Everyone loves a party

Posted on by Liliane Parkinson

What makes a party? Games? Food? Friends? Fun and laughter? Special theme?

When you turn eight what sort of theme do you want for your party?

Well ‘Lij decided he wanted an adventure – a boat ride, a swim in the sea and a picnic! He wanted friends and whanau to come. His mother was in charge of the food and his dad and sister decorated the cake.

The boat trip was the ferry to Tiritiri Matangi. It took about one and half hours. The adventure was bush walks and seeing native birds. We had great guides to tell us all about the island and its population of endangered species. The picnic was outside and there was time for a swim. Tick, tick, tick!

He didn’t ask for good weather but he got that thrown in for free! We saw two ginormous insects, as big as a man’s hand, called wekapunga and lots of special birds like tui, kokako, saddleback, bellbirds, hihi, kereru and takahe. The takahe had a chick. The bush was full of bird song and the sound of cicadas.

As a party treat he gave his friends a copy of ‘A Magpie Collection’. It was a great way to celebrate.

Takahe adult with chick
Korimako – Bellbird
Tīeke – Saddleback

New bird in town – the red footed booby.

Posted on by Liliane Parkinson

In early January 2017 a new bird was spotted amongst the gannets at the Muriwai Gannet Colony near Auckland. News travels fast creating quite a stir amongst local bird watchers and nature photographers. This beautiful intruder became the most photographed bird of the month.

The red-footed booby has never previously been seen on the New Zealand mainland. Two were spotted the previous year near the Kermadec Islands. This species is the smallest of the gannet and booby family and comes in sub-species. The Muriwai visitor has red feet, pale blue bill and black tail and wing markings and is a white morph, more common to the Galapagos Islands than the South Pacific. On February 23rd I had the opportunity to visit Muriwai and see this bird myself. Two days later it was reported gone so I am thanking my lucky stars I got to see it before it left.

As well as getting excellent views of the booby I also managed to get some photos of the adorable, white, fluffy gannet chicks.

Redfooted booby
Gannet chick