Good morning, Newdists.
A September Saturday in the time of pandemic. Hope you all are keeping safe.
Diary bird: New Zealand Pigeon-Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae aka Kererū
These birds are widespread throughout New Zealand and they like to flock together in groups of 25 — 30 birds. The main thread to the kereru is feral cats, stoats, possums and ships rats. The kererū figures as a player in Māori mythology and lore and is associated with the hero and trickster Māui.
Large pigeon endemic to New Zealand with distinctive blue-green iridescent plumage, white belly, and red eye. Makes conspicuous display flights in breeding season; often seen feeding on heavily fruiting trees or fresh leaves and flower buds in spring. Widespread where food is available. Only emits soft “oo” calls, but note distinctive wingbeat sound, especially when alighting or taking off. Chatham Island Pigeon, the only similar species, is larger and confined to Chatham Islands. LINK
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Although there is some individual variation, in general the upper parts of adult kereru are blue-green, with a purple-bronze iridescence on the neck, mantle and coverts of the wings. The underparts are white with a sharp demarcation between the white and blue-green on the upper breast. The bill colouration is quite variable, from uniformly red, but often having a paler red or even orangey tip, and feet and eyes crimson. ✂️
Voice: kereru are generally silent except for occasional ‘oos’. Brief, moderate volume ‘oos’ are given when alarmed, such as a harrier flying close by, and longer, low volume ‘oooooos’, with a rising tone towards the end given as contact calls, often repeated several times. LINK
Kereru have been recorded breeding in all months, but most eggs are laid in September-April. Pigeons in native forest have been recorded not breeding when little or no fruit was available. The nest is a platform of dead twigs, and a single egg is laid. In general, females incubate from late afternoon until mid-morning, when the male takes over. The chick is brooded constantly until it is about 10 days old and well covered with feathers. LINK
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Foods include buds, leaves, flowers and fruit from a wide variety species, both native and exotic. In addition, they have been seen feeding on the fruiting bodies of the parasitic strawberry fungus Cyttaria gunnii found in beech forest. While most foods are taken while clambering about on vines, shrubs and trees, at a few locations kereru spend time on the ground feeding on clover and possibly other herbs. While ripe fruit seems to be the preferred food, in most regions fruit is not available year round, and so kereru then feed on leaves. Important leaf sources include those of kowhai, tree lucerne, broom, willows, elms and poplars. LINK
Please Newdists, grab a cuppa and something to nosh on. Admire some photos and join us in the thread.
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All are welcome to join the fun, the silliness, the conversations. If you don’t know...just ask! Some things really do require a bit of explanation.
There will be a few surprises along the way, all good ones, we hope.
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We post Mon-Sun at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
Pie fights will be met with outrageous ridicule and insults. Trolls will be incinerated and served at the next group BBQ. As briquettes.
From Above And Below
The one thing that will always stay with me from this time of COVID is how fragile we all are — the fragility of the mélange life and it’s ecosystems — and yet the persistence of life. Today we’re admiring some more photos from above. I’ve explained in previous diaries why I find this vantage slightly more fascinating because of the eye looking down has a particular way of seeing that emphasizes the raw fragility and the finiteness of what is being photographed. The eye that favored these images belongs to the Swedish photographer Tobias Hägg —
What do you look for when composing the perfect landscape photo?
I would say I try to compose my shots after ideas I get when I see a scene. It also depends on what I am shooting and what story I want to tell with the image I am taking. It is always different, and I think and shoot very differently depending on if I am shooting from the ground or aerial photography from the sky.
With landscape photography comes a lot of rules. How to photograph and how to compose leading images from cold to warm and so on. But I don't like to follow rules and instead focus a lot more on telling a story with my image. How I can make someone else feel the image the way I see it is my way of thinking when I am out.
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Next, the photos of Derek Sturman and his amazing photos capturing the continuous presence of the Milky Way in our lives, even though most days we pay it no mind. It’s there though, watching over us… Additionally even when one is as good at capturing images as Sturman is, it takes a stubborn persistence and determination to overcome other obstacles to get the photos —
He made his way to his designated spot and started with his foreground shots, only to realize that the device he was using to trigger the shutter required him to keep his finger on the button until the entire exposure was done.
“I'm not going to lie, it's fortunate that only my good friend the Milky Way was there to hear what I said next…. Interestingly enough, yelling to a large beautiful vista is actually quite therapeutic. However, I was quickly distracted by the beauty of the Milky Way rising over the Yosemite Valley.”
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New Day Cafe is an open thread.
What do you want to talk about today?
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