A fascination with bugs

While in New Zealand I was lucky enough to see many Monarch butterflies. They were not always so easy to photography though as no sooner would they settle then they'd fly off again. While in Kerikeri though I was fortunate to have my camera on hand when a male butterfly alighted on the try and proceeded to open and close his wings to a regular rhythm. With arms up in the air outstretched and my zoom on I was able to take several photos of this lovely butterfly.

The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexipus) has been found in New Zealand since the 19th Century and I remember as a child keeping the caterpillars on swan plants to watch them transform into the butterfly. The male Monarch butterfly has a black spot in the centre of each hind wing called the androconium and these are responsible for dispersing pheromones - to attract the female Monarch which have darker veins on their wings and are slightly smaller than the male. The black veins on the male are also slightly narrower than the female.

I saw and photographed many insects while in New Zealand and have developed rather a fascination for these amazing creatures. Next up is a Praying Mantis that had taken up residence on the fence.

Now what do we have here? These 'shells' can be found all over the place attached to trees. One thing that struck me on the Tuesday morning after I arrived was the extremely loud noise - a bit like tinnitus, it was almost deafening. This noise came from cicadas. Cicadas moult from their skins at the final stage of their development and leave this skins attached to trees and shrubs. There are thirty-eight species from five genera that populate New Zealand, and all are endemic to New Zealand and the surrounding islands.

Here is a live one that came inside.

It is a Chorus cicada/Kihikihi Wawa (Amphipsalta zealandica) and is a native of New Zealand.

The bees enjoy the many flowers in abundance around Mum and Dad's garden.

I always kept my eyes peeled when going for walks, you never knew quite what you would see and find.

The bright green on this Mumu Chafer (Stethaspis longicornis) certainly helped me spot it. It is also a native of New Zealand.

This beetles need now introduction, being the scourge of many gardeners. Commonly known as 'stink' bugs.

It is amazing what you can spot amongst the gravel of a metal road if you keep your eyes open.

On one of my walks with Dad I spotted this moth. It is a Northern Wattle Moth/Pepe Atua (Dasypodia cymatodes)

Climbing up through the bush to the Memorial Garden I spotted not an insect but a spider on Pop's Kauri tree.

Not just a small spider.

But rather a large spider!

Lastly another fascinating find was seeing a wasp dragging a spider off the road.

It was an Australian Golden Hunting Wasp (Cryptocheilus australis). They 'hunt' spiders, paralyse them and then drag them off and lay their eggs in them so their young have a constant food source.

It is amazing the size of the spider compared to the wasp which is usually half the size of its prey. Speaking to Dad last night he said he saw one the other day who had over-estimated its ability to drag the spider away and was losing the battle!

Lastly an amazing picture of the Tree/Bush Weta/Putangatanga of the Hemideina species, a native to New Zealand. This weta is a female and was on Mum & Dad's decking. It then proceeded to climb the wall.

It looks as if it may have hurt it's leg.

Mum & Dad have a shed in their garden that they call the 'Weta Shed'. It is used for storage and has masses of wetas living inside it!

Well I suppose I better continue with the boring stuff I started yesterday...tidying and reorganising the bedroom and lounge...oh why oh why did I start such a task?!

Tiritir - Part 2.

Many of Tiritiri's original birdlife suffered greatly when the forests were cleared for pasture and as such many species were forced to find new homes and food sources so only the more resilient species remained such as the tui, fantail, silvereye, grey warbler, bellbird and spotless crake.

As the predators have been removed and native trees re-established some of the rarer birds have been introduced to Tiritiri. These birds are the saddleback, takehe, red-crowned parakeet, North Island robin, kokako, whitehead, stitchbird, rifleman, tomtit, little spotted kiwi, brown teal and fernbird. I was fortunate to see all of these birds apart from the brown teal (their usual pond was completely dried up from lack of rain), the kiwi and the kokako - although we saw a photo of one of these as another couple were lucky enough to see one.

The pond in which the brown teal inhabit was competely dry.

The above two birds are the North Island robin.

Bellbird - the island was alive with the sound of Bellbirds.

Red-crowned parakeet.

Stitchbird and belbird

Near the information centre on the island was a feeder which was a very popular place with the birds. The bellbirds were the main visitors, but we also saw tui enjoying it as well.

This fellow is the Takahe

~A couple wandering off the path as we approached.

This fellow wasn't at all shy though.

Couldn't get much closer to me!

I was also took photos of saddleback, tui and the smaller birds, but unfortunately couldn't quite get close enough for decent photos.

The beauty of Tiritiri Matangi: Part 1

These boots were made for walking, and walking they did!

One of the lovely day trips we did was to Tiritiri Matangi Island. An Open Sanctuary which has been developed to ensure the survival of many rare and endangered plant and animal species. An island sanctuary is an especially important and valuable resource as they are easier to keep free from the many predators found on mainland areas.

My Dad helped plant many of the native trees on this island many years ago now (replanting Tiritiri began in 1984 and was completed in 1994) and it was great to see how much they had become established in order for the reintroduced rarer birds to repopulate the island.

Thursday 18th March 2010...We couldn't have picked a more perfect day to go. Lovely and warm with the most perfect blue sky!

The ferry departed from Golf harbour on the Whangaparoa Peninsular at around 10am in the morning.

What could be more perfect? The island was alive with the most gorgeous birdsong.


Fabulous views from where we stopped for our lunch.

Most certainly a paradise on Earth.

Unfortunately my mum wasn't well enough to come with us on, so it was just my Dad and my MIL, fully equipped with her trusty Asda bag!

The water was so incredibly clear...

With fabulous photographic opportunities.

No fauna, shells or wildlife is to be removed from the island so I made the most of taking photos of the shells etc... Take nothing away but memories and photographs!

So much beauty!

The birds of Tiritiri Matangi to follow in the next installment.

Meet Bobby Bear

Bob (a Bouvier des Flandres) became a constant companion of mine while I was staying with Mum & Dad. We went for many wanders over the paddocks and he often sat beside me, wherever that was.

Gorgeous big brown eyes

A Gentle Giant

Dads and their daughters.

Five weeks of perfect weather, peace and tranquility, lots of lovely walks, getting to visit two lovely bloggers (of which more later) and best of all spending my time with a very special man in my life - my Dad.

There is nothing quite like the special bond a daughter has with her Dad, especially the one I have with mine. Lots of lovely walks brought back many happy memories of my teens and tramping with Dad, and now I have some more special memories. See you next year Dad! I'm going to make this a regular 'break away' so will start saving now.

Lots of photos to edit, but just a taster...