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Ulva Island trip - lots of birds
Stewart Island has a huge bay on its east side, and in the middle of that bay is Ulva Island, a nature preserve. In the mid 90s, the Department of Conservation began working to get rid of all the predators on the island (mostly rats). It took five years, and now that the island is predator-free, they have been bringing birds there. New Zealand orginally had only a few species of mammals, all of them bats, so the birds in New Zealand all became fat, slow, and stupid (the wording of the Auckland Museum -- I'm not quite that rude in talking about birds!). Many native species of birds are dying out because of feral cats, possums, rats, and stoats (like a weasel) that have been imported to NZ. Islands like this one are an attempt to create a place where native birds can flourish. There were signs asking us to check our bags to make sure we weren't bringing rats to Ulva Island. I've never had a rat in my purse before, but I guess there's always a first time. In the first picture below, Ulva is the long narrow island beyond the round island in the foreground.
Dave is waiting for the boat to go to Ulva.
Eric and Ngaire Hind were also with us on the trip to Stewart Island. Eric and Ngaire did a sabbatical in Seattle in 1982, and when we visitied NZ in 2001, a friend in Seattle connected us with Ngaire and Eric. Dave and Eric spent five days fishing together in 2001, and it's great to see them again.
I'm standing on the highest point on Ulva Island. A hundred years ago all the mail for Stewart Island was delivered to Ulva Island, and the postmaster would hoist a flag on this high point to let people know the mail was in. They would all dress in their best clothes and come to Ulva for social interaction. We saw some cool pictures of people coming to get their mail. No one lives on the island now.
There are tons of beautiful ferns, many species I've never seen before.
The bird below is called a weka. It is flightless. Dave wanted me to post this particular picture (I took about 10 pictures of this bird because I loved the color of its feathers) because it shows the shadow of my head, which gives you an idea of how big the bird is and how friendly it was. Later when we stopped for a snack, a weka came over hoping for a handout.
Below is a spotted shag, related to a cormorant. (Note added on October 28: based on an exhibit of stuffed birds in the Southland Museum, I now think this is a pied shag.) New Zealand has thirteen species of shags. We watched this fellow fishing in the shallows. We'd never seen a cormorant fishing in shallow water. He swam around like a fish, amazingly quick and agile. Dave thinks he was swimming 20 miles an hour for 20 yards under water before coming up for air. (Dave just said that he had never seen a bird swimming as fast as a fish, but he guesses they would have to swim that fast to catch fish.)
Below is a kaka, which looked to me like a cross between a parrot and a raptor. We saw several of them in the forest on Ulva Island, and then when we returned to Stewart Island, we saw some at the home of some people from the church. The two kakas appeared on their deck and ate peanuts out of the hands of our hosts.
Dave says these oystercatchers look just like the ones in the US. They have bright orange beaks and eyes, and pink legs.
Dave is waiting for the boat to go to Ulva.
Eric and Ngaire Hind were also with us on the trip to Stewart Island. Eric and Ngaire did a sabbatical in Seattle in 1982, and when we visitied NZ in 2001, a friend in Seattle connected us with Ngaire and Eric. Dave and Eric spent five days fishing together in 2001, and it's great to see them again.
I'm standing on the highest point on Ulva Island. A hundred years ago all the mail for Stewart Island was delivered to Ulva Island, and the postmaster would hoist a flag on this high point to let people know the mail was in. They would all dress in their best clothes and come to Ulva for social interaction. We saw some cool pictures of people coming to get their mail. No one lives on the island now.
There are tons of beautiful ferns, many species I've never seen before.
The bird below is called a weka. It is flightless. Dave wanted me to post this particular picture (I took about 10 pictures of this bird because I loved the color of its feathers) because it shows the shadow of my head, which gives you an idea of how big the bird is and how friendly it was. Later when we stopped for a snack, a weka came over hoping for a handout.
Below is a spotted shag, related to a cormorant. (Note added on October 28: based on an exhibit of stuffed birds in the Southland Museum, I now think this is a pied shag.) New Zealand has thirteen species of shags. We watched this fellow fishing in the shallows. We'd never seen a cormorant fishing in shallow water. He swam around like a fish, amazingly quick and agile. Dave thinks he was swimming 20 miles an hour for 20 yards under water before coming up for air. (Dave just said that he had never seen a bird swimming as fast as a fish, but he guesses they would have to swim that fast to catch fish.)
Below is a kaka, which looked to me like a cross between a parrot and a raptor. We saw several of them in the forest on Ulva Island, and then when we returned to Stewart Island, we saw some at the home of some people from the church. The two kakas appeared on their deck and ate peanuts out of the hands of our hosts.
Dave says these oystercatchers look just like the ones in the US. They have bright orange beaks and eyes, and pink legs.
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