Wednesday 16 December 2009

Ocean Beach

At the end of The Heads we came to Ocean Beach.  I know this  may sound silly but it reminded me of some of the fabulous beaches in the Western Isles of Scotland with one very significant difference - it was warm!  The other differences were, of course, the flora and fauna of the area.  


I have seen Yellowhammers in the area where I live but have never been able to photograph one nor see them in the trees.  This one flew into a tree down by the beach but I spotted it and, thanks to the fabulous lens on the Sony, I managed to photograph it.   It was a long way off but the photo is good enough to confirm the identification.


I'm fairly certain that this is a Glade Copper (Lycaena feredayi complex) because of its heavy markings although it could be a Common Copper/Pepe Para Riki (Lycaena salustius complex).  The problem is that the South Island Common has heavy markings whereas the North Island has much lighter ones.  Whatever, I can be certain that it's a Copper.


And who would have expected wild sweet peas in the dunes above the shore?

4 comments:

  1. Love the colours in that beach view at the top!

    And beautiful buttefly shot...

    Glad you're happy with your new camera; seems you made good use of it on this weekend trip! :)

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  2. Great shot of that butterfly. I can see the hairy little body of that copper!

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  3. It's so nice to see an ocean, even in pictures. These photos are great!

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  4. That camera of yours is better than binoculars! Glad you could identify the bird. And isn't the colour of that little sweet pea glorious?

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