One of our more elusive birds is the Morepork Of course they are nocturnal and so not about when we are. But occasionally we’ll spot one roosting quietly in a tree, often the dead lower branches of a young Rimu, where their brown plumage blends beautifully with the dead foliage.
2021
I can’t quite believe how quickly the last few months have flown by. But then again, looking back I’m astonished at how busy we’ve been. And even more astonishing considering how Iris & I thought the future would be just 10 months ago.
We’ve enjoyed a fairly mild winter this year, but as an old Stewart Island Island saying goes….. “we’ll pay for it sooner or later”……
Our Fuchsia has been out for 3 or 4 weeks now, or at least some trees have. And they are always the first sign of the “New Year” Flowers generally appear before the leaves, but although never as flamboyantly in bloom or as colourful as some of the exotic species,
Further from my last post about Port Pegasus with Flightless a couple of days ago Maria phone me and asked if I would guide their charter folks around Ulva, as Iris and I had done previously for them. So they picked me up from Golden Bay, and after one of Courtney’s superb lunches with the party, it was back onto Ulva.
It was an absolutely stunning day, glassy calm, and wall to wall blue sky, although later in the afternoon there was signs of a front approaching from the west, but a day or so away.
Some years ago Iris & I sold Sean & Maria of Pure Salt Charters our Fiordland and Stewart Island DoC Concessions and Environment Southland Consents to operate around Fiordland and Stewart Island. At the time I mentioned to Sean that if (when) they came down to the Island I would be happy to act as “Mud Pilot” for them. And that’s what I’ve been doing the last week.
Kiwi Alarm Clock
One of the good things about this time of year is that we can sleep in. But this morning around 0500 I was rudely awakened by a female Kiwi screaming outside our bedroom window.
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