andrewpughnewzealand's Identifications

At first I thought the swallows in this unusual pic were dead. They seemed lifeless and their sprawled posture suggested they had either flown hard into the side of this building at Berwick Camp or been poisoned! But it turns out they were sunbathing. Sprawled and fluffed to maximise exposure these birds were using the natural sauna of the north facing sheet steel building to bake themselves dry after getting a soaking fetching insects off a nearby pond. Shortly after this photo was taken they flew away and did it all over again!

The grebes I have been following now have eggs. It is difficult to see into the nest but they have at least two eggs on which they're taking turns sitting.
Interestingly the other grebes in the area took a great deal of interest in my careful approach (wading) to the nest from the water side, staying extremely low in the water, to try to reduce my visual impact and their alarm. These other birds (which feature in most of these pictures) approached quite close and seemed to be trying to distract/lure me away from the nest area while the parents themselves stayed on and near the nest. I have not read any accounts of grebes behaving in such a defensive social manner before so I don't know if this is unusual or commonly observed behaviour.
After nearly two hours in the water moving very slowly I was finally able to get close enough to the hidden nest to get a few "through the branches" shots without the parents becoming disturbed, but was unwilling to push the birds by attempting to get closer as I did not want to run the risk of them abandoning the nest.

The little scenic reserve in Kaituna Valley is thick with tree nettle (Urtica ferox) the food species for kahukura (red admiral) caterpillars. One of these shots shows a kahukura on nettle, the other two show the same butterfly on blackberry leaves.Note the very battered and aged appearance of this butterfly.

Sinclair Wetlands at Berwick in between Lakes Waipori and Waihola are a birders paradise and a prime example of how one person with dedication can make a huge difference for conservation. On this day the wetlands were teeming with grey warbler chasing insects among the numerous shrubs in flower including kanuka in spectacular display

At first I thought the swallows in this unusual pic were dead. They seemed lifeless and their sprawled posture suggested they had either flown hard into the side of this building at Berwick Camp or been poisoned! But it turns out they were sunbathing. Sprawled and fluffed to maximise exposure these birds were using the natural sauna of the north facing sheet steel building to bake themselves dry after getting a soaking fetching insects off a nearby pond. Shortly after this photo was taken they flew away and did it all over again!

This was my favorite new little beast from today's wander.
It only about 5mm long.
I guess the people wandering by were wondering what I was doing crawling round in the grass chasing this little guy. :)