#Orokonui Ecosanctuary

[jontycrane]

Dunedin

One of New Zealand’s original five major cities (along with Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson and Wellington), Dunedin has claim to be the best of them to visit as a tourist. It has it all, a beautiful setting, plenty of heritage, wonderful gardens, native wildlife, great museums, and good places to eat, all in a compact city of ~105,000 people. To start just outside of the city though with Otago…

[herpsandbirds]

Otago Skink (Oligosoma otagense), family Scincidae, Orokonui Ecosanctuary, Dunedin, New Zealand

ENDANGERED

photograph by John Wattie

[todaysbird]

Today's bird is this very bold kākā at Orokonui ecosanctuary!

[zahri-melitor]

Pictures of one of the family takahē groups at Orokonui Ecosanctuary. This set of parents (Waimarie and Bennet) successfully raised two chicks this year, and have a new baby for the 2023/2024 season.

[nzconservationjobs]

Volunteer Coordinator | Ranger – Orokonui Ecosanctuary – Otago

Orokonui Ecosactuary – Te Korowai o Mihiwaka is a community-led, not-for-profit conservation project near Dunedin in the lower part of the South Island of Aotearoa/New Zealand. Established in 2007, the sanctuary manages 307 hectares of coastal Otago forest, encircled by a 9km predator-resistant fence, providing safe habitat for our native wildlife to thrive. Orokonui Ecosactuary is seeking a…

[gracefree]

Tui by GraemeLScott

[thoughtfullycrispygoatee]

http://goo.gl/plM6ud Tui Tui have almost-black heads, underparts, wings and tails that have an iridescent blue and green sheen, especially on the head and wings. The upper back and flanks are dark reddish brown with a bronze sheen, the nape and sides of the neck have filamentous white feathers, and there are two unusual curled white feather tufts on the throat (poi). Small white shoulder patches on the upperwing show prominently in flight, but are usually concealed when perched. The bill and feet are black, and the eye dark brown. http://bit.ly/1Oj9FrY by GraemeLScott

[omglssoctworld]

Tui by GraemeLScott

[ratsandrocknroll]

"I'm going on an adventure!" #nature #naturelover #forest #woods #outdoors #adventures #wanders #exploring #ecosanctuary #orokonui #bushwalk #backpack #wizardstaff #ferns #notallwhowanderarelost #dunedin #nz #newzealand #southislandnz #photography #redhead #fishnets #walkingstick #happyplace (at Dunedin, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs9R_q3llJ0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kjhq2di5pdhx

[awwflycat]

Paulie G -- Haast tokoeka chick moving to Orokonui Ecosanctuary to learn to live outdoors

[anonsally]

Replying to replies from my trip!

Replies are in reverse chronological order... Also, sorry for not replying to these sooner, but the trip was very busy and hectic!

normallyparenthetical replied to your post “Day 15 in New Zealand: Taieri Gorge Scenic Railway”

Fly well and safely tomorrow!

Thanks!! We flew safely, though catching our connection in Auckland was a really close call due to the delay in our Dunedin-Auckland flight. But the important thing is, we made it home safely, as did all of our luggage.

normallyparenthetical replied to your post “Day 14 in New Zealand: Orokonui Ecosanctuary”

Bingo! It sounds like you've had a wonderful trip.

It really was a fabulous trip! Thanks for following along!

lies replied to your post “Day 13 in New Zealand: Otago Peninsula”

Highly r. to my i.! And that’s fascinating about the F/F albatross pair and the same-sex penguin pairs.

Isn’t it?! And you get these anti-marriage-equality jerks saying same-sex marriage is “unnatural”, yet we see it in nature all the time. And albatrosses are monogamous and usually stay with the same mate until one of them dies. 

normallyparenthetical replied to your post “Day 11 in New Zealand: Christchurch and little blue penguins in...”

Penguins! Also, I really liked the Cardboard Cathedral when I was there in December, and respect the way they really lean into it with the merchandise. I was a ring-in on a Catholic music tour, and most of the other tour participants were much less impressed with the "temporary" building.

Penguins! I love them! 

I am not Catholic (at all), but I was interested to see the Cardboard Cathedral because of having seen the ruined cathedral and ... just conceptually. I thought it worked pretty well. It felt light and ... well, it felt like a real church. 

normallyparenthetical replied to your post “Day 13 in New Zealand: Otago Peninsula”

Albatross!

Albatross! :D I had forgotten all about that sketch.

lies replied to your post “Day 12 in New Zealand: Whitestone Cheese factory, Moeraki Boulders,...”

Also agree that your competent-to-incompetent ratio is impressively high for the day. Another accomplishment: providing ongoing much-appreciated bird-related coverage for the benefit of foolish followers on the other side of the world.

Always happy to provide bird-related content for you, @lies!

scribblinaway replied to your post “Day 12 in New Zealand: Whitestone Cheese factory, Moeraki Boulders,...”

I think driving on the left side of the road is a huge accomplishment!

Thanks! I am proud of myself for this, actually. It is really, really hard to orient oneself to the middle of the road when sitting on the other side of the car.

flutish replied to your post “Day 11 in New Zealand: Christchurch and little blue penguins in...”

You're just going from awesome to awesome! I actually didn't end up stopping in Oamaru at all (drove straight through it!), but I saw little blue penguins outside of Melbourne, which was also pretty cool. Are you going to Dunedin/Otago Peninsula and the yellow-eyed penguins there?

The whole trip was awesome! The itinerary was largely planned with penguins in mind. As you presumably know by now, we did indeed go to Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula to see the yellow-eyed penguins! And it’s so sad how threatened they are. But hopefully something can be done. The local population seems pretty committed to trying to protect them.

amarguerite replied to your post “Day 11 in New Zealand: Christchurch and little blue penguins in...”

Omg that sounds like the most adorable thing

They (the little blue penguins) were so, so cute. 

amarguerite replied to your post “Day 10 in New Zealand: swimming with dolphins!”

That sounds incredible!!!

That was a pretty amazing experience even for me on the boat, and was presumably even more intense for the people who swam with the dolphins. 

flutish replied to your post “Day 10 in New Zealand: swimming with dolphins!”

The swimming really is magical (like honestly, top things I've ever done in my life), but it seems like you got to see a lot of other stuff (mating?!) that the swimmers probably couldn't and honestly, they're just so INVOLVED that just being out there is so fun. <3

Well, once the swimmers were back on board the boat did stay out for a while longer so everyone could get photos and watch the dolphins some more. But I couldn’t possibly have swum; I’m not confident enough in the water or with a snorkel, and that is even aside from the issue of the water being so cold (even in a wetsuit).

lies replied to your post “Day 7 in New Zealand: Marlborough Sounds”

This sounds like an amazing day.

Oh, yes, that day on the boat and islands was terrific. 

flutish replied to your post “Day 6 in New Zealand: ferry to Picton!”

Dolphins!!!

Dolphins! I think those (the ones I briefly saw from the ferry) might’ve been a different kind than the ones we saw later in the trip, but I didn’t get a good enough look to know for sure.

flutish replied to your post “Day 5 in New Zealand: Wellington/conference”

Yay yay all of this sounds lovely and I can't wait to hear about your South Island adventures! <3

They were great!

llamapunk replied to your post “At airport!”

I hope there will be a Sock Review at some point!

So, I brought wool and cotton socks for most of the days, and that turned out to be a good thing, because for a while it was warmer than I was expecting and wool would’ve been too warm, but by the end it was definitely too cold for cotton. So it was good I had both options. 8 pairs did not get worn.

flutish replied to your post “flutish replied to your post “Day 2 in New Zealand: Wellington” ...”

I'm glad you're there too and hope you have a fun rest-of-conference! <3

The conference was good, especially once I had given my talk! Most of the people are not analysing their data in ways I necessarily find interesting or convincing, but the questions they’re asking are compelling. So I was glad I went, though I probably could have made more of an effort at networking. 

camillavirgil replied to your post “Day 2 in New Zealand: Wellington”

Hooray!!!

Yay!!!

[stephanocardona]

Bellbird fledgling (3) by psorrell

[hitmewithcute]

This kiwi bird just found the surprise food box in its enclosure and is so excited about it! From the Orokonui Ecosanctuary in New Zealand

[hummingzone]

Fire threatens Orokonui Ecosanctuary

Fire threatens Orokonui Ecosanctuary

Our journalists are your neighbours We are the South’s eyes and ears in crucial council meetings, at court hearings, on the sidelines of sporting events and on the frontline of breaking news. As our region faces uncharted waters in the wake of a global pandemic, Otago Daily Times continues to bring you local stories that matter. We employ local journalists and photographers to tell your stories,…

[gracefree]

Bellbird by GraemeLScott