Wildlife special - Zealandia!
This is Wellington's ecosanctuary. It's been created in a valley that housed Wellington's first resevoir. We had a wonderful day here, watching and listening for wildlife.
Our first `spot' was a female brown teal (pateke) - they are
rare but are getting established within the sanctuary.
We spent quite some time watching these delightful ground birds, the takahe, thought to be extinct until 1948. There are 3 at Zealandia. Puffin and T2 were thought to be too old to reproduce but a chick hatched in December. Father Puffin is in the foreground.
The reserve is a mix of bush and beautiful views.
These photos are of a tuatara, it was about 9 inches long and very obliging....it was there when we walked up the reserve and in a slightly different position when we came back. Tuatara are reptiles that were roaming the earth at the same time as dinosaurs 60 million years ago - amazing! James M should look them up !
Mark thinks they should have been deployed to sort out the Orks in `Lord of the Rings'!
We then walked up to the upper dam and came across this New Zealand falcon surveying the forest for his lunch.
There are also rare and ancient insects like these tree weta...
...and some pretty butterflies
Overall, a super place to visit. There's a free bus to the top of the Wellington cable car which takes you back into the centre of town.
This final shot is from the cafe...this restored boathouse has a display about the creation of the resevoir in the 1870s.
Our first `spot' was a female brown teal (pateke) - they are
We spent quite some time watching these delightful ground birds, the takahe, thought to be extinct until 1948. There are 3 at Zealandia. Puffin and T2 were thought to be too old to reproduce but a chick hatched in December. Father Puffin is in the foreground.
The reserve is a mix of bush and beautiful views.
These photos are of a tuatara, it was about 9 inches long and very obliging....it was there when we walked up the reserve and in a slightly different position when we came back. Tuatara are reptiles that were roaming the earth at the same time as dinosaurs 60 million years ago - amazing! James M should look them up !
Mark thinks they should have been deployed to sort out the Orks in `Lord of the Rings'!
We then walked up to the upper dam and came across this New Zealand falcon surveying the forest for his lunch.
There are also rare and ancient insects like these tree weta...
...and some pretty butterflies
Overall, a super place to visit. There's a free bus to the top of the Wellington cable car which takes you back into the centre of town.
This final shot is from the cafe...this restored boathouse has a display about the creation of the resevoir in the 1870s.
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