today i had an interesting NZ falcon encounter. the male is the size of a crow, by the by, and the female almost twice as big. i was near the nest of a pair, which i had heard rumours of diving at people who came into thier territory. they did as word said, and swooped down at me, wings spread. at first i thought, how cool! and i even talked to them, saying i wont hurt them. well! what do you think they did? the closer i got to my destination (i was on a mission to check weta boxes, a large scary looking insect), the more they swooped, and i really didnt think they'd be brazen enough to make contact, but oh was i wrong! all of a sudden i heard a woosh and felt talons grabbing my head and hair, but fortunatly my hair wasnt tangled, so it couldnt carry me off. heh. it didnt hurt at all but needless to say it freaked me out. i screamed a little scream and high-tailed it out of there, head covered, with the falcons putting in several more swoopings (without contact), just for good measure. ha! here i was being all romantic and innocent. "oh, so pretty, the wings as they dive at me!". well, i was a bit concerned for my wellfare after that. every time i heard wings for 10 minutes after that i flinched. but hey, its a first, and its an awesome bird i got to see REALLY close up.
in other news, last week i got to witness parrots mating, and though i did feel a bit like i was intruding on something, it was beautiful. i also had to take apart the nest of a hihi that had failed, and collect the dead eggs, which was a bit sad, thinking of all the energy that went into making something so lovely.
last weekend, my hosts went out of town, and thier 18 year old son had some friends over, with his parent's permission. they were quite in the party mode, and since i had nothing better to do, i joined in. i havent stayed up that late in I dont know how long, and no one believed i was 30! ha! fooled them. anyway, it was entertaining, if not exhausting.
that is all.
in other news, last week i got to witness parrots mating, and though i did feel a bit like i was intruding on something, it was beautiful. i also had to take apart the nest of a hihi that had failed, and collect the dead eggs, which was a bit sad, thinking of all the energy that went into making something so lovely.
last weekend, my hosts went out of town, and thier 18 year old son had some friends over, with his parent's permission. they were quite in the party mode, and since i had nothing better to do, i joined in. i havent stayed up that late in I dont know how long, and no one believed i was 30! ha! fooled them. anyway, it was entertaining, if not exhausting.
that is all.
this be a tuatara.
this little buddy showed up on our porch the other day. we had a photo shoot. her hair was done professionally, of course.
these little guys glow like emeralds when they loll in the sun. its a gecko.
the view of a part of wellington from our porch. It is my theory that everyone in this cityhas rock-solid buns from walking up these hills every day.
a poster of some weird animals i have no interest in
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