Physicist and origami master Robert Lang has bestowed upon us a batch of photos from New Zealand (and two other batches, which will appear later)! Robert’s notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
New Zealand, Part 1: Birds of the Water
In January, my wife and I got to visit the South Island of New Zealand, a long-time goal for both of us. I took a lot of pictures, and will send three parts. In this first group, birds that we saw on the waters, some in Milford Sound, others in other boat journeys near the southern end of the island.
Two albatrosses. First, a White-Capped Albatross (Thalassarche cauta steadi), flying. Look at the length of those wings!:
And another White-Capped Albatross, close-up on the water:
Next, a Buller’s Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri), which has different coloration on the bill. When I was looking for that one, I couldn’t resist asking “Buller’s? Buller’s?” Alas, that joke is not long for this world, as the American Ornithological Association will someday name it something like “The doubly-yellow-billed albatross,” or some such thing:
A Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus), showing the red spot that is the target for chicks demanding a feeding:
A Red-Billed Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae scopulinus), which could also be called the Red-Eyed Gull, or the Red-Legged Gull; there’s a lot of red to choose from. (Or we could just call it the tarāpunga, which is the Maori name.):
A Cape Petrel (Daption capense), swimming:
A Variable Oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor) (I think; I invite our birding experts to chime in on this, or any of these, if they have corrections). A little bit fuzzy because it was quite some distance away:
A pair of Australian Pied Cormorants (Phalacrocorax varius), also called the Pied Shag. I will resist the obvious jokes here:
And finally, our first penguin. Merlin ID is telling me it’s a Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) (but aren’t they all rather little?). Again, I invite correction or further precise IDs from our experts.
A great set! The albatrosses look so sleek and elegant.
Wonderful photos; I especially love the albatrosses.
But what flavour is it?
Gorgeous!
Beautiful pictures. The albatross feathers are unbelievably white! The colors of all the birds are so vivid!
A batch of Robert Lang photos always tempts me to browse through some of the origami creations at langorigami.com. I can’t get my head around the fact that these artworks are made of folded paper.
What magnificent southern seabirds! Thank you!
The penguin is a hoiho or “yellow eyed penguin”, but a juvenile
The penguin is not a Little Penguin, but rather a Yellow-eyed Penguin. The color and pattern of he bill is identical to a photo of a first-year Yellow-eyed in “Oceanic Birds of the World: A Photo Guide” by Steve N. G. Howell and Kirk Zufelt.
These were incredible, just wow. I love the black outline on the albatross’s white wing.