New Zealand baby fur seal at Peka Peka Beach

Baby Seal at Peka Peka

This baby seal was seen at Peka Peka Beach recently, it is quite usual for seals

this small to visit our beaches as they are left to fend for themselves by their 

mothers.  This one was playing in the shallows but approached a family

 and went up to sniff their hands.  The Department of Conservation advises

that they should not be approached and dogs should be kept on leashes.

Someone in Raumati South returned from the beach to find one on her porch,

and it didn't stop there going inside her house to sit by the fire for about

ten minutes. It also ate the fish she had saved for her supper.  

The number of seals visiting our beaches seems to be rising as they recover from the
being harvested for their pelts in the eighteenth century.  They are now fully protected
but are sometimes caught in nets from fishing vessels.

Photos courtesy Stuff .co.nz

Bird and Beetles from New Zealand

The Extinct Huia

The Huia bird is now extinct, I made this drawing using a photograph of huia skins

which are common in our museums.  They were beautiful birds of black and

white with much valued tail feathers with a white tip, they lived only in

the North Island and had very limited flight using bounds and leaps to

travel through the trees.  In 1901 the tail feather became a fashionable item

to adorn hats and hair after being seen on the Duke of York's hat when he

visited New Zealand, this and predation as well as loss of habitat led to the 

extinction of this lovely bird.  This drawing is a lament, I have called

it Huia Singing in the Kowhai.

Here are some of our native beetles, New Zealand has an amazing 

selection of weevil and other types of small insects.  Many are most active at

night so the black paper seems to suit them.

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2018

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