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I call this collection "Life on The Tawharanui Beach". This was taken the during my free time during my Twharanui day/night tour by @habitat_tours. During this time, I got to do some beachcombing and rockpooling. Note that all organisms caught were safely returned to the rockpools. Organisms featured include: 1. Common flapjack (Carpophyllum maschalocarpum) 2. Red-billed gulls or tarapunga (Chroicocephalus scopulinus scopulinus) 3. Olive anemone or humenga (Isactinia olivacea) 4. Turret shell (Maoricolpus roseus), remains only 5. Brown barnacles or tiotio parāone (Chamaesipho brunnea) 6. Southern creeper (Zeacumantus subcarinatus) 7. Cat's eye snail or ataata (Lunella smaragdus) #animal #animals #brownalgae #algae #seaweed #snail #snails #anenome #anenome #seaanenome #seashells #seashell #seasnail #seasnails #birds #bird #newzealandwildlife #gull #gulls #redbilledgull #cnidarian #beachcombing #beach #rockpooling #rockpools #tidepool #tidepools #catseyesnails #barnacles #barnacle (at Tawharunui Regional Park, Tawharunui) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxEh5iwgv7i/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mwlwx7s0ht5u
Whilst working the other evening I noticed quite a crowd congregating by the rocks. Out of curiosity I walked over to see what all the fuss was about. As I approached, my friend told me there was a penguin just relaxing out on the rocks! This particular one was an erect crested penguin, fairly far from home and its the first sighting of one in Kaikoura since 2007. This was exciting for everyone here, including me. Annoyingly, I didn’t have my camera on me as I was in work, I got very jealous of all the big lenses appearing. Luckily, It was a fairly quiet evening so I clocked off early. I immediately ran home, got my camera and drove back. Thankfully, the little guy was still there and I spent a good 45 minutes snapping away until I couldn’t think of another possible angle. It was lovely to see a rare sighting so close. I then moved on to photograph a spotted shag cleaning it’s wings on a rock.
To top the evening off there was a glorious sunset lighting the sky up with different shades of orange and purple. A friend then spotted a small rainbow coming out of the top of the mountain peak, a perfect evening all round really!
This is a red-billed gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae scopulinus), aka the akiaki or tarapunga, but this time at the Devonport Wharf and the one shown is a juvenile, which looks quite different from an adult having brown spots on the wings and a dark brown bill. I even included a video of where I took the pictures. #seagull #seagulls #gull #gulls #animal #animals #animalia #chordata #birds #bird #biodiversity #newzealandwildlife #nzbirds #seabird #seabirds #redbilledgull #akiaki #aves #charadriiformes #laridae #chroicocephalus #chroicocephalusnovaehollandiaescopulinus #chroicocephalusnovaehollandiae #wildlife #avians #newzealandanimals #feathers #vertebrate #nzanimals #newzealandbirds (at Devonport Wharf) https://www.instagram.com/p/BudVaftA42t/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vtn945n1d7t2
Found some red-billed gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae scopulinus), called the akiaki or tarāpunga in Maori, at the Takapuna Sunday Market. They certainly are different from the gulls back at home. There were more of them on the area, but these were my best photos. Taken on February 24th. #seagull #seagulls #gull #gulls #animal #animals #animalia #chordata #birds #bird #biodiversity #newzealandwildlife #nzbirds #seabird #seabirds #redbilledgull #akiaki #aves #charadriiformes #laridae #chroicocephalus #chroicocephalusnovaehollandiaescopulinus #chroicocephalusnovaehollandiae #wildlife #avians (at Takapuna, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/BudFyOkgxjy/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=y4oe3fu8sbrs
A colony of red-billed gulls greets us with a cacophony of cries at the Royal Albatross Centre. They are sitting on eggs and chicks. It looks chaotic but there seems to be a hierarchy and pecking order.