#me when there are pukekos

[ciciciron]

I wish I had known I got a speeding ticket before I bought that pin machine but it's paying for itself still in my opinion

[thefreckledsika]

Hello.

Do you like old idiot dragons?

his name is Grandpappy Pukeko he has 12 great-grandchildren (that he knows of) and has dementia. He is convinced arena fights are still a thing and sits at the empty arena complaining about no fighting, when someone will die, or that he cant see..

"Whats your name again? Wait youre not my grandson"

"When are they gonna kill eachother?" grandpa theyre not fighting theyre pulling the weeds "Well tell them to go hit eachother! I didnt pay for this seat for nothin!"

"I cant see anything from up here! Son, tell me whos fighting who?" grandpa those are rocks.. "Are they now? Well throw them at someone! Go smack someone! I need to see someone hit someone!"

[strawbebearts]

Pokemon Challenge 2024! #1037 Spookeko.

Spookeko evolves from Pooky, and is a Ghost/Grass type. You can't tell so well with his ghostly blue glow, but unlike their children adult pukeko are quite colourful. There's no logical reason for him to be a Ghost type, except that I was spitballing pukeko puns when my six year old said "Spookeko!" and that was way better than anything else I was coming up with. It also works for me because contrary to their cute appearance, pukeko are predators and will catch smaller birds and tear their heads off - my wife used to work for the bird rescue where they had a semi-domesticated pukeko (called Pooky!) who just left sparrow heads lying around his enclosure like horrible home decor. He would also make this exact pose when he was threatening the volunteers (shortly before charging and attacking their ankles with his surprisingly sharp beak). She had to wear thick jeans and steel-capped boots to defend against that little fucker.

Find the rest of the Te'Roa set in my master post!

[j-crow]

how've you been lately dawg 🤔🤔

in the trenches /j

yapping you didnt ask for incoming:

surprising from what you might think of me but ive been really good lately!!

i love the retj fandom but that shit got so miserable and overwhelming and convoluted that i just. gave up on trying to go back. im much happier staying off discord :D

actually i needed a reason to rant about this but oh my god??? i literally NEVER used to be that upset all the time pre-retj discord server. like the version of me in your head is probably SO inaccurate to how i actually am because i am NEVER that upset all the time

like yeah i get really upset sometimes but when i had discord??? WHY WAS I SO SUICIDAL?????

so the conclusion that ive come up with is that discord literally gave me mental illnesses and like. yeah that makes sense actually 😭😭

besides that ive been good besides the constant appearance of a wlw situationship in my life 😞😞

also dont if you ever noticed but i had a crush on your ex 💀💀 (tbf there were some EXTREMELY mixed signals imo) we’re not talking anymore tho

uhhh ive gotten new interests (house md my beloved <33 stupid fucking gay doctors) and read a terrifying amount of fanfiction (probably over 100 fics read the past 2 months not including the 100k+ one im reading rn???? dont bully me pls i know im chronically online 💔💔)

ive been trying to draw more as well but i suck ass at human anatomy and have ultimately decided to just draw animals for the rest of my life atp

also ive been playing the new pokemon tcg game and my entire coding class is literally obsessed with it 😭😭 (me flexing)

also been playing pokerogue!! its fun but i get unreasonably angry when my pokemon die 😭😭

ANYWAYS HOUSE MD!!!!!!!! medical malpractice show 10/10 would recommend watching‼️‼️ ive gotten so many spoilers because my short attention span cant handle more than two episodes a day and im stuck on season one 😭😭

WILSON!!!!!! my definitely gay husband who looks way too fondly at his best friend of ten years to be straight and has had three divorces (canon btw) exploding him with my mind 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

still obsessed with birds as you might be able to tell 😭😭 blog name actually comes from a piece of art your ex gave to me (gatekeeping sorry) it said “the c in jc stands for crow” and i ran with it

thats u btw /j (thats an australasian swamphen chick also known as a pukeko chick!!! look them up theyre terrifying)

personally one of my favorite photos of them

anyways i still like hamilton and epic the musical surprisingly and i think i can almost recite the entirety of nonstop and the room where it happens (so impressive i know)

and retj my beloved and beloathed </33 so terribly detrimental for my health but im glad i went through that shit tbh

also crazy that its almost christmas??? its christmas eve wtf i forgot

im also working on a 3d animation project with some friends!!! its due sometime in february and im praying i get into nationals for the competition 🙏🙏 i have a backup if the animation fails horribly but my friends dont so!!!! gotta work hard so we all can go to florida and do some tomfoolery

thats about it i think???? unless you want to hear about my school life for whatever reason (im happy to yap about coding but dont ask me about anything else 😭😭)

hope you’ve been well dude!! :D

found this deep in my camera roll 😭😭

[jerryriganims]

If you don’t mind me asking why is it that you hate Harvey? I, too, am a Harvey hater however I wanna know why you don’t like him

- (pukeko anon) 🐥

ugly fuck and so so plain. i've never romanced him and i never will. i cant stress enough that he is just ugly. yeah, he's got fanart and mods that do him well n stuff, but the ppl who actively fight over the fact that hes 'actually attractive' need to snap out of it damn! idk where people get the idea that he's a rugged 6"5 Pedro pascal with a chiseled jaw and 9 inch peener. he is a shrimp. 5"7 on a good day, oval baby face, with a thinning hair comb-over. smells likes a microwave. i jsut dont like him.

you cannot tell me this is attractive or cute.

this is a hamster, gene spliced with a horse, then turned into a human by a 14 y/o girl on deviantart.

thank you for the WELL NEEDED rant pukenon

ok im editing this now that im less hate-pilled, harvey is ok, i like it when ppl make him hotter in fanart, in game, i avoid him and make fun of him. he is good in sharvelliot

[megan-loves-surveys]

#57. Longest survey part 3...

— Favourites —

Accent: Scottish.

Age you’ve been: 21.

Album: Oh so many, but if I had to pick one, then Five's debut album.

Animal: Cats <3

App: YouTube.

Artist/Painter: None.

Band: Blue or Five.

Bar/Club: I don't go to them so I don't know.

Bird: Pukeko!

Body part on preferred sex: Arms and ass lol.

Book Series: Weather Warden series.

Boys Name: Nathaniel.

Brand: Converse.

Candy/Sweet: Gummy lollies and those chalky ones.

Car Brand: Dodge Viper.

Celebrity (female): Cheryl Cole.

Celebrity (male): Jon Moxley xD

Character (book): Joanne from the Weather Warden series.

Character (movie): Jack Sparrow from POTC.

Character (TV): Penny from Big Bang Theory.

Character (other): Dunno.

Children’s Game: Um...

Children’s TV Show: Sesame Street.

Chocolate Bar: Hersheys Cookies & Cream.

Class in School: Computers/IT.

Coffee Franchise: Starbucks.

Colour: Purple.

Colour Combination: Purple & blue.

Crystal/ Gemstone: Ruby.

Day of the Week: Saturday.

Decade: 2000's.

Destination: New York City.

Dog Breed: Corgi.

Drink: Water.

Fabric: Cotton.

Farm animal: Anything cute.

Fast food restaurant: KFC.

Flag: US flag.

Food: Mac & cheese.

Fruit: Banana.

Gadget: My phone or my laptop.

Game (board): Monopoly.

Game (card): Last Card.

Game (video/computer): Pokemon in general.

Gift received: My kitten.

Girls name: May.

Hobby: Watching wrestling.

Holiday: Christmas.

Home lives in: My current one.

Hotel chain: Dunno.

Hymn: None.

Icecream flavour: Cookies & cream.

Jan/hJey flavour: ????

Job you’ve had: My current job.

Language: Japanese.

Late night TV show: None.

Live performer: Ayumi Hamasaki.

Lucky number: 13.

Magic trick: Dunno.

Manga: None.

Memory: LOADS.

Morning activity: Sleeping xD

Movie genre: Action or comedy.

Movie series: POTC.

Number: 13.

Odour: Citrus.

Pet: My kitten, Mox <3

Photograph: Any of my pics with Mox.

Place visited: NYC.

Play/Musical: None.

Podcast: None.

Podcaster: None.

Public place: The mall?

Pudding: Hmm.

Quote: Loads.

Radio station: I don't listen to the radio.

Random fact: I have loads, but most of them are wrestling related so nobody will care lol.

Riddle: Dunno.

Shirt: Prob my Moxley Club one.

Snack: Chips.

Soda: Coke No Sugar.

Sound: Music.

Spice: Hmm.

Subway Sub: I don't eat Subway.

Summer Activity: Sitting by the fan xD

Teacher: -

Temperature: Warm, but not too hot.

Time of Day: Evening.

Town: Hmm.

Toy from childhood: My teddy bear.

Type of vacation: One where I go somewhere fun haha.

Weather: Sunny.

YouTube channel: Call Me Kevin.

YouTuber: Call Me Kevin xD

— Finish the Sentence —

What motivates me day to day is: Lots of things.

I’m the kind of person that can be counted on to: Know useless wrestling facts or know things about The Shield xD

When you first meet me you’ll notice: I have blue hair.

To me, love is: Amazing.

What I look for in my friendships is: Fun and a good sense of humour.

You’ll know if I’m afraid by: I play with my hair and start walking around if I can.

When I’m happy I’m most likely to: Talk. A LOT.

I’ll never comment on someone else’s: Looks.

I’ve got a good eye for: Hmm...

My nighttime routine involves: Go to the toilet, get changed, get my bed ready, get in bed and then watch some YT before I go to sleep.

It’s not easy for me to: Do maths lol.

Once you get to know me you’ll realise that: I'm super talkative.

If I’m daydreaming it’s most likely to be about: Food xD

I never leave my house without: My phone, sunglasses, keys and Airpods.

The last song I heard play was by: MISSIO.

— Firsts —

First best friend? Anna.

First school teacher? Don't remember her name.

First hobby? Writing.

First girlfriend/boyfriend? Lee.

First vacation/holiday? Up north or Rotorua, not sure which one.

First book series you got into? No idea.

First album you bought? With my own money, Billie's debut album lol.

First kiss? A boy named Cameron.

First piercing? Ears, but I let them close up cos they got infected.

First tattoo? None.

First car? None.

School trip? Prob the zoo or something.

Movie saw in the cinema? No clue.

First stay in hospital? When I was 8 and broke my femur.

First time having sex? I was 14.

First major fall out with a friend? Dunno.

— Fives —

Five authors you like: I can only think of Rachel Caine.

Five colours you like: Purple, green, blue, orange, yellow.

Five emojis you use the most: The crying laughing one, the sideways laughing one, the crying one, the heart and the heart eyes.

Five locations you’d like to visit: Japan, France, Italy, the UK and Perth.

Five musical genres you like: Pop, J-pop, K-pop, rock and dance.

Five names you’d give your pets: Any human names. My cat is named Jon Moxley xD

Five popular bands you’re not into: Most of them.

Five songs you play over and over again: Loads.

Five Words you use a lot day to day: I don't keep track lol.

Five YouTube channels you follow: Call Me Kevin, ashens, LGR, Matt Rose and HeroVoltsy.

— Food —

Salty, sweet or savoury snacks? Salty.

Favourite meal of the day? Dinner.

Favourite chip/crisp flavour? ANYTHING, but especially salt and vinegar and sweet chili.

Favourite food that is native to your country? Dunno xD

How many meals do you have in a day? 2, I usually skip breakfast.

What’s your favourite vegetable? Potatoes.

How do you like your eggs? Poached.

Do you like your potatoes boiled, mashed, baked, roasted or something else? All of the above lol.

What’s your comfort food? Chips.

If you go out for a meal what are you most likely to order? Fish & chips or pasta.

What’s your favourite type of cake? Chocolate.

What do you like on your pizza? Hawaiian.

What nations cuisine do you like the most? Dunno.

Name some foods you really dislike: Onions.

What was the last item of food you ate? Strawberries.

Do you usually eat a cold or hot lunch? Cold if I'm at home, but hot if I eat out.

Do you have a favourite restaurant chain? Not really.

What’s your favourite type of meat if you eat meat? Chicken.

Do you prefer lots of little meals or a few larger ones? Few larger ones.

Do you like seafood? Some.

Do you prefer spicy or plain foods more? In between, I like some spice but not too much.

Are you a better baker or cook? Neither.

Do you had spiced water? No.

Do you add spices in your cooking? Not really.

— Friends —

Do you value friendships highly? Yes.

Are any of your friends like family to you? Yes.

How often do you get to see your friends? Depends, some I see more than others.

Which of your friends have you known the longest? Laura, since 1996.

Are most of your friends male or female? It's a mixture.

Do you ever hang out with your friends in a group? Some of them, cos not all of my friends know each other.

If you have a partner do your friends get on well with them? Yes, they like him.

Have you ever lived with a friend? No.

Do most your friends have similar interests to you? We share some, but not all.

Do you have any friends who live in a different country to you? Yes.

Are any of your friends good to talk to when you feel you need emotional support? Yes.

What are some of the finest memories you have with your friends? There are SO many.

What friend that you’re no longer in contact with do you miss the most? Sarah, we're FB friends but we barely talk now.

Have you had a friend who wasn’t really a friend and backstabbed you? Yes.

Did you have a lot of friends in school or were you more of a loner? I had loads.

Have any of your friends got you into a new hobby or interest? What was it? No.

Do any of your friends have a high social media profile? Like famous? Haha no.

Have you supported any of your friends with their dreams or career such as going to their gigs or sharing their business page? No.

Which of your friends is the most successful in their career? One of my friends is a doctor, so her lol.

Do you share your secrets with your friends or are they more casual friendships? It depends on the friend.

Are you a member of the LGBTQA community have you told your friends and have they been supportive? I am, and some of them know.

Are most of your friends younger, the same age or older than you? My age, but I also have younger and older friends too.

If you work do you class your colleagues as friends? Some of them!

What friend that you are still in contact with now have you known the longest? Laura.

Is there anything you’d really like to say to one of your friends right now? If so, what is it? Bitch, stop being busy and go to the gym with me to Ngawari xD

[mechsarchives]

Opinions on Pukeko

A creature.

I enjoy the little pukeko memes, Stoker sends them to me sometimes when he's bored.

[morelka]

hi we have never met but ur coming to nz so birds right. kiwi is a classic but i guarantee you will love piwakawaka/fantail they are so friendly. ur most likely to see them on bushwalks cause they like to follow u around since you kick up the dirt so they can eat the bugs and stuff underneath

the humble kereru/wood pigeon is also very cute in my opinion i do love them and they’re pretty common like piwakawaka

keas!! very mischievous. like to steal peoples food/windshield wipers so watch out lol. very cool birds i think they’re becoming more common in auckland now which is cool

pukeko, funky little guys. mostly blue with long legs, you might see them by the road out of town or in wetland. my cousin had one when she worked for the spca and it was chill with us we could feed it but it could be aggro around other people. idk if that applies to all pukeko though that’s just my experience

takahe, pukeko’s bigger friend. basically same thing, but rounder (idk if they’re actually related but they look similar at least)

kākāpō, big green flightless babies. i love them so much i have a plush toy of one his name is gerald

kakaruia/black robin, ur not gonna see one of these unless you go to the chatham islands but they’re worth mentioning cause they’re very cute and i had a book about one as a kid (old blue) and because this is My list and i do what i want

waxeyes, common garden birds and very pretty and cute we get them in our feijoa trees i love them

lesser short-tailed bat because if bird of the year can include them so can i dammit. bats!! never seen one personally but they look like funky little guys. we also have the long tailed bat

tuis how have i not mentioned tuis yet. i love them so much my dads ringtone is a tui. you’ll be walking past a kōwhai tree or something and someone will go “look a tui” or “i hear a tui” and you all just stand there staring at it for a bit. beautiful

we also have penguins but to be honest with u i need to get out of bed so. perhaps i will return later with more fun facts for u also i am sorry if you already knew these things also forgive me for sending you an ask literally Out of the blue lmao i saw the neil gaiman ask and thought my country????? must inform them of things

Oh my god this is so nice?? Thank you so so much <33 Please come back with more fun facts about birds!!

I knew about some of them, but not all, so this is super interesting- I love birds and particularly water birds (I’m also super excited to finally see some albatrosses since we don’t have them in europe and they’re one of my favourite birds)

Also i can’t believe piwakawakas like to follow people? that’s so wild to me all birds i’ve ever met are shy to humans and even the ones that are not (eg pigeons and seagulls) still keep their distance, especially in the villages im from

I can’t wait to hear a tui ahhh <3

[ardn641-hyunseo]

Self portrait

What is self portrait?

In this assessment, self-portrait means everything that can express me. It can be my own image, or it can be my favourite animal, favourite object, favourite place, favourite character, etc.

The goal of this assessment is to portray me as I express myself using Gravity Sketch.

How can I show Me?

I wanted to make it immediately recognisable that it was me when someone saw my self-portrait, but I also wanted to add some hidden meaning. So I decided to characterise myself and then make various things that express me around it.

Me.

I wore a purple hoodie because I like purple and I like to wear comfortable clothes. I characterised myself in a very simple style, but I tried to make myself recognised by adding my characteristics.

The Pukeko.

Pukeko is one of the things that expresses me, even though I'm not myself. I thought I'd put a bird in my self-portrait because it's my favourite animal, but I wanted to put a little more meaning into it. I lived in Korea and came to New Zealand, and I thought it would be fun to express this as a characteristic bird that can be seen often in New Zealand and a characteristic bird that can be seen often in Korea, so I made Pukeko in my self-portrait.

The magpie.

If the bird meaning New Zealand was Pukeko, the bird meaning Korea is Magpie. There are various kinds of magpies in the world, and the magpies found in New Zealand and the magpies found in Korea are different. I thought that this point could mean that my appearance in Korea and my appearance in New Zealand are different, so I made a magpie in my self-portrait.

The Blue-and-yellow macaw.

The last thing I made was a blue and yellow macaw. This macaw is my favourite bird. That's why I thought I had to put it in the self-portrait, and I put it on my head, which is the centre of the self-portrait and, above all, symbolises me the best.

Final (combining together).

Since it is a self-portrait drawn in virtual 3D space, the picture can be three-dimensional without being broken in any direction. The bird was placed spread out around me, making it possible to see me, see the bird on the floor, and see the bird on top while walking around the space. It's a character and a world of virtual reality, but I also wanted to make it feel real, so I made the height of the character's eyes the same as mine when I used VR.

Sketchfab link.

What did I experience?

The most interesting thing was that image references could be left in the air. It is a method of uploading the image I want to refer to in advance to the Landing Pad and then loading it from Gravity Sketch. It was very convenient to put the image in the desired size in the desired location.

The more difficult thing that I expected was making the desired shape properly. When making a 3D shape, I can only see the front, but I have to draw not only the front but also the top and bottom; this was another difficult thing.

It was a fascinating and interesting experience because, through VR, I made 3D objects directly in virtual reality and felt their size, shape, and location in real time, so I felt like I was creating a space rather than drawing.

[fictional-worlds-are-exquisite]

if ONE more person calls me out for not being able to tell the difference between a takahē and a pūkeko i swear to GOD they look the SAME okay leave me alone

[taylart-x]

Okay, I was thinking about it a bit more and wanted to show you all how big these extinct birds were.

Now, New Zealand is known for having many big birds that are much bigger than overseas cousins. Like the kakapo for example.

This little bird here is the heaviest parrot in the world, weighing in at around 2-4kg. This renders them flightless as their wings are not able to support their weight.

NZ also has other birds that frequent our skies and the ground, many of them large in size. Birds like the kiwi, which is small, but quite round, and is unique with its beak shape. It is also flightless. We also have the kea and kaka respectively. Also, the takahe, and its skinnier lookalike, the pukeko. So we have lots of big birds, and lots of diversity when it comes to our birds.

Which brings me to the moa.

This bird was 3x the size of modern day ostriches, the current largest bird. The biggest of them weighed around 230kg and were around 3.6m in height when their necks were stretched out.

So these things were massive.

Now, you probably think that these were the kings of the jungle. Nothing ate these, nothing went near these until humans rolled around.

You’d be wrong.

These massive birds were prey to one other:

The Haast’s Eagle.

Known as the ‘Man Eating Eagle’, this bird frequently hunted Moa, and didn’t mind snacking on humans (according to Maori history). These birds weigh in at an estimated 14kg, which doesn’t sound much, but keep in mind, a 4kg kakapo can’t fly. This is 14kg of pure death flying straight at you. To put this in perspective, no Eagle has exceeded 9kg in weight. This bird is around 40% bigger.

Though they had a smaller wingspan than some birds today (mostly vultures), it still spanned around 2.5-3m from tip to tip, which is around the same length as a bald eagle, or for the Australians out there, the wedge tailed eagle that lives in Aussie.

However, Haast’s closest living relative is not a wedge tailed eagle, as once thought, but rather, the little eagle or the booted eagle. These birds are much smaller, and means the Haast’s Eagle increased in size by 10-15% in around 1,800,000-700,000 years, which is incredibly fast for an evolution of a whole new species.

Back to their size. These birds were massive, and readily preyed on the biggest guys in town; the moa. We kiwis should almost be grateful that these huge sky hunters are extinct, or we may not be able to walk outside without being scooped up and carried off (I’m kidding, it sucks we don’t have these great beasts around anymore). Moa were massive, but these eagles were so strong that they killed moa simply by flying down at a speed of around 80km/h, and upon reaching their prey, were hitting them with the same amount of force as a concrete block dropped from an eighty story building.

So yeah, there’s some fun history on New Zealand’s birds and my inspiration for Virgil’s wings. Hope you enjoyed. And yes, I know.

I’m a big bird nerd.

[durryfingers]

There’s a Pukeko that keeps standing on the other side of our gate while it sets the dogs off at 3am... it’s learned I’m not actually going to hit it with the broom so now it doesn’t run away when it sees me so I have to chase it halfway down my street until it can’t b fucked turning around to gaslight my household again... it’s also been eating the sugar packets from the village cafe .... and is twisting the swings together at the village playground .... someone stop her

[anonsally]

Day 13 in New Zealand: Otago Peninsula

It was a good day for watching birds on the larger side. Long report below!

Today, Wife had booked herself on a walking tour of the city, while I had booked myself a tour at the Royal Albatross Centre. After averting a near-disaster where she walked off with the car keys and I needed to drive [luckily, I caught up with her before she left on her walking tour], I bought a new pair of hiking shoes. I think they might actually fit better than the ones I lost, and they have the added bonus of being purple. The ones I lost might arrive sometime tomorrow, but I needed hiking shoes before then and I don’t even know whether they will arrive.

I then returned to the car, had my phone navigate for me, and drove alone to the Royal Albatross Centre at the end of the Otago Peninsula. The hard thing about driving on the left isn’t remembering which lane to drive in--it’s staying positioned correctly within the lane when seated on the opposite side of the car from what you’re used to. Both Wife and I are constantly drifting just a little too far to the left when we drive, to the alarm of the passenger. Also, the turn indicators and windshield wipers have switched sides, so the wipers are getting a major workout even though it hasn’t rained much at all. 

Anyway, it was a beautiful drive, winding along the coastline with lots of different seabirds (reef heron (I think), white-faced herons, possibly some little shags?, black swans, paradise shelducks, oystercatchers), some boats, and views across the Otago Harbor to Dunedin. There was some road construction going on, but even without it the drive would have mostly been pretty slow, which feels safer to me.

I made it to the Royal Albatross Centre on time. There were only 4 people on my tour--a retired but active Scottish couple, a retired Australian man with a fancy camera, and me. We had a brief lecture and saw an instructional video on the royal albatross, and I learned some fascinating facts:

The chicks stay at the nest for about 9 months before they fledge, and they get really fat--too fat to fly! So their parents have force them to exercise a little and put them on a diet (the chicks eat food their parents regurgitate for them) so that they’ll be able to learn to fly.

Once they fledge, they take off and then don’t touch land for 5 years! When they finally do land, very clumsily on legs they have not stood on in 5 years, it’s always at the site where they hatched.

At this point they are not yet sexually mature, but they start hanging out and showing off with other albatrosses their own age, flirting and gradually building a relationship with one of them. They hang out together on land for a few months, then fly around the pole again and meet up the following year, repeating this a couple times. 

The year before they reach sexual maturity, they commit. They build a fake nest together, practice preening each other, etc. Then they fly off for a year and meet up again to try to mate this time.

They only lay one egg every two years. It takes 3 months to incubate the egg (both parents take turns) and then 9 months to raise the chick, and then the parents need a vacation. They fly off separately toward South America and keep going in the same direction until they get back home again a year later. The male usually arrives first and builds the nest, though the females sometimes aren’t happy with the results.

There are currently two F/F couples. The volunteers give them fake eggs to incubate and then, if another egg gets abandoned (or something happens to the parents), they can switch it out and the F/F pairs will raise the chick. 

The royal albatrosses have only been nesting on Otago Peninsula for a few decades; previously they nested exclusively on Stewart Island, but maybe it got a bit overcrowded, or some albatrosses got lost? This is the only mainland breeding site for albatrosses in the southern hemisphere.

After this, we walked up the hill to a small building with tinted glass windows that the albatrosses can’t see through. We had a pretty close view of a chick on its nest, with two or three other chicks within sight too. They were large, very fluffy, and pretty fat! There was also a great view of a bunch of Stewart Island shags and their nests, which were all crowded close together (but not within pecking distance). And then we got a brief glimpse of an adult royal albatross soaring around. It was unimaginably huge (wingspans are 2.9-3.3 METERS). 

We then went to another hide, this one originally part of a military installment. There was an even closer chick, and we saw the adult flying again. Spectacular.

Afterwards I drove back about 15 minutes or so to pick up Wife, who’d taken a bus as far as she could up the peninsula. We went to do a tour at Penguin Place, a private wildlife reserve and penguin hospital dedicated to conservation of the endangered yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho). 

Unlike the little blue penguins, which return home in big rafts of up to several dozen individuals, these penguins are more solitary. The pairs make a nest together but they don’t like their nests to be too close together. We also found out that there are some gay penguin couples in the reserve who have raised orphaned chicks together.

The main problems facing the hoiho are overfishing and climate change; the fish they eat are becoming scarcer due to humans catching most of them, and the fish are living in deeper waters, below where the penguins are evolved to swim. This year the penguin hospital had to care for 300 starving penguins, which is nearly half of New Zealand’s population of them and nearly 20% of the world’s population.

So, first we visited the penguin hospital. There was a fence with a wide slit at eye level to look through; due to the fence, the penguins can’t tell how big we are and don’t feel too threatened. There were still 9 of them there, which is unfortunately a lot for this time of year. Some of them were still moulting and looked pretty hilarious. Others had their new plumage already and looked very sleek and fancy! It was nice to see them so close up, and they won’t be kept any longer than necessary to rehabilitate them, but of course we were still hoping to see one out in the wild, and there was no guarantee. 

Next we all boarded a bus which bumped along rough farm roads down to the reserve, where we were taken into covered trenches to the hides where we could look through slits at the penguins when they came ashore and then waddled toward their homes. On our way down to the trenches, the guide pointed out a penguin on the beach already! I had my binoculars with me and was able to get a better look. Then we hurried through the trenches to the hide and had a great view of it waddling along the path. Once it was out of sight, we waited a bit, and then another one came! It basically got followed by another one who wanted to be friends but was rebuffed. We watched the two of them waddling up the path (one a few meters behind the other), stopping periodically to preen, and we also saw two more from a distance, as they didn’t come up the trail from the beach but came up on the rocks a little ways off. It was so great. We saw five of them altogether, and it felt really special. I hope some protections get put in place to help them survive. They are such beautiful birds.

I’m glad I bought the tiny binoculars--they’ve definitely helped me get better views of the birds today. I have now achieved most of my birdwatching goals for the trip: kiwi, royal albatross, blue penguin, yellow-eyed penguin! I am still really hoping to see a tomtit and a pukeko, and I would, of course, be happy to see a kakapo or a South Island kaka, or for that matter any other bird I’ve never seen before. But even if I don’t, I think it’s been quite a successful trip for birdwatching!

[monstermaster13]

Corey and Oats in..

The Amazing NZ Bird Hunt

Everyone’s favorite duo went on a lot of fascinating adventures but one adventure that was on their goal list was to go on a New Zealand bird search to make some feathered friends, one afternoon the two of them were hanging out together when Mel came to them with an announcement. ‘Guess what you two?’ ‘What? Are we going on an adventure?” ‘Yes, it’s one of our goals..we’re going to look for some NZ birdie friends that Peter Weta and Issac will just love.’ ‘That sounds amazing.’

“Will we be able to befriend them?”

“Yes…”

“That is good.”

Mel instructed the two of them to get ready and after lunch that’s what they did, the duo put on their special going out outfits and got their bag ready and walked over to the floating van that was parked outside. The two got in the van with Mel and went down the road, racing all over until they reached Glenfield Mall. They got out of the van and went down the escalator with Mel and once the escalator stopped, they jumped over and looked around. ‘Where shall we go first?’ ‘Toyworld.’ ‘Sounds like a plan.’ The group headed over to Toyworld and looked around in it, Corey floated over to the counter and cleared his throat. ‘Excuse me.’

“Can I help you two?”

“Yes, we are looking for some of those birds that make cute sounds.”

The guide behind the counter told them where to find the birds. As they flew over to the display with the birds, several toys came to life and greeted them. Corey saw a mini kokako bird and put his ear close to it to see if it could sing…’I cannot hear a song at all coming out of this bird.’ ‘That’s because I am not good at singing..’ the Kokako cried. ‘I’m a bird but i’m not good at singing, i’m a failure.’ ‘Don’t have that kind of attitude.’ Oats responded..’If you want we can teach you to sing.’

The kokako smiled as he nodded, he liked the idea of being taught to sing and the duo performed a musical number with him which he learned how to duplicate as they performed a song together, the kokako hugged Corey as he felt better about his voice. Oats then looked through, looking at the other birds. ‘The bigger kokako is out of stock sadly, so as much as i’d like to take this one home…sorry.’ ‘Maybe it doesn’t have to be in order.’ ‘Good thinking.’ It is then Corey saw an adorable little tui and picked the tui up. ‘Hello, Mr Tui…would you like to be our friend?’ ‘I sure would…let me join you.’

The tui flew over to them as they introduced themselves to him, the tui went in the bag and the duo left Toyworld before heading over to Paper Plus, they were disappointed when they couldn’t find any birds at Paper Plus. So they headed over to Elements and asked there, but there was only one bird there…a kiwi in rugby uniform, so they headed out and then decided to head out to the Warehouse.

They looked over at the stuffed toy isles a number of times with Oats even taking a look at the coco surprise unicorn, a magical unicorn in an ice-cream cone, the unicorn neighed as she saw Oats and thought of him as a potential parent. Oats didn’t want to break her heart, so he said he’d come back to her again soon. Corey spotted a koala hiding among the soft toys on the shelf and he hugged the koala.

Oats was tempted to take the unicorn home with him but he decided it was time to head to Whitcoulls, they headed over to Whitcoulls and searched among the soft toy section and that is where they saw a Pukeko that was eager to meet them. That’s when Oats decided he had found the right bird as he took the Pukeko and put him in the bag with the tui.

After heading to Whitcoulls the duo decided to play around as the area became a lovely forest playground they played on and took on flying forms with Oats becoming akin to a pegasus and Corey becoming half bird-like as they sang together, after playing around they headed to go and have some afternoon tea, they ordered hot chocolate with marshmallows and a lovely cinnamon roll.

When they sat down to eat they talked about all the fun they had, the tui and pukeko introduced themselves to the duo…’I am Tim and this is my pal Pedro.’ the tui explained. ‘Nice to meet you both.’ Oats loved the rolls and he also really enjoyed the pink fluffy marshmallows that came with the hot chocolate, the two of them shared the drinks and hugged each-other.

“This has been a really fun adventure.”

“Do you think we’ll get to go on another one like this?”

“I definitely think so.”

Mel called them over after they had finished and told them it was time to go home, the group went back to the escalator and they jumped back up on it before heading out to the parking lot and hopping into the floating van. When they buckled up, the van took off into the air and whizzed through the town until it arrived back home at Nile Road. When they jumped out of the van, they were greeted by their friends. They floated in through the duo and that’s where they saw Zara. ‘I’ve got some new friends to introduce to you.’ Corey responded, as the two birds flew out and introduced themselves to Zara. Zara thought the new birds were very cute as she hugged them. In addition to this, Zara brought her kokako friend over to meet the others and Corey was very excited to see this.

They celebrated and played together all afternoon and even though Jeemo didn’t come that afternoon, they all were having a good time anyway and listening to music. They interacted and played together and had all sorts of fun together.

After their afternoon playtime it was dinner-time and they had some yummy food for dinner, they celebrated and played all night, they played around and had some more fantastic adventures throughout the evening and through the night, and the fun continued. After getting ready for bed at around nine thirty that night, they put on their night clothes and brushed their teeth (the birds brushed their beaks).

They listened to music for a little bit, and when it came for them to snuggle up, they got into bed at around 40 past ten, they all snuggled up together and as Corey and Oats closed their eyes and drifted off, dreaming of a new adventure with their bird friends as the bed transformed into a magical tram car as the duo went on a fantastic adventure through a bird reserve. And thus with that, they had a wonderful night and an equally as wonderful night-time adventure, but that’s not the only adventure they’ll have.

[flockofteeth]

Takahe always give me dinosaur vibes. They're BIG, & something about those thick legs, broad beak, tiny eyes, body shape ... when you see them in real life they just FEEL paleo especially when you see them alongside their sleek little pukeko cousins

Any other birds, apart from cassowaries, that look like dinos?

thick-billed ravens rank pretty high on the "jesus christ a dinosaur" scale imho

[notesfromasmallworld]

TGIF - take me home, muddy road Don't we all need the weekend off after a week working the dirt? The determination and stern look on this guy is pretty close to how a lot of people feel after a hard week. Or a hard day's night. The purple swamphen, pukeko in maori, is a colorful abundancy in New Zealand. With some variations, it is found everywhere near water. It is considered a pest by some farmers since it eat any green seedlings, and it soil water throughs for the farm animal. Sometimes it even eats other birds chics. It is a social bird, often living in family groups were the eggs of all the females are laid in one nest. The chics get raised by the group as a whole. It is also a bit noisy, but it somehow become a homey symbol when spending time in New Zealand. http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/pukeko .#pukeko #purple #swamphen #bird #colors #colours #newzealand #New #Zealand #kiwi #kiwiexperience #birdislands #Southisland #christchurch #canterbury #swamp #beach #hardwork #Nikon #NikonD800 #D800 #Nikkor #300mm #f4 #2012 #Porphyrio #melanotus (ved Spencerville, New Zealand) https://www.instagram.com/p/vYI3PZj-pE/?igshid=5ec3lbb0qo5b