One Night at Mahakirau Forest Estate

Three Archey’s frogs, five Hochstetter’s frogs, three Coromandel striped geckos, and one forest gecko… all seen in less than a 24 hour period! Whenever we visit Sara and Ro out at Mahakirau Forest Estate, we are always spoilt with wildlife encounters.

The Entomological Society of New Zealand’s Photo Competition: ‘Wonder of the Insect World’

Tom and I recently entered a photography competition put on by the Entomological Society of New Zealand. A family friend of ours, knowing our love for wildlife photography, saw it advertised in the local paper and gave us the article. It was only a couple of days before the closing date, so we both chose two…

The Real Shelob – A Freshly Moulted Tunnelweb Spider

Our Encounter Whilst out on bird counts in Pohangina (Manawatu, New Zealand), Emma and I stumbled across a dead tree which was still standing. Being curious ecologists, we peeled back a large piece of bark. Behind the bark was this wonderful tunnelweb spider. Click to zoom in It had just moulted, displaying its cream cephalothorax…