Two specimens in close proximity on trunk of Blue Gum.
Photo 5 gives indication of size - fingers are pointing towards specimen in upper right of photo.
Constantly moving, very rapidly, so hard to photograph.
Distinctive features include: short wings, broad flat 'thighs' on rear legs, iridescent sheen on various parts of body (see photos 2 & 3) and head/eyes (not showing in these photos).
date approximate, plus minus one week
Newmarket Park, Auckland. On the underside of a large rock.
Although this is my first observation for this species, I may have ignored/overlooked it until now.
Coastal. At high tide.
This bird was found on Muriwai Beach then successfully rehabilitated but the NZ Bird Rescue Trust. The identification was confirmed as a juvenile Lesser frigatebird by bill measurements and markings.
Attracted to lights at night.
With fungi Hesperomyces coccinelloides on it:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/159954218
The flaky part on a coccinellid that was attracted to lights at night.
(Thanks @stephen_thorpe for pointing out that it was a fungi)
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Found by digging out the Cordyceps sinclairii (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/151320642).
Fieldwork with @ lloyd_esler, @ predomalpha and @ fiestykakapo.
Native beech forest.
Found beneath plastic sacking lying on the ground under native bush and exotic trees, beside a small stream.
Found on rotting vegetation in water near bank.
Native mixed podocarp / broadleaf forest, resting on a tree trunk at night.
Native mixed podocarp / broadleaf forest, resting on a tree trunk at night.
Today was a great lesson on how to stay composed as a tour guide in front of 37 paying passengers, but it wasn't hard for them to share my excitement either... 13th record for NZ by my count, including the Chatham bird in a burrow a few years back that wasn't submitted. Interesting too is the single white feather on the upperwing.
Locally abundant corticolous moss in ridge top cloud forest. ID by Jessica Beever: note the filamentous branch extensions.
Between the base of the leaf and the trunk of a Nikau Palm Tree.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest, growing from a cicada nymph (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/151320644).
Found on a damp ground and I dug it out to comfirm what its host was.
Fieldwork with @emma_brockes.
At night. Attracted to lights (UV trap) which we had set in a garden surrounded by native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Freshwater / aquatic.
Under a stone, rather clear water.
Observed with @dan686 and @spiraea_naturephotographer.
Coastal freshwater flow.
Not at all sure. Lots of these hard, white, small, crusty lumps on a piece of mussel beard
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Attracted to light, which I placed on a boulder by the river at night.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Attracted to light, which I placed on a boulder by the river at night.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Attracted to light, which I placed on a boulder by the river at night.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Attracted to light, which I placed on a boulder by the river at night.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Attracted to light, which I placed on a boulder by the river at night.
Came to our tent on the campground by the native Podocarp-broadleaved forest. Very adorable.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest, on Veronica sp.
Caught in a surface plankton haul off Tiri Island in the Hauraki Gulf.
The long and feathery bristles are there to create resistance to sinking out of the photic zone where its algae food is found.
A small unidentified copepod approx 0.7mm long in surface plankton haul off Tiritiri Matangi Island.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest.
Attracted to light, which I placed on a boulder by the river at night. Observed one or two individuals.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest, under a damp decomposing wood.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest, under a damp decomposing wood.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest, on a tree trunk.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest, under a damp decomposing wood.
I didn't expect this when I flipped the piece of wood. Carefully placed back after getting images.
Upper intertidal, under a moist smooth boulder of sandy mudstone sitting on sand.
Native Podocarp-broadleaved forest, under a damp decomposing wood.
This observation is of a (small) moth larva feeding on the inside of a Greenhood Orchid flower (Pterostylis banksii).
I don’t know if taking this home was the right thing to do but it was found on a beach where if I had not taken it it would’ve been lost forever or broken apart, if you have any idea what I should do with it please let me know! Really cool find, it was found under the high tide line way below what I think was middens.