Kakapo Cam 2026

It's been fascinating checking in on the Kakapo nest cam from time to time these past few days.  

 

AFAIK, this is the first time I've seem them livestreaming a kakapo's nest during breeding season, marking the first time I (and probably many people) have gotten a really decent look at a kakapo over an extended period!  And so far, that's probably as close to seeing one we're likely to get... 

Things that have surprised me:
* 1)  Getting to see their behaviour a bit more - particularly how, in the nest, they spend a lot of time just sleeping, and also just getting to hear their sounds more.

* 2) It's rather bemusing that that kakapo seems rather oblivious to the changing number of eggs in its nest!  Originally there were 3, then 2, and the 1 when the actual chick was about to hatch!

* 3) Also surprising was that, for a critter that's rather "blind" and living in the dark, it's sense of smell was apparently not keen enough to be even mildly perturbed that "humans" had been fossicking around the nest again, and/or even touching all the eggs! WTF?!

* 4) But what takes the cake, is watching the rangers open up the hatch (while kakapo is there!), proceed to grab one of the eggs (while kakapo watches them, protesting loudly like someone gurgling the last dregs from a straw), and yet somehow manage to swap out the egg (and/or maybe remove some more)... BUT, the kakapo then proceeds to act as if nothing had happened!!!   WTF?!   Between 2 + 3, that's crazy!

Birds of Feather - Birding on New Brighton Pier in Strong Winds

This is one of my favourite photos from the other day when we headed out to New Brighton over the long weekend 

I got a whole bunch of footage I'm quite happy with, but what I loved the most from this set was all the photos I got of the seagulls being able to literally hover at a fixed point in space with their wings outstretched, due to the really strong winds out there that afternoon (which seemed to really pick up by the time we were halfway along the pier)

With this particular photo, I'd been taking photos of the gulls just hanging in the air, and then I hear + see this AirNZ jet starting to turn in for a northern approach, so i knew I just had to try and line them both up together in a frame together... somehow! 😂  

Tui at Wellington Botanic Gardens

Didn't have as much luck getting a good photo of the Tui's, despite seeing way more of them (and actually running into one of them first).

This one is one of the better ones. 

Kaka at Wellington Botanic Gardens

Was pleasantly surprised to discover last weekend that Wellington's Botanic Gardens (up the top of the Cable Car) turns out to be quite a bird-watching heaven - with Tui, Keruru, and Kaka all hanging out up there without having to head all the way out to Zealandia!

Here are some of my favourite shots of the Kaka. Reposting from Mastodon for posterity.

(Disclaimer: Slim pickings, as I didn't have my bird lens with me, and it kept hiding in the canopy). 

1) Inquisive kaka with food on its beak - This is perhaps my favourite shots of the bunch

Grey Warbler (Riroriro) - First successful photo

Came home today to the sound of a grey warbler (riroriro) sporadically singing away in a tree. Think I may have finally captured a photo of the elusive bird with the beautiful high-trilling song!

Playing with the exposure, it becomes clear that it has stunning red eyes, confirming its identity. Luckily, everything came together to make this happen today!

 

Spring is Here - Late August Weekend of Daffodils and Birding

The weather's been a nice and balmy 20-22 C this weekend here this weekend - perfect weather to get out and about to enjoy the daffodils and some bird stalking!

Seagulls up Close

A few weeks ago, I had a lovely walk around the CBD for the first time in ages. Along the way, I found a nice shady spot on the riverbank to sit and watch a flock of gulls preening, sleeping, and otherwise doing a whole lot of interesting things you don't often get to see them doing. For instance, who would've known that aside from squaking aggressively and trying to steal your lunch, these things can also look kindof cute - especially when they stand on one leg looking like a moggy with a bad case of fleas!

From certain angles, there's a bit of cuteness in there... Somehow, this shot reminds me of Piper. (I think it might be the rounded head and the placement of the two dot-like eyes on there that does it)...

Seagulls vs Waves Clip

Keeping with the theme of "fan-art" of sorts, here's a little video I put together from footage I shot while out a Sumner beach on Saturday afternoon...



From the video's description:

A pair of seagulls hunting for food along Sumner Beach, between the receding tides. Filmed yesterday during a relaxing stroll along the shoreline out at Sumner, after a great lunch. The sea yesterday looked as I've never seen it - the water level was really high, and the waves just kept coming in thick and fast.

The scene reminded me a lot of Pixar's amazing short film "Piper" (showing in front of Finding Dory). It's one of my absolute favourite shorts! Great story, wonderful animation, amazing rendering, and OMG cuteness overload!

While this shaky phone-cam (at reduced resolution to save disk space) doesn't hold a candle to that, this clip is still very much in the same spirit!

The soundtrack here is a little track I recorded specially for this footage. It's done using the "Violin Layering" techniques I've been playing around over the past month of so - basically, I recorded the first pass of the music watching the video (via my phone), and then worked on recording extra tracks for it while keeping in mind the general mood I was going for (in addition to the key beats of the clip). It's not quite 100% there yet, but as a first attempt at doing this, I'm overall happy with the results!

"Piper" Review - Finding Dory Short

I decided to pull this one out into its own post, as it kind of deserves it IMO...



Birds. Macro Photography. Shallow DOF. Awesome Renders. Entertaining + Creative Animation and Sound Effects. Pixar. Fluff-ball Cuteness Overload!

This is one of the best little shorts I've seen. I really, really, really love it! It's just soo adorable, and features a lot of my favourite things.

RIP - The Fallen Silvereye

Sometimes, nature can be quite savage and cruel, reminding us all just how fragile life really is. Just over an hour ago, I watched in horror as a silvereye fell out of the tree and onto the cold hard concrete less than a metre away from where I stood. Out of nowhere, there was a rustling of leaves overhead, and then all of a sudden, there was a chaotic ball green-grey wings and feathers flailing around on the ground, frantically tossing and turning (in what I presume was shock) before rolling onto its back, legs twitching, and taking its last gasps of air.

Travis Wetland Park

After hearing about the Travis Wetland Heritage Park for years, I finally visited it for myself on Saturday. It was a really nice warm day, with a gentle breeze blowing, making this a really nice visit. If you're at all keen on seeing birdlife up close, this is definitely a place to check out! It's got pukekos roaming around all over the place, like, literally, just idling strolling along beside picnic tables, and so on. There are also swans, paradise ducks, big ducks, small ducks, some geese/waterfowl, and many more that didn't show their faces that day...

Oh, and for some reason, there were quite a lot of sheep around... a lot. I'll definitely be back again, but hopefully with a longer lens next time ;)

The Big Year (2011) - Film Review

So, this evening I ended up watching the film - The Big Year - that was playing on TV tonight. This was a comedy film released in 2011 about the three competitive bird watchers competing to see who can sight the most different species in a year.

 Source: IMDB