Zealandia

Zealandia is a 225 hectare/556 acre nature reserve on the outskirts of Wellington. There are no land mammals native to New Zealand, so none of the local bird population evolved to deal with predators such as the mice, rats, cats, dogs, stoats, and possums that have been introduced since humanity stumbled onto this island around 700 years ago. This, and habitat loss due to clearing for farmland and invasive introduced plants, has done a number on the native species. Zealandia is one of many conservation efforts. The sanctuary is surrounded by a giant fence, specially designed to keep all of the aforementioned predators out. You can learn more about it here: http://www.visitzealandia.com/

I kept meaning to come here, so on New Zealand's Labour Day, I met up with a friend from my first temp job, and we had a lovely wander through the sanctuary.

The bird watching began before we went through the gates, as a family of Paradise ducks was bringing its little ones into the safety of the fence. Zealandia has an overflow effect, birds born in the sanctuary may live outside but return to raise their own families.

These are kākā, a slightly smaller cousin to the South Island kea.

The feeders are specially designed so that only the weight of a kākā will allow a bird to access the food.

We saw a lot of birds and a few tuatara (native lizards), though I didn't get many good pictures. Mostly, it was just nice to wander and chat. It's a beautiful place.

There's a little boat that runs along the reservoir at the start of the trail, and we took it back to the gate.

There's a breeding colony of shags on the reservoir as well.

It was such a lovely day!