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| Bellbird, Anthornis melanura |
Tiritiri Matangi Island is a New Zealand wildlife sanctuary which is an amazing success story. It is located 30km north east of Auckland and 4km
from the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. Following 120 years of farming, 95% of its
native bush had disappeared. In the 10 years up to 1994 volunteers planted
nearly 300,000 trees covering 60% of the island, the remaining grassland being
left for open habitat species. Mammalian predators, especially rats, were eliminated
and endangered birds and
reptiles introduced. These include the flightless Takahe and the Tuatara lizard.
FB page: https://www.facebook.com/TiritiriMatangiIsland/
my New Zealand birds page: http://bit.ly/1RFpjAp
On March 12, 2008 I visited the island and
enjoyed a guided tour. This was the final day of our last visit to
New Zealand, our fifth time to the country. We toured
Northland for the first time, arriving in Auckland on March 1. John’s recent posts about swamp hens in Narrabeen motivated me to identify the New
Zealand birds I photographed during that trip. I'll post other photos from the rest of the trip soon. I used a Nikon D40 with an 18-200
mm lens.
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| New Zealand Pigeon, Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae |
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| New Zealand Pigeon |
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| Bellbird, Anthornis melanura |
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| Bellbirds |
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| Tui, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae |
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| Bellbird, Anthornis melanura |
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| Bellbird |
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| Bellbird |
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| South Island Robin, Petroica australis |
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| Stitchbird, Notiomystis cincta |
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| Bellbird |
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| Red-crowned Parakeet, Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae |
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| South Island Robin, Petroica australis |
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| Stitchbird, Notiomystis cincta |
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| Tui, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae |
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| Tui |
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| Tui |
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| Neptune's Necklace, Hormosira banksii |
