A Coastal Walk - animals that I see in Pukerua Bay

After writing about the plants of my coastal pathway in my last blogpost, Cyclone Gita blew in. Extraordinarily high seas washed away much of the pathway and deposited massive piles of driftwood on what was left. Plants on the sea side of the path have mostly died, but not all.  I hope they are resilient.

Driftwood covers the path

Taking this path, very occasionally right around to Plimmerton, but usually to the Pukerua Bay Scientific Reserve and back, I've had the privilege of seeing many different animals, some unexpected.

Fur seals make occasional appearances along the coast

It's only recently that I've attempted to photograph them. More often than not I only have my phone camera handy. Photos are a good way to convey an animals features or behaviour to others. We get instant recognition, responding with an "Ah yes that's what I saw on my beach" or "how amazing who knew gulls would do that?"

Tree Weta Encounters - why do they smell? and other questions

I've always felt that wētā, New Zealand's bizarre endemic insects, have an unfair reputation. They seem to bring out the worst in people, who shudder at the thought of touching those feelers and spiky legs. Children are often more curious about insects and bugs and less judgemental. So I happily included a tree wētā in Whose Feet are These? And it's one of the few animals in the book that most children guess right straightaway.

From "Whose Feet are These?" a male weta

Here's some of the things I learned about wētā when I was writing Whose Feet are These? and In the Garden:

Tricked by a Seal - what counts as normal behaviour?

Last weekend at the beach, we saw a fur seal (kekeno) holding one flipper in the air for a long, long time. It's not surprising that some people thought what they were seeing was a dolphin fin, but I recognised this seal pose from a previous encounter.

Seals have tricked me before with their one-flipper pose. A month ago, I saw a seal hold this one-flipper pose for much longer than ten minutes. I began to worry that it was injured. Only after I had called the DOC Hot Line and was speaking to someone there, did it roll over and clap its flippers together as if pleased by the joke.

Seal - thermal regulating

I thought that it must have been having a rest, but a friend explained that what the seal is doing is called thermal regulating. Holding a flipper out of the water helps it either cool down or warm up, depending on the sun and the wind.

Gecko Feet - how do they stick?

In "Whose Feet are These?" I wrote about geckos having 'sticky' feet, which seemed a good way to describe gecko feet for young children. But how exactly are geckos' feet sticky? Here's a photo of the foot of a common or raukawa gecko, doesn't it look amazing!

Raukawa Gecko foot - each gecko species has
a different footprint

Endangered Reef Herons - reporting sightings

Described as Nationally Endangered, there are only 300-500 reef herons left in New Zealand. I'm lucky to live in of the few places that they visit. It's a privilege to be able to watch them down among the rock pools and in the shallows.

Reef Heron showing breeding plumes on its back

Scientists are interested in sightings of this bird and you can report these through iNaturalistNZ or Project Hot Spot (although the focus of the latter is Taranaki). Before you send in a report - here's how to tell the difference between the endangered reef heron and the common white-faced heron. Both are called matuku moana in Māori.

How do you tell the difference between a white-faced heron and a reef heron?

Birds at the Beach - vulnerable and at risk

Red-billed gulls - tarāpunga
Nationally Vulnerable

Solitary stalkers, noisy pairs or squawking flocks - we rather take our shore birds for granted. Gulls in particular seem to be ever present, squabbling over a dead fish on the beach or trying to steal our fish and chips. So it came as a surprise to realise that red-billed gulls (tarāpunga) are considered to be 'nationally vulnerable'. The second surprise was that of all the birds in the bush-clad seaside village of Pukerua Bay, the ones that are under threat are almost all shore birds rather than those that live in the bush.

Return to Rakiura - Kiwi

Rakiura - Stewart Island is a special place, it's wild, it's mostly National Park, it's home to many native animals. Best of all it is one place in New Zealand where you can see kiwi during the daytime.

Kiwi are generally nocturnal, they have poor sight and hunt by smell. It is thought they evolved to be nocturnal to avoid the (now-extinct) Haast's Eagle.  I've heard lots of theories about why Tokoeka (the Stewart Island kiwi species) come out during the daytime as well as at night. One is that the summer nights are so short they also need to feed during the daytime, another that because they live in family groups they all get a different shift off the nest. Whatever the reason it makes this the best place in New Zealand to see kiwi.

On my first trip, I was tantalised by hearing calls at night and, in the morning, a beach covered in footprints.

Kiwi footprints on the beach

Speaking for Science - Book Reviews

- not your usual summer reading, these worthwhile reads clear confusion around some controversial topics.

Shaun Hendy in his compelling Silencing Science (BWB texts) argues that “New Zealanders can’t be complacent. I believe that there are rifts between our scientists, our politicians and the public that put members of our society at risk.” His readable short text (128pp) takes examples from across New Zealand public life - from earthquakes, through folic acid in bread, to food safety scares - and looks at issues such as commercial interests that can silence scientists and the media’s role in communicating science whether it’s during a disaster or in public debate. Having read Silencing Science earlier this year, I was pleased to see two new science books for the general public on potentially controversial topics had hit the bookshops. And I was interested to see whether they might be bridging some of the rifts Shaun Hendy referred to in communicating science to the public.

Visiting the Wildlife Capital of New Zealand - Dunedin

Dunedin lays claim to the title 'Wildlife Capital of New Zealand'. And while I'd like to think Wellington could compete for this title, I have to concede Dunedin has the edge on us. First, there's a concentration of rare native animals across a range of habitats, all within easy reach of the city.  And secondly, the ratio of people to wild animals is much lower here than in Auckland or Wellington. The landscape of hills and harbour dominate the tiny city. This gives Dunedin a sense of being all about the wildlife.

I started my early spring visit to the wildlife capital with a walk along remote Allan's Beach on the Otago Peninsula. At first it could have been any south facing beach in New Zealand on a spring day - a few human footprints in the wide expanse of sand, shrill oyster catchers, rocky headlands at either end. Then as we walked along, the large mounds in the sand came into focus, several pairs of New Zealand sea lions - mothers and pups were dotted along the beach slumbering in the spring sunshine.

New Zealand sea lion - whakahao

The Pitfalls of Monitoring Skinks- our elusive native lizards

Picture this, early morning in summer and a couple of people crouched by the coastal path, wearing knee pads, peering into holes in the ground. No wonder the local dog walkers were suspicious! However they soon got to know who we were and what we were up to. The holes in the ground are pitfall traps of lizards, and we are a group of volunteers working with a lizard scientist (herpetologist) to monitor skinks in our local reserve.

Skink in a pitfall trap (other items removed)

Return to Blue Lake - More Blue Ducks

Last month I returned to Blue Lake. I'd visited the lake a year ago and blogged about it in Trouble In Paradise after witnessing an attempted attack on an endangered blue duck or whio by a rat. I'd told my tramping companions about the blue ducks we'd sighted last time, so we had high expectations of seeing some beautiful whio again - and we were hoping not to have a repeat of the rat incident!

Mountains and clouds reflected in Blue Lake

Geckos and Skinks - what's the difference?

Rare native birds get a good deal of press in New Zealand, but some of our other endangered natives get less attention, particularly the ones that are good at hiding! Often the most you'll see of a skink is a flash of brown as it streaks across a stony path into the grass. And for geckos which are nocturnal the most you might see is a discarded frail white skin.

A flash of brown and it's gone - skinks move fast

Encounters with Toutouwai, the New Zealand Robin

Just how rare are Toutouwai - New Zealand Robins? Until last week I'd only ever seen South Island robins in the wild.  In remote and beautiful places like the Kahurangi National Park and the Waitutu forest, these robins hop trustingly up to trampers, they'd sit on my boot or scratch around on the path that I'd just walked along. But to see a North Island robin (yes they are a little different) I thought I'd have to take a trip to a sanctuary like Mana Island or Zealandia.

So I was blown away to discover these delightful birds living in the wilderness in Whanganui National Park.

Sardine Smoothies Again! Feeding seabirds on Mana Island

Last year I blogged about my volunteer week on Mana Island helping with the Fairy Prion translocation. You'd think the long days, hot sun, and the smell of sardines might have put me off - but when the call came out for volunteers for the second year of this project I couldn't resist the opportunity to put my name forward. I convinced myself that it was a chance to use the skills I'd learned the year before, that the work really hadn't been that hard, the smell of sardines not too bad, and that the sun couldn't surely be as hot again - not in a Wellington January.

Holding one of the new arrivals

Puriri Moths and Caterpillars - a secret to discover in the trees

Female pūriri moth 

It was a magical moment when I first touched the cover of the puriri caterpillar's hole. A soft membrane, like a skin, covers the hole the caterpillar has made. Inside it's turning into a moth. But to the untrained

Geckos in the Spotlight: volunteering on Mana Island

A trip to Mana Island, which is free from mammal predators and pests, is enough to show how incredible the lizard life of ancient New Zealand would have been. Mana is not only free from rats, cats, hedgehogs and stoats; there are also no mice here.

Just in time for the Great Kereru Count - New Book Launched

My favourite place  - the New Zealand bush -  is the topic of my latest book. It's a book for children, informed by many walks in the bush with botanists, bird lovers, and those steeped in bush lore.

Who's In the Garden? my Garden Bird Survey

For a number of years now I've been counting birds as part of the annual Garden Bird Survey. To start with it seemed a bit artificial only counting the birds seen in one hour. But knowing that many birds are visiting, moving from one garden to another, it's a fair approach. What began as a simple survey led me to was to spend more time looking at who was in my garden and when.

Fantails weren't here at survey time this year

A Cool Visit to NIWA's Sea Critter Collection

Ned (illustrator of the 'explore and discover' books) and I were excited to be invited to NIWA along with the wonderful people from the Wellington Storylines Family Day committee. There we met with Sadie Mills, a deep ocean specialist who is in charge of the NIWA Invertebrate Collection.

Sadie telling us about the collection

Beautiful Blue Ducks at Blue Lake - but there is trouble in paradise

The poster in the hut on the Travers-Sabine trail asked for sightings of rare birds and animals - weka, blue duck (Maori name whio, pronounced 'fee-o'), kea, kaka, black-eyed gecko, rock wren. Being observant trampers, it was with high hopes we set off to record sightings. The rushing mountain streams seemed a likely place for whio.  After three days and not a whio whistle, we came to Blue Lake or Rotomairewhenua (land of peaceful waters), surely the highlight of any tramp in this area.

Blue Lake - Rotomairewhenua