck, and the rush of the river, we looked up towards the tall, dense forest towering above us.
Read MoreIt is not uncommon for the twig that has fallen on to your outdoor dining table, or is stuck to your kitchen window, to actually be a rō, or stick insect. Aotearoa has around 20 different species, all with the same remarkable camouflage in shades of brown and bright green.
Read MoreThe heat of another clear day beats down on me. I am surrounded by harakeke, kōwhai, pōhutukawa and pūriri which shake with the movement of feasting birds. It’s a nectar feeder’s dream.
Read MoreThe depths of a tall forest gully can feel like you’re in a remote and untouched part of the world, especially when you can no longer get a signal on your GPS. A noiseless shadow swoops past me, few creatures move with such ease and invisibility, so I am enamoured to see the golden eyes of a ruru peering down from the underside of a wheki ponga.
Read MoreKōtare, or Sacred Kingfisher, are the glimpse of colour you may see dipping in and out of a riverside or silhouetted on a powerline. Often you’ll only see a flash of teal and a splash before they return to their lookout hidden away in the mangroves.
Read MoreWhile Waiheke is home to a number of well known and visible taonga species, there are a few that fly under the radar and prefer to ‘blend in’. Geckos and skinks, or mokomoko in te reo Māori, can be found all over Waiheke. It is important to note that our mokomoko are protected, this means that you cannot touch, collect or disturb any of our native lizards.
Read MoreWe are shrouded by the night sky, a blanket of stars and satellites. The air is crisp and thick with salt, loose pebbles crunching underfoot as we make our way around the coastline. Over the sound of our slipping feet, I hear a rustle from the bushes beside me, the pampas grass seems alive and wiggling.
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