ellerykr's Identifications

2 then 4 kereru chasing each other around various trees. they separated, one flew down into blackwoods by bamboo, one flew through and over B's paddocks doing 2 display flights in a row up towards pine trees. one in a poplar by '9 count', 2 went into fruit tree next door...
at least 5 kereru, but maybe more, it's so hard to keep track of who is who when they are flying all over the place, in and out of sight and when they are carrying on like this, others join in so quickly.
one seemed different in colour on neck, different angles, different trees though maybe it was just the lighting and angle

Sighting and photos (c) arisc.
Habitat - Nature Reserve
How many? - 1
Additional comments? - I only saw the one of these. From the ginger-red spot on its cheek this one musy have been a female. It was flitting quite rapidly from tree to tree, investigating branches and trunks presumably for foods. bird itself was probably between 10-15cm in length.
Nest present - No
Behavior - Feeding

Sighting and photos (c) arisc.
Field Notes - There must have been over a dozen of these in the general area of this nature reserve. Although there were fenced off areas, and park rangers were leaving out some food for the animals in this period of drought, I gather these particular animals were free to come and go as they pleased - which I hope qualifies them for submission here as a wild species. I would put these timid creatures at a bit under a meter in height ... maybe 80cm tall would be fairly accurate? Their faces were fairly dark but with a creamy-white stripe. Some had ginger-ish fur around the base of the ears and a few other places. Otherwise, mostly medium-dark grey bodies with a creamier white underbelly. Although clearly interested in the food, all were still extremely wary of humans and looked anxiously in my direction even as I photographed them from perhaps 100m away using a long camera lense.

Sighting and photos (c) arisc.
Habitat - Nature Reserve
How many? - 1
Additional comments? - Only briefly resting on the branches, I was lucky to get what photos I could through the branches. The clear scalloped feather pattern on its underside has me quite confident of the ID despite the poor lighting of the pictures. In one shot it’s eye looks at least almosg blue too. I feel extremely lucky to have seen one of these even so very briefly!
Nest present - No
Behavior - Resting

Sighting and photos (c) arisc.
Habitat - Backyard
How many? - 1
Additional comments? - This handsome lone bird appeared to have some while on it’s rump, at least on the under side of the tail, so I presume I have chosen the correct species. It did not call at all, and was tentatively observant as I took its photo.
Nest present - No
Behavior - Resting