@rnzbot_nz “A close inspection revealed a spider she had never seen before. She took photos and, with the permission of the landowners, uploaded them to nature identification app iNaturalistNZ.” “Te Papa PhD student Shaun Thompson contacted her, identifying the spider as a potential new species.”

#iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ #spiders #discovery #NewSpecies #CitizenScience

@rnzbot_nz “A close inspection revealed a spider she had never seen before. She took photos and, with the permission of the landowners, uploaded them to nature identification app iNaturalistNZ.” “Te Papa PhD student Shaun Thompson contacted her, identifying the spider as a potential new species.”

#iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ #spiders #discovery #NewSpecies #CitizenScience

Dougal Townsend took an incredible sequence of photos yesterday of a riroriro (grey warbler), one of NZ's two smallest birds, feeding a fledgling of pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo). Pīpīwharauroa are brood parasites of riroriro, which raise them as if they were their own young.

(CC-BY-NC Dougal Townsend)

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/333374944

#birds #nature #nz #Wellington #iNaturalistNZ #iNaturalist

Dougal Townsend took an incredible sequence of photos yesterday of a riroriro (grey warbler), one of NZ's two smallest birds, feeding a fledgling of pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo). Pīpīwharauroa are brood parasites of riroriro, which raise them as if they were their own young.

(CC-BY-NC Dougal Townsend)

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/333374944

#birds #nature #nz #Wellington #iNaturalistNZ #iNaturalist

Behold, a feeding frenzy of Plum Sharks!

Plum sharks AKA kererū, the NZ wood pigeon.

Plums are in full fruit in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, at the moment. I was on Valley Road today in Cashmere there were at least 11 kererū feasting in the plum trees up the side of the road.

I think plums are one of the big reasons that these birds venture down from the hills into the city at this time of year.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/333255361

#birds #fruigivory #plums #Prunus #woodpigeon #pigeons #kererū #nz #Christchurch #nature #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ

Behold, a feeding frenzy of Plum Sharks!

Plum sharks AKA kererū, the NZ wood pigeon.

Plums are in full fruit in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, at the moment. I was on Valley Road today in Cashmere there were at least 11 kererū feasting in the plum trees up the side of the road.

I think plums are one of the big reasons that these birds venture down from the hills into the city at this time of year.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/333255361

#birds #fruigivory #plums #Prunus #woodpigeon #pigeons #kererū #nz #Christchurch #nature #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ

@bigblen Yikes. That's is early. Yum, but weirdly early.

The blue on the graph here are when feijoa has fruited in the observations submitted to #iNaturalistNZ from Christchurch. Almost all are April–May.

https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/1341071-Feijoa-sellowiana

Travis Wetland is a large urban wetland nature reserve. That means it's surrounded by people and their gardens on all sides, so it gets a constant inflow of pests (and pet cats) and weeds.

While working at the wetland yesterday, we found (and pulled out) the first records from the wetland of evergreen buckthorn and raphiolepis. Both are emergent woody weeds that are shade tolerant and make bird dispersed fleshy fruits. They're both still planted in gardens.

If you live near some wild native habitat, keep an eye out for new exotic plants establishing.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/328034270

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/328034276

#weeds #wetland #nz #Christchurch #BiologicalInvasions #iNaturalistNZ

I was running down off the hills this afternoon as part of my monthly biodiversity survey of this Port Hills route. I was carrying cameras and a monocular and a wind-shielded microphone plugged into my phone.

A couple of young guys biked up the hill on their mountain bikes.

"Capturing the birds?" one of them asked, curiously.

"Yeah!" I replied.

"Premium," he nodded.

There wasn't time to explain that I was capturing more than bird observations. Still, here are two of my afternoon's "premium" bird observations.

😄

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214

#nz#ChristchurchPortHills#Ōtautahi#Christchurch #birds #nature#BiodiversitySurvey #wildcounts #iNaturalistNZ

I was running down off the hills this afternoon as part of my monthly biodiversity survey of this Port Hills route. I was carrying cameras and a monocular and a wind-shielded microphone plugged into my phone.

A couple of young guys biked up the hill on their mountain bikes.

"Capturing the birds?" one of them asked, curiously.

"Yeah!" I replied.

"Premium," he nodded.

There wasn't time to explain that I was capturing more than bird observations. Still, here are two of my afternoon's "premium" bird observations.

😄

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/314079214

#nz#ChristchurchPortHills#Ōtautahi#Christchurch #birds #nature#BiodiversitySurvey #wildcounts #iNaturalistNZ

I see your Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and raise you a Mallochomacquartia vexata.

Seen yesterday in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, New Zealand. It's an endemic New Zealand tachinid fly that's an insect parasitoid and pollinator.

(Like many common NZ native insects, there is notably little about its natural history anywhere on the internet.)

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/310322069

#Diptera #nz #iNaturalistNZ #flies #entomology

Here are a couple of vine weeds to watch out for at the moment that are still uncommon but actively spreading around Ōtautahi-Christchurch, New Zealand.

What's commonly known as German Ivy (Delairea odorata) is a fast growing vine from, well, not anywhere close to Germany. It's a native to southern Africa. It's been establishing in parts of the Port Hills and I saw the first one in Halswell last week. Its leaves are thinner than English ivy and it has yellow flowers.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208256

Chilean glory creeper (Eccremocarpus scaber) is an orange-flowered vine that's been popping up in and around the city. Every year I see a few more plants.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208250

Weedbusters has fact sheets on these, including recommendations on how to get rid of them.
https://www.weedbusters.org.nz/what-are-weeds/weed-list/german-ivy/
https://www.weedbusters.org.nz/what-are-weeds/weed-list/chilean-glory-creeper/

Please report sightings on #iNaturalist if you find them.

#nz #weeds#InvasivePlants#InvasiveSpecies #iNaturalistNZ

Here are a couple of vine weeds to watch out for at the moment that are still uncommon but actively spreading around Ōtautahi-Christchurch, New Zealand.

What's commonly known as German Ivy (Delairea odorata) is a fast growing vine from, well, not anywhere close to Germany. It's a native to southern Africa. It's been establishing in parts of the Port Hills and I saw the first one in Halswell last week. Its leaves are thinner than English ivy and it has yellow flowers.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208256

Chilean glory creeper (Eccremocarpus scaber) is an orange-flowered vine that's been popping up in and around the city. Every year I see a few more plants.
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208250

Weedbusters has fact sheets on these, including recommendations on how to get rid of them.
https://www.weedbusters.org.nz/what-are-weeds/weed-list/german-ivy/
https://www.weedbusters.org.nz/what-are-weeds/weed-list/chilean-glory-creeper/

Please report sightings on #iNaturalist if you find them.

#nz #weeds#InvasivePlants#InvasiveSpecies #iNaturalistNZ