Time on Tiritiri
I just spent a few days as a volunteer on the open scientific sanctuary of Tiritiri Matangi, in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf. It has been a trail blazer in an alliance between the NZ Govt Dept. of Conservation, Academic institutions, and the community (including the indigenous Maori) to return a farmed island back to its original native bush state, and to make it a home to breed and study endangered species of both flora and fauna. The island's population of wildlife included the native Takahe, a native dweller of tussock lands of which there are barely birds 360 left; Tuatara a reptile that dates barck 250 million years and precedes the dinosaurs and a lot of other endangered and threatened species.
A lot of these birds live in deep bush, and are coloured to blend into it, so they are hard to isolate and get a decent image of. Here are a couple of images of the Korimako or Bell Bird. They are very small, move erratically and continuously and stick to deep cover generally. On this occasion, I was monitoring the behaviour of the NZ native Korimako (Bell Bird), which has a wonderful melodic sound.
If you open the following link and click on the sound symbol, you will hear an example. When they sing together, they are amazing. https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/bellbird#
All images hand-held, available light
Interloper: the eternal love triangle inaction, as two males (left) vie for the female on the right. The middle one was successful as the two went off together
A male gives me 'the look' as he decides if I am a threat
A Korimako waits its turn to access a water point
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