After the traumatic episode of being uplifted from its former life, dumped onto the Waimanu lagoons and loosing all it’s previous family to starvation, this peking duck put all the trauma behind it and has made a new life, with a new mate and look what has happened.

While checking out some goose nests on the eastern side of the little foot bridge on the Waimanu Lagoon I saw a different
bird on the far bank. it was very hard to make out what it was, so over the bridge I went to find a young wood pigeon sitting on the bank.

Around forty starlings were feeding on the grass verge along with six pukeko. All seemed in harmony until one of the starlings invaded the puke’s space. Up went the pukeko’s tail and with a loud squawk it lunged at the starling, and chased it.

Hi Mick –Just to update you, we have had another penguin come to our area. My wife and I found a very weak blue penguin above the high tide line on Peka Peka beach a couple of weeks ago when we
were walking our dogs

These peeking ducks were dumped near the lagoons where, over a couple of days, except for three, they all starved and died. Peking’s are a domestic duck and apparently were not able to feed themselves in this wild environment after living in captivity.

One little dabchick baby who didn’t
think this being on the water is a good idea. Let me back I would rather be under your feathers in the warmth

This is what the little isthmus beside the weir looked like before the Waikanae Estuary Care Group planted it out in August 2007. It is where a herd of 42 cows ended up, munching up on the newly planted plants.

Royal Spoonbills
The royal spoonbills are sheltering from the strong southerly breeze, facing the wind so as not to get their feathers ruffled.

White-eyes cooling off in the Waikanae river on a hot afternoon at the beach. It’s not only us humans who are finding the hot weather a little draining, it obviously is affecting
the birdlife as well. The gulls are not the only birds using the river.

Meeting a lovely lady down at the estuary, she informed me she had just returned to Waikanae from Australia, back to where she went to school many years ago. Her daughter is a keen photographer [watch out Roger Smith] and not only were they pleased to be back