Rondeau Ric

I love birding Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur A day in New Zealand. Generally the weather wasn't bad while we were on vacation, we only had one day that was rained out and this was it. Anne wasn't enjoying herself and the birding was poor. One out of 29 isn't too bad. This was at Miranda in New Zealand looking for shore birds.

Wandering albatross Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur The largest wing span of any bird according to our field guided. The one in the water is also a wandering albatross. Seen on a pelagic cruise off New Zealand

Mollymock Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur Does he remind you of Mr. Burns on the Simpsons? We were on a pelagic trip, fancy name for going out to sea in a small boat to look at birds, and this is one of fmany species we saw. It is in the albatross family. A very large bird.

Pukeko in the flowers Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur Monday Nov 16 at 3.31pm here, probably still Sunday back home. Back in Auckland after a great trip to the south island. This pukeko was feeding in a field next to the road.

Tui Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur An endemic bird to New Zealand. We fhad to climb what seemed to be a mountain to see this bird. Considering Anne's bad ankle and my bad knees it was an effort, but worth while. Bit of an attitude

Australian gannet Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur We went to a gannett colony Tuesday and it was excellent. Good pathes, stairs and decks get you close without disturbing the birds. Amazing how large they are. Luggage finaly caught up with us. On the flight over I kept humming John Foggerty's song Put Me In Coach (I can play centre field) Why would I want to go from Bussiness class to coach?