Tomtit Ngirungiru on a stick in Rakiura

Tomtit balancing twigs, break and curiosity
The Ngirungiru, or Tomtit, is a very small passerine bird in the Robins-family Petroicidae.
With a maximum length of 12 cm and a weight of 11 gram, it is basically the size of two Ping-Pong balls with wings and tail.

Frenetic enthusiastic
It is also very curious and enthusiastic. Meaning that when it decides you are not a threat when you meet one up close in the forest, it will follow you along for some time. But in a frenetic pattern, jumping between the trees, branches, trail and back up again.

And then maybe, maybe, just be still for a couple of seconds where you get a reasonable shot. Like this one in the forest at Rakiura, Aotearoa.

There are five subspecies of Tomtits, and they have different names in Māori. The South Island and Rakiura Stewart Island variant is called Ngirungiru. The North Island is called Miromiro. And as a loveable little fellow, there are several other Māori and English name for it. Tomtit is an adaptable feather ball, and lives well with most of the changes made to the biodiversity of New Zealand.

#2015CE #Animals #Aotearoa #AotearoaNewZealand #bird #birdparadise #Birds #blue #bluesky #curious #forest #frontdoor #green #Horseshoe #Bay #Kiwi #kiwiexperience #NikonD800 #Māori #NestorMeridionalis #New #Zealand #Ngirungiru #passerine #pingpongball #Rakiura #RakiuraStewartIsland #roadtrip #robins #smallbird #social #southisland #southpacific #StewartIsland #tomtit #weird #birdswood #Ngirungiru #Petroicidae

Today:

- We hiked Ulva Island and saw several kaka
- I enjoyed an excellent flat white at #TheSnuggery
- We saw 5 adult and 1 juvenile kiwi feeding after dark (using red flashlights)

#ThreeGoodThings #NZTravel #Rakiura #StewartIsland #damnlucky

Garden bird survey 29 June to 7 July 2024.

1. Choose an hour on one day during the survey period and find the perfect bird counting spot.
2. Use the tally sheet to count the number of birds you see or hear.
3. Report your count.

https://gardenbirdsurvey.nz/

#EHiaNgāManu #HowManyBirds

#Aotearoa #TeWaiPounamu #Rakiura #AndOtherIslandsTooNumerousToName

#NewZealand

Home | New Zealand Garden Bird Survey

Get out into your garden, count the birds, and build a build a picture of the state of our environment by taking part in the NZ Garden Bird Survey.

New Zealand Garden Bird Survey

Wrote a guide on visiting Stewart Island, #NewZealand South Island, https://potoo.is/stewart-island-trip-guide/

#stewartisland #rakiura

Stewart Island Rakiura Trip Guide

Note: this is not a guide for the Rakiura Multi-day hike trek. Duration How long to spend on Stewart Island depends on your goals and interest. 3 days would be sufficient to try a variety of activities here but you can also guage how many days in total to spend

The Potoo

"As the world’s southernmost Dark Sky Sanctuary, #Rakiura is home to some of the best stargazing on the planet. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that one of the #Māori meanings of its name is ‘land of the glowing skies.’"

https://adventure.com/new-zealand-rakiura-track-stargazing/

#DarkSkies #Astrotourism #NewZealand #Aotearoa

Dark skies, trivia night, wild kiwis: New Zealand’s lesser-visited ‘Great Walk’ is a bonafide must-hike

Although it’s often missed on New Zealand travel itineraries, Rakiura (Stewart Island) deserves a spotlight for its natural wonder.

Adventure.com

Today was a driving day, so here’s a further pic from #Rakiura, taken in Horseshoe Bay. Clearly, a spacecraft had crash-landed in the bay & this Alien escaped from the ship’s cargo hold, following containment failure. It was moving, but was that just the tide? There was no sign of a Predator—but then you don’t see one & live to tell about it, do you?

🚐 #Travel #Nomad 🇳🇿 #Aotearoa #NZ #NewZealand 🤔🌲🧭❤️ #CREWmission 📷 #Photography

Today’s walk from Oban in steady 🌧️ (our last on #Rakiura) was an easy 9km/ 2.5h circuit on well-formed track & sealed road, taking in Butterfield Beach, with a community shelter/ BBQ area (📷1), Bragg Bay (📷2), Sarah Cove (📷3), & Dead Man Beach—notably free from 🏴‍☠️ pirates (📷4). Good views from Horseshoe Point before track turns in towards Horseshoe Bay & then follow the road back into Oban. Recommended in any weather.

🚐 #Travel #Nomad 🇳🇿 #Aotearoa #NZ #NewZealand 🤔🌲🧭❤️ #CREWmission 📷 #Photography

Bathing Beach (📷1) a short walk from Oban’s waterfront on #Rakiura; viewed from path around Church Hill. The beach continues beyond a rocky outcrop (except at high tide), where an oystercatcher pair demonstrated hopping skills (📷2). Mill Creek empties into this part of the beach; named for the water-powered sawmill here, est. 1874—but the business sank, like this boat (📷). Boat at Leask Bay no more seaworthy (📷4)!

🚐 #Travel #Nomad 🇳🇿 #Aotearoa #NZ #NewZealand 🤔🌲🧭❤️ #CREWmission 📷 #Photography

#Rakiura is 75km long & 40km at its widest; 85% of island is remote national park, but there are more proximal tracks. We headed west, passing Thule Bay (📷1), Vaila Voe Bay with Faith, Hope & Charity islets (📷2), to Ryans Creek mouth (📷3) where saw a kotare/ kingfisher. Then turned inland, taking a stint on the Rakiura Track (Great Walk: 32km/ 3d) to Main Rd car park, then into Oban for ☕️ with constitution study (📷4).

🚐 #Travel #Nomad 🇳🇿 #Aotearoa #NZ #NewZealand 🤔🌲🧭❤️ #CREWmission 📷 #Photography