Lake of the Blag Shags: A Few Faces From Whanganui’s Virginia Lake

If you are ever in Whanganui (North Island, New Zealand), make sure you take a wander around Virginia Lake. We headed out there for a walk a few weeks ago and took some snaps of the birdlife we saw. We’ll share those photos with you in today’s post along with a few key facts. The…

The Ducks Who Surf Rapids: New Zealand’s Endangered Whio

A Caravanning Trip in the Rain Despite the weather forecast promising us a very rainy weekend, nothing was going to deter us from heading out. Mum and Dad’s caravan was stocked with the essentials, mine and Tom’s cameras were packed, we all had our raincoats and gumboots, so off we set up the windy Parapara…

New Zealand’s Largest & Heaviest Native Moth

Click to zoom in There are many names for the largest native moth in New Zealand, and much can be gleaned from a name… The Pūriri Moth (Aenetus virescens) One of the grub’s main host trees is the pūriri tree (Vitex lucens) hence a common name being the pūriri moth. The Ghost Moth Ngāti Kahungunu (the Māori iwi…

A New Zealand Summer Migrant: The Elusive Shining Cuckoo

A Familiar Noise Most, if not all of those that have spent time outdoors in New Zealand’s summer, will recognise this noise: Weep weep weep weep weep woooooop (click to listen).  Few of these people, however, will have actually seen the creature that belts out this long, repetitive whistling tune.  The reason for this is perhaps down…

A New Zealand Category I Threatened Species: The Flightless Spiny Longhorn Beetle

A Night at Bushy Park Sanctuary Tom and I joined our friend and natural history curator of the Whanganui Regional Museum, Mike Dickison, and fellow naturalist, Lisa, for a night out at Bushy Park light-trapping for insects. Whilst waiting for the trap to draw in the local residents, we took a stroll along one of…