• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

This fight is for everything.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Consistently wrong since 2002

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

The revolution will be supervised.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

This blog will pay for itself.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable VA House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / Albatrossity / On the Road and In Your Backyard

On the Road and In Your Backyard

by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)|  January 14, 20195:00 am| 13 Comments

This post is in: Albatrossity, On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture

FacebookTweetEmail

On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

Good Morning All,

On The Road and In Your Backyard is a weekday feature spotlighting reader submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, please share your part of the world, whether you’re traveling or just in your locality. Share some photos and a narrative, let us see through your pictures and words. We’re so lucky each and every day to see and appreciate the world around us!

Submissions from commenters are welcome at tools.balloon-juice.com

Sorry I missed Friday, my new laptop went kaput and I blew all tech-type-stuff off and cooked up a storm until late Thursday and forgot all about things. Luckily I have more than one computer, so I’m still can get things done while I await its repair/return!

I hope this fantastic submission makes up for things. Tomorrow we return to Africa, and we’ll see what else in store this later this week.

Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!

 

Today, pictures from valued commenter Albatrossity.

Kapiti Island lies 6 km west of the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It is the oldest of the island bird sanctuaries in the country, being established in 1897. The Little Spotted Kiwi was saved from extinction when some of these birds were translocated to Kapiti from the mainland over a century ago. It now has healthy populations of kiwi and many other NZ endemic birds. It is also a fabulous place to visit simply for the scenery!

Taken on 2019-01-05 00:00:00

Kapiti Island, New Zealand

The Tui is a nectar-feeding species, about the size of the Common Grackle found in the US. It is a melodious vocalist, and the sounds of the Tui were among those that greeted Captain Cook in his voyages to these islands. Tui can be found on the main islands, but are really abundant in the sanctuaries where their nests are not being predated upon by rats, cats, stoats and possums. This one is perched on the flowering stalks of a plant that the New Zealanders call Flax ( Phormium tenax), even though it is no relation to the flax plant (genus Linum). The Maori used fibers from this plant to make fabrics.

Taken on 2019-01-05 00:00:00

Kapiti Island, New Zealand

The Kaka is a medium-sized parrot that also suffered from the introduction of mammals to these islands. They are smart, inquisitive, persistent beggars when you are trying to eat your lunch in their territory. They will unzip your pack and haul off the food (or your car keys…) if you leave your pack unguarded in their presence.

Taken on 2019-01-05 00:00:00

Kapiti Island, New Zealand

The Kakariki (aka Red-fronted Parakeet) is a small parrot that formerly was widespread in the country, but was decimated by the introduction of mammalian pests. This one is eating the seeds of another introduced pest, the dandelion.

Taken on 2019-01-05 00:00:00

Kapiti Island, New Zealand

The Weka is a flightless rail about the size of a bantam chicken. This youngster still has fuzzy down feathers, but was quite mobile and following its parents and sibling abound the island. These birds are omnivorous, but also will hang out at picnic sites to look vainly for a handout.

Taken on 2019-01-05 00:00:00

Kapiti Island, New Zealand

The Hihi (Stitchbird) is a nectar-feeder and is another example of a species that was saved by active human intervention, after it was reduced to a single remnant population on Little Barrier Island. Relocation to sanctuaries began in the 1990’s, and self-sustaining populations are now found in several sanctuaries across the country. Most New Zealanders have never seen one, even though it was one of the commonest songbirds before European colonization of the country.

 

Thank you so much Albatrossity, do send us more when you can.

 

Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.

 

One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Monday Morning Open Thread: If It Weren’t for Schaden, I’d Have No Freude At All
Next Post: Block grants and shock events »

Reader Interactions

13Comments

  1. 1.

    JPL

    January 14, 2019 at 5:09 am

    Albatrossity, I enjoy your comments as much as your pictures. Thank you so much for submitting them.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 14, 2019 at 5:11 am

    Boids!! Look at the boids!

  3. 3.

    arrieve

    January 14, 2019 at 6:48 am

    I am always in awe of your bird pictures, Albatrossity. I love to photograph birds but I get nine photos of an empty branch for every shot of an actual damn bird.

  4. 4.

    waratah

    January 14, 2019 at 7:04 am

    You always find the most interesting birds. Novels I have read set in New Zealand all of them mention hearing the Tui, the Kaka is mentioned frequently. Now I can picture them when mentioned. Thank you for your lovely photos.

  5. 5.

    David Evans

    January 14, 2019 at 7:44 am

    Great pictures. I love the way you brought out the colours of the Tui. I would probably have just looked at it and thought “black – boring”

  6. 6.

    Mary G

    January 14, 2019 at 8:15 am

    Always so excited when I see that Albatrossity has another set of photos here! And I agree with @JPL: that your comments on their habits and personalities do so much to supplement the photos. I hope the car keys the Kaka stole weren’t yours!

    Good on the New Zealanders for preserving them.

  7. 7.

    Mr. Prosser

    January 14, 2019 at 10:02 am

    I’m glad humans had the sense to make island sanctuaries, sometimes we seem as smart as a Kaka. What a cool bird.

  8. 8.

    Albatrossity

    January 14, 2019 at 10:22 am

    Thanks, all. NZ has some pretty cool birds, not quite as many as used to be there, but the people there are dedicated to bringing them back. Island sanctuaries and fenced mainland sanctuaries like Zealandia, Maungatautari, and Brook Waimarama seem to be helping a lot!

    No, the Kaka did not get my car keys, thankfully. We were familiar with the ways of the Kaka from previous trips, when one of them sauntered into our rented cottage on Stewart Island and looked around for something to eat/steal. The one pictured above did land on my shoulder while I was eating lunch, but I managed to finish without losing any food to this wily bird!

  9. 9.

    stinger

    January 14, 2019 at 10:25 am

    Amazing photos, as always!

    Albatrossity, I must ask if you are related to the wonderful actor of the same name?

  10. 10.

    Albatrossity

    January 14, 2019 at 10:40 am

    No relation as far as I know. The actor with the same name as mine changed his name from his birth name David Wilson. Rintoul is a relatively common name in Scotland, where he was born and where my great-grandfather emigrated from.

  11. 11.

    Another Scott

    January 14, 2019 at 10:45 am

    The pictures you submit here just keep getting more and more amazing. Thanks very much, Albatrossity.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  12. 12.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 14, 2019 at 11:36 am

    @arrieve:

    I get nine photos of an empty branch for every shot of an actual damn bird

    That’s pretty much my record too, though ducks seem to be pretty easy to snap pics of.

  13. 13.

    J R in WV

    January 14, 2019 at 12:13 pm

    Sensational photos, again, still, more, also too!! Thanks for the photos and the comments, as without the comments we would all be looking these babies up trying to find what they are and their habits.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

VA Purple House Delegates

Donate

Political Action

Postcard Writing Information

Recent Comments

  • Dopey-o on Friday Night Open Thread: The Looming Shutdown (Sep 30, 2023 @ 12:57pm)
  • SFAW on We Have the Best People (Sep 30, 2023 @ 12:57pm)
  • Alison Rose on We Have the Best People (Sep 30, 2023 @ 12:56pm)
  • Baud on We Have the Best People (Sep 30, 2023 @ 12:56pm)
  • SFAW on We Have the Best People (Sep 30, 2023 @ 12:56pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
What Has Biden Done for You Lately?

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Cole & Friends Learn Español

Introductory Post
Cole & Friends Learn Español

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!