New Zealand: Gull Colony

A small sampling of the red-billed gull colony at Kaikoura, South Island, New Zealand.

While on New Zealand’s South Island, I visited its largest colony of native red-billed gulls.

It’s tough when you’re presented with nifty creatures in large numbers that you can get close to (like the rutting elk from one of my earlier posts). You’ve got to balance getting as close as possible while respecting the animal and not threatening or stressing it. Well, I wound up getting nice and close, only to be dive-bombed by angry gull parents, all Hitchcock style. Too close after all! (I also got growled at by a sea lion, but that one wasn’t my fault, I swear! Another story for another day…) At any rate, I got a stereo earful of the chatty little bastards, with some background hiss and rumble from the pounding surf nearby.

New Zealand: South Island Red-Billed Gull Colony by noisejockey
[Zoom H2 recorder]