Author: Duncan - Page 32

Birds

History repeating itself

June 8, 2011 by Duncan 3 Comments

If studying insects would lead you to suppose that God had an “an inordinate fondness for beetles”, studying the pre-human avifauna of the Pacific...

Birding

Retiring to Wellington

May 25, 2011 by Duncan 6 Comments

Seeing one of the world’s rarest birds is not something you’d usually think an easy task. Species with a world population in the hundreds...

Birds

Not Wood-Warbler Week

May 18, 2011 by Duncan 4 Comments

As entertaining as it has been reading about the lovely spring migrations in North America recently, it might be worth remembering the fate of...

Birds

The Lost Warblers of the Farallon Islands

May 11, 2011 by Duncan 2 Comments

My first exposure to the beautiful birds known as wood-warblers was on a small group of islands on the edge of the world (almost)....

Plants

Lords of the Forest

May 4, 2011 by Duncan 3 Comments

Although the only pine forests found in New Zealand are recent plantations of Northern Hemisphere Pinus species like the Monterey pine, the country does...

Birds

Man-o-war Birds

April 27, 2011 by Duncan 5 Comments

Last week I introduced the Great Frigatebird, one of five species of man-o-war bird. I got rather carried away showing all the plumages you...

Birds

The Great Pirates of the Pacific

April 20, 2011 by Duncan 7 Comments

I’ve always thought there is something prehistoric about frigatebirds, as something about their shape evokes in my mind the shape I imagine the later...

Inspiration