Spring Courtship & Nesting
Spring is of course nesting season for many of our Ulva Island Birds, and Saddleback are no different. Although I think a little later this year than usual.
The courting pair have a quite distinctive song, and a couple of days ago we watched a pair on Ulva. My guests were busy with camera and I was able to record their song. The pair stayed quite close for several minutes, and although the song is not continuous I was able to slice together this clip.
Courtship Song
Gathering nest material
Robins well fledged
Many of this years Robin families are well fledged, and the parents busy feeding offspring quite low down.
Robins generally nest quite low to the ground, often less than 1.5 metres up. When the juveniles fledge the parents take them quite high up unto the trees and feed them there, allowing them lower down as they become more flight proficient, and so less vulnerable to weka predation.
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