10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

People have moved useful plants and animals around with them as long as they had the wit to do so. So that New Zealand would end up with quite a few species of animal not originally found here is hardly surprising of itself. Brush-tailed Possums were brought from Australia to help start a fur industry.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 161

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

They bred on a number of islands near Japan and Taiwan, and ranged widely and abundantly from the Aleutian Islands south through California. Not only were they a common bird, they were a common bird nearshore; indigenous peoples hunted them up and down the coast. Brown Pelicans are not an unusual sight on the California coast.

Albatross 209

Albatross Endangered Species Geese Alaska 209

10,000 Birds

APRIL 10, 2013

The reason Kaikoura is such a great place to see albatrosses and whales is one and the same, and the same reason indeed that Monterrey in California is a great place to watch whales and albatross. The Sperm Whale is the fourth largest whale, and the largest toothed whale (and animal) in the world. I always seem to see Kaikoura at dawn.

Whales 206

Whales Whaling Albatross New Zealand 206