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Birds Working the Fish (14)
Janice
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3460 W: 145 N: 5905]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (17690) | Birds Working the Fish
I arrived home late one afternoon last month and all I could see out on the water were thousands and thousands of birds, ‘working the fish’.
By the time I grabbed the camera and got over to the wharf at Murrays Bay, they had slowed down - some were sitting, some flying, and some were diving into the water.
I was only there for 10 minutes, and then the birds all began to fly again. What a sight they were. And suddenly then they all seemed to disappear around the cliff and out to sea.
I recognised a few of the birds:
SeagullsRed Billed Gull / Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus - Maori: Tarapunga – naturally – they’re everywhere. .
Black-backed Gull - / Larus dominicanus dominicanus – Maori: Karoro the largest gull in New Zealand – they’re everywhere too,
Terns – I was really pleased to see these birds – they aren’t around here very often. I think these visitors were the White-fronted Terns, the most common tern in New Zealand. They feed in large flocks on small fish by plunge diving. Shoals of smelt and pilchards which have been driven to the surface by larger fish are easily caught by the terns, who also scoop up the surface-shoaling fish as well.
Shearwaters. Not sure what sort they were - maybe Fluttering Shearwaters or Buller’s Shearwaters / Puffinus bulleri. They feed mainly on small fish and krill.
Check out the Workshop photo |
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