Wednesday, December 13, 2017
SALVIN'S ALBATROSS, PATERSON INLET, STEWART ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND
We can ID this albatross as a Salvin's Albatross by its silver-grey crown; grey face, upper throat and upper mantle; grey-black back, upperwing, and tail; white rump and underparts with a black thumbmark on the underwing and an underwing that is white with narrow black leading and trailing edges and black wings tips. The bill has a pale yellow upper ridge, a yellow tip on the upper mandible and a dark spot on the tip of the lower mandible.
Salvin's Albatross is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 762.
SOUTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS, PATERSON INLET, STEWART ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND
We can ID this albatross as a Southern Royal Albatross by its all white body, head and mantle; upperwings mostly black, but white at the leading edge and some white inboard; huge, pink and hooked bill with a creamy tip; black cutting edge of the upper mandible; white tail and pink legs.
The Southern Royal Albatross is the largest of all albatrosses and is endemic to New Zealand. The nonbreeding and juveniles cross the Southern Ocean to feed in waters off South America. They then return to New Zealand breeding areas by circumnavigating the globe,
The Southern Royal Albatross is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 761.
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
FIORDLAND CRESTED PENGUIN, PATERSON INLET, STEWART ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND, 11/9/2017
We can ID this penguin as a Fiordland Crested Penguin by its short, very stout, orange bill; black head and throat with distinctive yellow eyebrow extending back to become a short plume (see plumes on penguin to left in last photo); whitish cheek patch and dark back and top of flippers.
The Fiordland Crested Penguin is endemic to New Zealand. It currently breeds along the southwestern coast of South Island, as well as on Stewart Island and it's outlying islands.
The Fiordland Crested Penguin is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 760.
SOUTHERN BROWN KIWI, RAKIURA NATIONAL PARK, STEWART ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND
After our boat the "Stewart Island Experience" completed the Pelagic Birding tour (see previous posts) we went on to Rakiura National Park to see if we could sight a Kiwi, which is a nocturnal, flightless bird. We arrived at Little Glory Cove, where the visitor's center is located.
We were broken up into two parties, each with its own guide. During this trek our group encountered a Southern Brown Kiwi several times. We were allowed to take photos, but not use flash. The guide used a red flashlight to see the kiwi, as it didn't seem to bother it too much. Because of this the kiwi appeared pink with a red background around it. We couldn't see the Kiwi's color in the photo, but we could definitely see that it had the shape of a Kiwi.
Visually we were able to ID this bird as a Southern Brown Kiwi by its size, color and markings. The second photo is a stock photo of a Southern Brown Kiwi. The Kiwi we saw was very similar to the one in the second photo.
The Southern Brown Kiwi is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 759.
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