Endangered

South Island takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri). A large flighless bird.

In the 1930's the takahe were thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered in 1948 in the Murchison Mountains. There are now approximately 250 birds in New Zealand but despite conservation programmes they are still critically endangered.

Today the weather in Wellington was a slight improvement on yesterday - still not good enough for the trip out to the island so we went up to the Karori sanctuary instead. We got there to find that it was 'gold coin entry' day - a great thing for the park but not so good for us. Hundreds or people battled the wind to wander the park and although it was great to see so many family groups there, it did mean that there was a lot of noise and movement - and the birds stayed well away.

Except their pair of takahe who seemed perfectly happy ignoring the crowds.

The flight home was interestingly bumpy - though mercifully short.
The drive home from the airport was even more interesting - there were branches and bits of tree and rocks all over the road in places, and at times I was driving at a crawl, barely able to see into the driving rain.

Since I got home the lightning has been really pretty and the thunder has bounced around the hills making great booms and roars. I love the power of weather like this. Am off to bed to fall asleep to the sound of rain pounding on the roof.