Signs of Spring
Signs of SpringThe last couple of years has spoiled us with fine settled spring weather. This year seems to be reverting to what we used to get, with September rainfall 198 mm and a couple of quite good gales, although they were thankfully reasonably short duration....
Spring Garden & Parakeets
We have a Pseudopanax “goldsplash” in our garden. And it’s a very prolific seeder, and thus popular with much of our local birdlife. A couple of days ago Iris discovered a trio of Red Crowned Parakeets busy feeding on the fallen seed.
End of Winter
Fuchsia, on a lovely late winter morning End of Winter Well, in a couple of days it will be. Although I think the short term outlook for spring looks somewhat winter-ish. We’ve had quite a bit of rain. These last 5 days have averaged 20 odd mm per day and the...
Winter Snow
Winter Blast I doubt very many New Zealanders were unaware of the winter storms which boomed up from the Southern Ocean these last few days. We didn’t escape, although not nearly so “snowy” as further north. Not unusual at all as although unpleasant...
Rat Plague
Rat Plague on Stewart Island Lots of Food
Mid Winter Musings
Winter Musings The Vanishing Ring Eyes These small birds have a variety of names, all of them describing the prominent eye ring, So Wax Eyes, Silver Eyes, Ring Eyes, depending I suppose on your own preference. An Australian “import” first described in...
Winter
Winter is our quiet time, with very few guests. So not may trips to Ulva. And of course the forest is “shut down” for the winter.
But as compensation this is Fungi Time.
Weather Reflections
Weather …. Reflections A recent news item mentioned how low soil moisture levels were this year in the South Island, and it got me thinking about the last 2 summers here. And that led to a new section on our weather page historical data tab As yet I...
Kiwi in the Village
Evening Kiwi SightingAll this season we’ve been showing our guests where they might see a kiwi in the evening, and a post in February had a short video taken by a guest.And on Monday evening guests at Kowhai Lane saw one. So Iris & I decided we would go and...About Me
I arrived on Stewart Island in 1969 as Forest Ranger. Since then I've fished commercially both in Fiordland and around Stewart Island then skippered our charter yacht in the same waters, and also down into the Southern Ocean. More recently we now have "Sails Ashore" B&B, and I also guide our guests and others on Ulva Island, introducing them to the natural world of Stewart island