Wellington City biodiversity

[Colin Miskelly]

The male kārearea is back on the carillon at noon today.
Colin

[Michael Szabo]

Saw 3 Kaka flying around near Wellington Hospital in Newtown yesterday lunchtime including one of them landing in the big Phoenix Palms at the front and moving around inside the crowns of two of them for about ten minutes. This is a location where I haven't seen them before.

[Colin Miskelly]

The adult female kārearea is back on the carillon. That is 6 out of the last 9 days (and I was in Auckland for the weekend).

However, before 21 July they had not used this hunting perch for at least 6 months. Do they move between preferred hunting perches as the local prey species become too wary (or the unwary and infirm are locally depleted)?

Ngā mihi
Colin

[Michael Szabo]

When I watched them they were watching intently from the top of the tower and then suddenly launched a gliding attack on what must have been small songbirds in the trees below. This prompted a Tui alarm call but neither of them caught any prey and returned to the top of the tower fairly promptly to continue their watching. Another time I saw the male alone on the top of the tower. It glided down from the tower towards the nearby trees but it broke off its attack about halfway and then flew off towards the Basin Reserve.

[Michael Szabo]

Melissa Boardman reports via Facebook seeing a pair of Kārearea yesterday morning hopping around on the gravel in the rock garden at the Botanic Garden swallowing 'rangle' stones.

[Colin Miskelly]

Female cirl bunting feeding on freshly-sown grass seed with house sparrows and one yellowhammer at Prince of Wales Park, Mt Cook, Wellington. Recognised as likely cirl bunting (cf. female yellowhammer) when side-on 5 m away, as no chestnut was apparent on the sides of the rump. Rump confirmed to be olive-coloured when it flew.

This is the second cirl bunting I have seen in suburban Wellington (the other was in Khandallah about 20 years ago), but I have seen them more recently on the Wainuiomata coast and on Mana Island.

Ngā mihi
Colin

[Wrybill]

On 2 July I saw 8 Kaka Flying South Opposite the Interisland Ferry Terminal and two Caspian Terns Flying in the harbour near Kaiwharawhara Point

[ledzep]

No sign of the Cirl Bunting in Price of Wales park area today, but I did get good views of a Falcon flying above to the tall trees in Central Park area, where it put up a flock of 17 Kaka, then the Falcon flew back south over me again, and then started harassing a Harrier, before flying off to the west over Ohiro Valley area.

[Byrd]

I was at Prince of Wales Park this morning as well. There was a large number of Yellowhammers and Chaffinches feeding in the construction area at the north end (maybe forty or fifty birds total), but all at the back of the area so not close enough for me to find any Cirl Bunting amongst them, if it was still there.

[Michael Szabo]

Tim Park reports seeing Rifleman at Ōtari-Wilton's Bush yesterday, "Below the lookout near the Nikau/kowhai trees".