"Well, Goodbye!” Kuaka, Bartailed Godwit and Karoro, Black-backed Gull
Sun rays.
Today this novice kayaker braved the reach just north of the footbridge — a 20 minute paddle upstream from the vehicle entrance.
I went as far as the Pied Shag colony, wrangling kayak, paddle and waterproof camera and trying to not drift into the tangle of trees where the birds roost.
Several birds were standing around on low branches, just above the water, and amazingly they didn’t move as I floated near. I could just about have reached out and touched some of them. As NZ Birds Online says:
Unlike most other shag species, the pied shag is reasonably confiding, allowing close approach when roosting or nesting in trees.
Luckily those living nearby seem to tolerate the birds. Although the shags could be implicated in the frequently high E. Coli levels as measured at the footbridge, I think most locals wouldn’t want to see them go from our river.
During the recent population expansion in central New Zealand, pied shags have established colonies in trees adjacent to peoples’ homes. The noise and smell of such colonies has resulted in a few nesting trees being felled.
With the birds so close, and staying put, I was able to grab several photos I’m willing to put on the site here. Maybe one day I’ll be able to sort settings out on my camera so the background blurs more. All those tree branches make quite a complicated background for the birds.
Update, 24 December 2022. This post originally just linked to another of my blogs, now defunct. I've move the post to here.
I want 2018 to be a year of renewal for me.
- I've signed up for a Te Reo Māori course at Te Wananga o Aotearoa: Te Ara Reo Māori (He Pī ka Pao).
- I'll be attending Rachel McAlpine's Summer Writing School later in January.
- I'm experimenting with Micro.Blog to encourage me to write more often.
- I've installed Bear app for Notes, shopping lists and daily schedules and maybe other writing tasks. Update: I moved on from Bear after a year or two.
- I'm working on figuring out what I want out of life and how to get it.
- I'm reviving an old business in a new form: Zapp.Pro aims to help locals with their Apple products. Update: that didn't last long…
Matuku Moana, White-faced Heron on Waikawa Stream.
A kayak’s great: you can get quite close.
Deep in the red
The tip of the black arrow in the picture below — that's where we live.
When I check the NIWA Drought Index today though, I see we're still actually in the deep red.
A fresh start in 2018. In which I stop posting on my nearly 20 year old WordPress blog and take up at Micro.blog.
Excited that at last our swan plants have Monarch Butterfly caterpillars!
Water issues a fluid topic in Horowhenua
Egads, but there's a lot to talk about with water in Horowhenua. The Horowhenua Chronicle issue Wednesday, 10 January 2018:
- Front page top: Lake Horowhenua's poor health.
- Front page bottom: Council looks at improving district's water supply.
- Page 4: Levin water restrictions.
- Page 5: Level 2 water restriction in Foxton.
- Page 7: Bacteria warnings for swimming spots.
- Page 8: Online tool gives water quality for 80 sites.
- Page 11: Council ad about Level 3 water restrictions.
- Page 19: Classified ad about water restrictions in Foxton and Foxton Beach.
Dog walk at Ōtaki estuary for a change. 🐶
Bought myself a UE Megaboom Bluetooth speaker. First impression of sound: WOW!
Kea gyms!
Smart birds…
A kea gym offers the birds several objects they can play with or take apart to distract them from danger or causing damage.
Kea were caught shifting road cones at the Homer Tunnel.
DOC partnerships ranger Sue Streatfield said the idea to establish a gym at Homer Tunnel in Fiordland came after rangers were looking for a way to get kea away from the road.
Specially astonishing is that this isn’t the only gym for kea:
In Nelson, kea gyms had been established to help distract the birds from damaging forestry equipment and in Arthur’s Pass, a gym had been installed to lure birds away from the busy road.
A gym had also been installed at the Manapouri power station at West Arm to stop the birds from damaging vehicles in the car park, Streatfield said.
Update, 13 May 2023 — I noticed I hadn’t linked to the article these quotes and image came from. Now rectified: Roadcone-moving kea get gym to distract them away from traffic | Stuff.co.nz. And to know more about these mischievous native parrots see Kea | New Zealand Birds Online.
2018 may become the year of renewal for me. Experimenting with new apps, new approaches, new plans. 🐥
Earthquake or wind gusts?
The trouble with this wind is not being sure whether the house is shaking because of the wind gusts or an earthquake. 〰️
This one turned out to be an earthquake.
26mm rain to 06 January 2018
26mm rain to 06 January 2018 is a start. Now we'd like some more please, as this won't have broken the drought.
It’s so frustrating to buy an iTunes movie, connect to a neighbour’s projector for a relaxing evening, and be told the movie is protected and won’t play! The solution is here: macintoshhowto.com/movies/watch-protected-movie-data-projector-itunes.html