GCN

Photograph of South Island Takahe. Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand.

[south island takahe photo]

Male South Island Takahe close up photo.

Another quick photo post while I'm at it. Its a close up picture of Greg the Takahe, from Tiritiri Matangi Island last year. I found this pic while looking through my ever increasing backlog of photographs. Its actually an alternative edit of my other Takahe photograph published, which I guess I'd decided not to publish. Usually I'd never bother posting two versions of the same photo, or even two photos from the same series. But this one does look good, so why not. Perhaps I should review that policy. Related photographs : South Island Takahe, Kakapo, Kokako. This is photographic post #15 for 2010. Like my photography? Follow me on twitter @glen_co_nz. South Island Takahe Information. Other names : Notornis, Moho (although only for North Island subspecies). Abundance (In NZ): Extremely rare. New Zealand Status : Fully protected endangered endemic (only found in NZ). Found (in NZ): "Takahe Valley" in the South Island. Selected protected Islands and restricted entry reserves. Subspecies photographed : Prophyrio mantelli hochstetteri from New Zealand's South Island.

Takahe Close Up Photograph.
Image Description:	Close up photo of a male Takahe. Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand.
Camera Make:	Nikon Corporation.	Camera Model:	Nikon D300 Digital SLR (DSLR).	Date:	15th April 2009.
Focal Length:	105mm	35mm Equiv Focal Length:	157mm	Aperture:	f/5.6
White Balance:	Manual.	Flash Used:	No.	Exposure Time:	1/40th second.
Light Source:	Cloudy.	Metering Mode:	Spot.	Exposure Mode:	Manual.
ISO:	400		Lens Used:	Nikkor 18-105mm VR.
Accessories Utilised:	Nikon MB-D10 battery grip. Scandisk Extream IV CompactFlash. Nikon EN-EL3e Li-ion battery pack.
Software:	Converted from RAW with Nikon Capture NX. Post edited with The Gimp 2.4.
Photo edits:	Crop and align. Slight levels. Border and scale.
Photographer Comments:		Alternative edit of already published photo.
Model Credit:	Takahe.	Photograph Copyright: ©	Glen Webber 2009. All rights reserved.

I will find some more original bird photos to post tomorrow.

Want to see more of my photos? Click the subject links on the left.

Cheers,
Glen.

Like my photography? Follow me on twitter @glen_co_nz.

Thoughts or opinion? Leave a comment below, by clicking the comments link.

Photograph of Kokako remains. Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand.

[remains of a north island kokako]

Remains of a North Island Kokako photo.
As some may have noticed, I'm in the process of playing with the layout of GCN. There are now less photographs displayed on each page, but no content has been lost. You can still scroll through each pic using the pager links at the top or bottom of each page, or the subject links on the left. Please do leave a comment and let know what you think.

Now on to today's photo. It is of the remains of a North Island Kokako. A rather sad photo I admit. Especially given how rare the Kokako is. Its estimated there are only a few hundred pairs left in the world. (The South Island Kokako is now officially extinct.) This photo was taken on Tiritiri Matangi Island a couple of months back. As you can see there is not much left of the poor bird. As Tiri has had all pest species removed the most likely culprit is a Australasian Harrier (Kahu). This does raise one of the ethical questions those working in conservation have to deal with. What do you do when one native is killing off another? Generally in NZ if a threatened species is involved, least threatened gets killed. Kahu are an abundant native. Kokako are a very rare endemic. While Kahu is a protected species in NZ, Tiri is one of the few places where DoC rangers are authorised to kill Kahu if required. I don't know the exact outcome in this situation, but it doesn't take a genius to work it out. I will come up with a much nicer photograph of a Kokako for everyone very soon. Like my photography? Follow me on twitter @glen_co_nz. North Island Kokako Information. Other names : Blue-wattled Crow. Abundance : Very rare. New Zealand Status : Native, protected. Found : Isolated areas of bush in NZs North Island and protected offshore Islands.

North Island Kokako Remains Photograph.
Image Description:	Photo of the remains of a killed North Island Kokako. Tiritiri Matangi Island, New Zealand.
Camera Make:	Nikon Corporation.	Camera Model:	Nikon D300 Digital SLR (DSLR).	Date:	5th April 2010.
Focal Length:	200mm	35mm Equiv Focal Length:	300mm	Aperture:	f/5.6
White Balance:	Manual.	Flash Used:	No.	Exposure Time:	1/160th second.
Light Source:	Cloudy.	Metering Mode:	Spot.	Exposure Mode:	Manual.
ISO:	500		Lens Used:	Nikkor 18-200mm VR.
Accessories Utilised:	Nikon MB-D10 battery grip. Nikon EN-EL3e Li-ion battery pack. Scandisk Extream IV CompactFlash.
Software:	Converted from RAW with Nikon Capture NX. Post editing with The Gimp 2.6.
Photo edits:	Small crop. Small amount of levels. Selective sharpen. Border then scale.
Photographer Comments:		Sad this is my first posted Kokako photo.
Model Credit:	n/a.	Photograph Copyright: ©	Glen Webber 2010. All rights reserved.

Happier another photo tomorrow.

Want to see more of my photos? Click the subject links on the left.

Cheers,
Glen.

Like my photography? Follow me on twitter @glen_co_nz.

Thoughts or opinion? Leave a comment below, by clicking the comments link.