maia bird's photostream  

Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand

I'm increasing my post rate so I can get through more New Zealand birds. I'm pleased that I got to see so many endemic birds, in contrast to other Pacific destinations such as Hawaii.

The pateke breed only in New Zealand and have declined dramatically. They have been released on the protected island of Tiritiri in an effort to increase their numbers. Releases on the mainland have failed due to predation by introduced cats, dogs and mustelids (stoats).

Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

Habitat: large deep freshwater lakes, including hydro lakes; also coastal dune lakes. Lake Wakatipu is in the Southern Alps and is crystal clear just like in this picture.

Portobello, Otago Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand

I wish I had gotten better portraits, and I should have. This pair in the town of Portobello hung around the general store for handouts. Thus, the BG environment was less than optimum, and the dark-light coloring caused quite an exposure problem!

Marbled Godwit
Huntington Beach, CA

Another life bird!