Archive for the ‘travel’ Tag
My New Zealand Adventure
I spent six days on the South Island of New Zealand from 10/20/12 to 10/26/12. It was jam-packed with adventure and work – it was a business trip with a couple days tacked on for sightseeing. Got to go back with Marty. Saw many birds:
House Sparrow
Blackbird
Paradise Shelduck
Australasian Harrier (Swamp Harrier)
Chaffinch
Australian Magpie
Mallard
Canada Goose
Australian Shoveler
White-faced Heron
Black Swan
Welcome Swallow
California Quail
Pukeko (like our Purple Gallinule)
Domestic Geese
Southern Black-backed Gull
South Island Tomtit
Skylark
Goldfinch
Silvereye
Masked Lapwing (Spur-Winged Plover)
Kereru (Wood Pigeon)
New Zealand Gray Fantail
Spotted Shag
Pied Shag
Yellowhammer
Starling
Tern from a distance – no idea what it was
Red-billed Gull
Variable Oystercatcher
Little Blue (White-flippered) Penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguin
Song Thrush
Sulfur-crested Cockatoo
Rock Pigeon
While at Willowbank, a fantastic nature preserve outside of Christchurch, I saw these birds (some being rehabilitated, some serving as ambassadors):
Kea
Tui
South Island Takahe
Little Spotted Kiwi
Barbary Dove