Archiv der Kategorie: Zoology

Back at Muriwai the chicks have hatched and are white little balls of feathers. The adults are busy regurgitating food and quarelling with one another. Not much else has changed, it is a bit warmer and Lorna has finally arrived. … Weiterlesen →

Part of the fun of walking alongside the beaches is that everyday brings something new, a new shell, a piece of kelp, rests of a dead fish or in this case a couple hundred small portuguese manowars, the hydrozoan colonies … Weiterlesen →

Just when you thought that Australian invasive possums in New Zealand where a pretty bad thing, one comes across this little creature (Lampona cylindrata or Lampona murina) peacefully lumbering across the board floor of our house. Although it looks pretty … Weiterlesen →

Today we had a surprise guest in our yard, a miniature praying mantis. I’ve always been fond of them, maybe because of the never drawn Gary Larson comic with a mantis coming into a singles bar with his decapitated head … Weiterlesen →

Gannets (Morus serrator) on a stack. The Gannet Colony at Muriwai Beach, just north of the Waitakeres, icludes about 1,200 pairs of adult gannets that nest here each summer and make a lot of noise. Apart from birds pestering other … Weiterlesen →

„By the wind sailor“, Velella velella On our visits to Piha and Karekare we came upon a lot of miniature sailboats washed upon the beach. Some of them lay drying in the sun, others turned in circles on the edges … Weiterlesen →