Australia: Last but not Least - The Birds

Within hours of arriving in Australia I had seen birds that I had never seen before and over the holiday I saw many that I had never photographed before.  So far as I am aware only a few of the birds (The Darter, the Little Pied Cormorant and the Crimson Rosella) appear in New Zealand. 

 Red Wattle Bird

 Pied Currawong

 Darter

 Yellow Crested Cockatoo

 Ibis

                                  Little Pied Cormorant, Little Shag or Kawaupaka 

 Noisy Miner

 Currawong

 Kookuburra

 Magpie Lark (Peewit or Peewee)

 Australian Pale-Yellow Robin

Crimson Rosella

 Australian King Parrot

 Lyre Bird

 Black Cockatoo

 Australian Rainbow Lorikeet

Australian Honeyeater

Being a Tourist in Sydney: Centennial Park

Centennial Park is a large public, urban park that occupies 220 hectares in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.   The Park forms part of the larger Centennial Parklands which comprises about 360 ha.  Two of the most interesting things for me were the lakes and the variety of water fowl and birds and the immense colony of grey-headed flying fox bats.  These are endemic to the south-eastern forested areas of Australia.  It is the largest bat in Australia with adults having an average wingspan up to 1 m (3.3 ft) and weighing up to 1 kg (2.2 lb). The head and body length averages 253 mm (10.0 in).

One of the things about blogging is the reading that one does when looking up things bout which one is writing.  In this case I became fascinated by the bats because in the evening the sky over parts of Sydney is absolutely filled with these huge creatures as they migrate from their roosts to their eating places - they eat fruit and flowers.  The bats of Sydney even have their own website (perhaps I should say a website devoted to them to be correct).

Immature Moorhen

 Hardhead Duck (back) and Wood Duck (front),   

Australian Wood Duck

Black Swans

Moorhen

Hard Head Duck

Black Swan

Cormorants

Darter

Pied Cormorant

Darter and Pied Cormorant

Ibis

Pied Cormorant nesting colony

Grey Headed Fox Bat (Fruit Bat)

Grey Headed Fox Bat

Grey Headed Fox Bat

I Love Gannets

A Journey to Cape Kidnappers

Having lived near Napier for every summer since 2005 I am ashamed to think of the number of local attractions to which I have not been [Thanks Winston to those of a grammatical bent].  One such attraction is the gannet colonies at Cape Kidnappers.  I remedied this omission last Thursday with a trip with Gannet Beach Adventures.  The company operates tractor pulled trailers along the shore from Clifton the 7 or so kilometres along to the end of the Cape from whence one can walk the further kilometer or two up to the headland and the principal gannet colony.  There is lots to see and lots to learn about the birdlife and the stunning and important geology of the area from the knowledgeable driver/guides who also provided lots of fun for the young and old alike.

Cape Kidnappers was so named after an attempt by local Māori to abduct the servant of a member of Captain Cook's crew aboard HMS Endeavour, during a landfall there on 15 October 1769.  The crew member was Tiata, a Tahitian accompanying Cook's interpreter Tupaia. Cook's journal states that Tiata was in the water near Endeavour when a Māori fishing boat pulled alongside and dragged him aboard. Sailors from Endeavour′s deck immediately opened fire on the fishing boat, killing two Māori and wounding a third. Tiata promptly jumped overboard and swam back to Endeavour, while the remaining Māori paddled their craft back to shore. A 4-pounder cannon was fired after them from Endeavour′s quarterdeck, but the Māori boat was soon out of range.  Cook described the cape as having steep white cliffs on either side, with two large rocks resembling hay stacks near the headland.

I have been trying to imagine what the UK's Health and Safety people would say.

We are off along the coastline - the journey has to be timed to take account of the tides

We all set off.  Adrain would hate this but, in reality, everyone dispersed very quickly

The Cape's tip with the Ranger's House in its isolated splendour

The path to the Cape head and the gannet colony

The last leg

Looking back from near the top the tractors are on the beach furthest away from where I am taking this photo

The Colony

The return journey starts here

Looking at the Cape from the end of the walk

That's all for this post.  There's still the gannet pictures and the geology to come.  Soon.