Here are a few, token animal photos to finish this account of our fieldwork.
South Island fernbird, Bowdleria punctata punctata, in manuka bordering tangle fern (Gleichenia)-dominated pakihi near Westport. This was the first fernbird I have ever seen/noticed, but we saw/heard several others elsewhere during our trip. Unfortunately my camera is optimised for close-ups (since plants don’t run away), and has a terrible zoom – hence this blurry picture. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
A western weka, Gallirallus australis australis, making a mess of DOC’s lawn. Enchanting birds, but somewhat of a road hazard, and evidently careless gardeners. Tauranga Bay, Cape Foulwind, near Westport. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
c. 10 cm long slug, Stockton. I nearly stepped on it during my excitement of finding a couple of uncommon ferns. The slug’s impressive size was enough to distract me from the ferns, momentarily. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
Mammals impersonating slugs – seals at Tauranga Bay, Cape Foulwind, near Westport. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
South Island robins, Petroica australis australis, are regular companions during forest walks in many parts of the South Island. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
Other blog posts about our West Coast fern fieldwork cover:
What we were doing.
Where we went.
Sticherus (umbrella ferns).
New, problematic, and interesting species.
Favourite photos.
These are some of my favourite fern photos from our fieldwork on the South Island’s West Coast.
Close up of the underside of a frond of carrier tangle fern, Gleichenia microphylla. Each of the yellow spheres is a spore-producing sporangia. This species has more or less flat and green frond undersides, and the sporangia often occur in groups (sori) of three. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
Close up of the underside of a frond of alpine tangle fern, Gleichenia alpina. This species is densely covered in scales. After our fieldwork we are much the wiser about variation in tangle ferns, but no less confused. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
Close-up of the hairy Hymenophyllum rufescens. I haven’t seen this fern very often. Its related to the fan-like filmy fern, Hymenophyllum flabellatum, which is common in the lowlands, but you have to go up and/or south to find Hymenophyllum rufescens. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
Despite its alien-looks, this is the fertile, spore-producing frond of kiokio, Blechnum novae-zelandiae. Parts of ‘normal’-looking sterile fronds are in the background. Most Blechnum ferns produce markedly different-looking fertile and sterile fronds. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
The distinctive ‘black-spot’ scales on the stipe (frond stalk) of kiokio (Blechnum novae-zelandiae). The similar swamp kiokio (Blechnum minus) is said to have uniformly tan scales, lacking black-spots. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
The upperside of a fertile frond of the stumpy tree fern, Dicksonia lanata. The spherical spore-producing structures can be seen poking out from the underside of the frond where they are aggregated on the margins. Photo Leon Perrie. © Te Papa.
Other blog posts about our West Coast fern fieldwork cover:
What we were doing.
Where we went.
Sticherus (umbrella ferns).
New, problematic, and interesting species.
Animal miscellany.
by WaitokiSchool
In partnership with TelstraClear and NZ Post, this year’s Matariki festivities include a unique photography event utilising the existing OurSpace infrastructure as well as the newly developed OurSpace TelstraClear Screen, scheduled for installation on the front exterior of the building in the coming month. The purpose of the showcase is to not only generate contributions to the longterm OurSpace experience, but to invite New Zealanders to take part in a digital conversation specifically on the significance of Matariki.
We are asking the questions, ‘what does Matariki mean to you?’ and ‘what is important to you this Matariki?’ We are soliciting images through several already existing relationships with schools, online communities, and corporate partnerships, as well as through national appeals to the wider public.
by nativ flavas | photography
A group of prominent selectors will choose images to be viewed on the Screen during Matariki, with an on-site event showcasing these images.
We have already seen a diverse pool of submissions on what New Zealanders hold dear to their hearts when considering the overarching theme of whakawhanaungatanga – relationships and bringing people together. From hangi to hikoi to hip-hop dancers, the range of perspectives is exciting, and there are still a couple of weeks remaining for submission.
by Pieter ten Broek
To take part, simply visit ourspace.tepapa.com , establish a user account, and upload images to the OurSpace database. We only ask that you include the tags, ‘Matariki 09’ to ensure that your images are clearly associated and available for selection.
You can see a whole lot more photos of the squid in our Picture Library on the Te Papa website.
These photos were taken by one of Te Papa’s photographers, Norman Heke. He was there the whole time taking some beautiful shots. We’ve put over 70 photos up online but there are loads more than that. So if you do want a particular photo then let us know and we can check with Norm.
If you want high resolution photos, print quality or you want to use them in a publication you can contact our Picture Library staff.
Videos
Just a quick update too about the videos of the lecture series. We hope to have the first ones up online this week. Sorry about the delay, we’ve been sorting out copyright!
Hi this is Anton blogging in on Emma’s blog. At the moment we are taking lots and lots of photos. Documenting animals in this way allows us to have landmarks on the outside of the animal that we can link to internal structures. So that we can build up a picture of how the insides relate to the outside. We also do this to be able to make comparisons with future animals. For instance if we were to get a larger animal of this species we could show how things change (or don’t change) relative to size.
