Great Spotted Kiwi, Heaphy Hut

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David Riddell
Posts: 959
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 3:46 pm

Great Spotted Kiwi, Heaphy Hut

Postby David Riddell » Fri Oct 11, 2019 9:39 pm

Luck continues to run our way on the South Island family road trip. Was brushing my teeth on the deck at 8pm when I heard a female great spotted kiwi call near by. Retrieved Annette and Iris and sat and listened for a while, then walked a short way up the river track. I was using a cheap infra red scope I bought off Aliexpress, which shows objects quite clearly in the dark. On the way back a kiwi almost walked into us! Iris took the photo below with my phone of the view with the IR screen.

Now sitting at the mouth of the Heaphy River which is the only place near here with phone coverage! Beautiful night, bright moon and weka and oystercatchers foraging on the drift line. No more kiwis, but have heard a couple of distant calls.
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20191011_210401.jpg (614.61 KiB) Viewed 1866 times
chris
Posts: 62
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:05 pm

Re: Great Spotted Kiwi, Heaphy Hut

Postby chris » Fri Oct 11, 2019 10:29 pm

Sorry can u explain where the kiwi is. I dont see it.
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RussCannings
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Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:23 am

Re: Great Spotted Kiwi, Heaphy Hut

Postby RussCannings » Sat Oct 12, 2019 11:48 am

If you ignore the white branches in the foreground you can see a dark circle (its body), to the right its grey neck, its face is blocked by a branch, but its bill is visible extending diagonally down to the right.
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Tim Barnard
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Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:30 pm
Location: Okere Falls

Re: Great Spotted Kiwi, Heaphy Hut

Postby Tim Barnard » Sat Oct 12, 2019 6:43 pm

Good work David ...the more you look for GSKs the harder they get. Kiwi's are always special - very emotive and treasured moments.

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