The sun has gone for the day and the lighthouse light is flashing.
 From the van window I could see two families of California quail indicating that there was a threat. By following their line of sight I saw the weasel (Mustela nivalis) that was trying to sneak up on them but had already been seen by the birds and had lost the element of surprise. It did make a lunge for one bird, but missed and the bird escaped.
 White-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) making its way among the rushes in search of whatever it can find to eat.
 A solitary chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) braved the wind to pick at seed among the grass.
 Some nice light in between the remaining showers.
 It was a very wet day and this juvenile red-billed gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) was eating the new shoots on the Muehlenbeckia plants.
 The California quail (Callipepla californica) can become quite confiding if they are approached carefully.
 Juvenile grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) live in the shallows of the lagoon. At about 3-4cm there are multiple schools of hundreds of fish around the rocks and along the shoreline. The feed along the sandy substrate and can swim away at great speed when predators threaten.
 This octopus (Octopus tetricus) was sheltering in a slight sand cavity at low tide. Rather than being in a rockpool it was completely open to the sea and was covered by sand several times as waves came in. I took several photos that show it nearly buried in sand but I managed to get this photo when the sand settled and it came out of the hollow during a few minutes of calm.
 The adult black-backed gull (Larus dominicanus, right) had its foot on the food and made it quite clear to the juvenile that it wasn't planning to share this time.
 It was a total lunar eclipse ("Blood Moon") but we only saw the beginning of it.
 I had put some food into the rockpool. The fish (common triplefin, Forsterygion lapillum) were happily eating it when the octopus (Octopus tetricus) quietly reached out with an arm and took it. The fish followed the food as far as they could but weren't able to get it back. The fish showed no fear of the octopus and it showed no aggression towards them. It simply took advantage of the presence of food and benefited by being the larger animal.
 The same migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) that causes problems in some arid countries. In New Zealand it is fairly common in its "solitary phase" but it doesn't reach sufficient numbers to transition to the "gregarious phase" and swarm here.
 New Zealand dotterel (Anarhynchus obscurus).
 White-fronted tern (Sterna striata) catching the last of the day's sunlight.
 One of the rabbit family at home in the grassed area between the campground and the estuary. Wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
 Pied shag (Phalacrocorax varius) bathing in the lagoon.
 A young bird that hasn't yet developed the distinctive black markings on the back of its head and neck (Himantopus leucocephalus).
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AuthorThis page highlights one photo from each outing. The subjects will vary - it will be whatever caught my eye or was most special on that day. Categories |
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