All Shagged Out While Feeding the Eels

Pied Shag with the NZ guide providing recording of male adults

Still wanting to be able to work up to a afternoon with the grandfolks I endeavoured to try more time out for a bit.  An opportunity presented itself when Mum dropped by some freshly caught snapper & kahawai, (from a celebratory work trip), two common NZ staple fish with strong distinct flavours.  Kahawai is more commonly smoked while snapper is used for the classic non battered fish & chips.  We were lucky with the portion of kahawai Mum shared with us already having been gutted & bled on the trip.  Which left the snapper to be gutted & filleted at home.

Tasty snapper, chilli lemon pesto and 'chips'

Hubby worked out a grand plan to crumb bite size pieces of kahawai with chana, (chickpea) flour, fresh sage and orange zest.  So post filleting he crumbed and fried the kahawai to eat that night, (as it normally does not keep well hence it is more often smoked).  While we could have some snapper in later days.  We kept the guts, skin etc to feed to the local longfin eels in the nearby creeks and ponds, (much like feeding the ducks except you are less likely to get bitten with eels).  Hubby prepared a lovely herb, lemon zest, ginger and chilli pesto to sit on top of the cooked snapper and we swapped chips for green long beans, (a cheaper & healthier option at the time).

View of one of the ponds, pink Chelsea factory, beach & sea from one of the estate's park areas

We waited for a good day to head out to some local ponds.  The ponds are right next to the coastline in the pink Chelsea sugar factory estate grounds.  Established in the 1880's with classic style houses (prior for some local workers but now rented privately), plenty of manicured garden & natural bush, walking tracks, beachfront and large ponds that are home to several wild species and some waterfowl & carp.  The grounds are open to the public but seeing more than 5 people in the area at a time is busy, (unless it is a shift start/end at the factory), and it is a lovely quiet park were locals can sneak off to eat lunch in peace away from crowds.  In the winding & wide estate there is always a quiet corner.  In this case there is a carpark right next to the pond so all I needed to do was stand and hold onto the car or sit on the hood, which I can maintain for a few minutes (with the trade off with energy later on).

NZ Freshwater Longfin Eel

We noticed the eel population had suffered recently from public interactions when we arrived.  I had heard people had illegally been killing them around the area, completely wiping some creeks out altogether (an action that carries a fine).  Where previously groups of large very curious eels, often decades old, (as some can live to over 100 years), would come up to greet newcomers to the ponds there were only a few small eels very scared and unsure of humans.  Probably a good attitude to have given the recent events.  We got the fish guts & tasty tibits out to feed the few there, hopefully they survive the other humans so they can get to the end of their lifetime to breed at least once before death.

We then got to feed some of the ducks including a very excitable muscovy duck which appeared to respond extremely well being called for oats.  Hubby would call to feed ducky some rye oats and when he ran out I would call to feed him some of mine.  This duck knew the deal and was attentive to our moves and which human had the food.  The other grey ducks hung back and waited for the muscovy to finish.  They probably had their fill from another earlier set of duck feeding public as we had come post the lunchtime, er rush.

See if you can spot all the visible shag nesting perches

I got to take photos of the local pied shag colony. In other countries other subspecies in the family are also known as cormorants.  The colony has around 30 pairs which gather & build a nesting colony in the trees on the other side of the pond to the factory.  They still get their sea views and often will fly out en masse, (even though in general the pied shag normally forages alone), before breaking off around the harbour to feed before coming back the the Chelsea estate to nest in the sheltered spot.  I remember it was so strange seeing them fly into the colony as a group, normally you might only see 1 or 2 out in the wharf & beaches by themselves.  They will be rather quiet compared to other birds but will often be sleeping, drying out after swimming & diving for fish and grooming.  However with a colony this large there is bound to be one or two birds calling, but less of a din than if the whole colony was battling to be heard.

They form monogamous breeding pairs and the colony will build up nests over time on the ground or in trees which they seem to share on a first come first nested basis.  I found a breeding pair which were grooming each other and sleeping together often on many days.  They stand out from the crowd a bit and you can see their back feathers are black their undersides are white, the skin in the front of the eye is yellow, the eye ring is blue and the base of the beak is a pink.  Whereas non breeding juveniles have lighter back feathers, more of a black brownish tone, they have some brown mottling on their undersides and there is more grey around their eyes than distinct colours.

Shags & cormorants have a more well known set of distinct postures.  Especially well known is the posture where shags are seen sitting on poles with their wings outspread to dry in the wind.  But there are also several distinct neck & body moves, (say pre-dive and pre-jump), and you can see the expansion of the head in one of the later photos.

All shagged out ourselves we headed back home to finish off the snapper for the night. Well worth the fishy treat. We were so lucky as it had been a couple years since we last had some at home. Hubby will remember the pesto & crumb recipe for later. Definitely a keeper.

I Like Birds - Eels

I can't look at the rocket launch

The trophy wives of the astronauts

And I won't listen to their words

'Cause I like

Birds

I don't care for walkin' downtown

Crazy auto-car gonna mow me down

Look at all the people like cows in a herd

Well, I like

Birds

If you're small and on a search

I've got a feeder for you to perch on

I can't stand in line at the store

The mean little people are such a bore

But it's alright if you act like a turd

'Cause I like

Birds

If you're small and on a search

I've got a feeder for you to perch on

If you're small and on a search

I've got a feeder for you to perch on

I've got a feeder for you to perch on

If you're small and on a search

I've got a feeder for you to perch on

I've got a feeder for you to perch on

A Break In The Clouds

A mist lays across Muriwai running up it's black sand dunes to the fields beyond. 

During a brief moment of clarity & ability we travelled to the west coast North Island black sand surf beach Muriwai.  A lot of beaches can look picturesque but the rocks and waves are dangerous.  Lately more people, new to the area, are taking risks on the beaches, and during a recent fishing accident 2 people lost their lives.  A family had gone out fishing with their kids off the rocks, the father was swept off by a wave and the mother pulled in after him.  There was a recent blessing ceremony from the locals, rescue staff, & iwi by the beach and another from the Buddhist community.  The weather can turn quickly here, the rocks jagged and slippery.  Volunteer lifeguards put out flags for swimmers & junior surfers on good days.  There is still surfing out during high winds, even during mild hurricanes.  But it is not a forgiving area and the locals know this well, including the local gannets.

 

 Life can be both fragile and indomitable.

The gannets nest and ride the winds around the cliffs.  You can see their nesting spots they come back to claim each year, waiting to see if their mates return to join them.  We watched them dive & scan the ocean for fish.  Then they would rest on the waves in a group together before launching to make the journey back up the cliffs to their nesting spot.  It can be rough as the gannets face a lot of risk most the year travelling around NZ and Australia before returning for nesting season.  Especially as recently a lot of sea birds have been dying  from dehydration & starvation due to the warm La Nina weather conditions & changes in fish stock.

In before the spring rush picking a good nest spot & tidying it up is imperative.

We could not stay long.  The recovery from hubbies brain injury is slow so his energy wore down quickly.  But at least he had enough time to eat his hot steak and cheese pie.  Feel & taste the fresh sea air.  While I got to take the photos in this post.  I prepared to drive us back with singing breathing exercises to stay focused & keep my mind off the pain.  I am the sort where I got used to doing maths tests with migraines as a teenager, i.e. stubborn wanting to complete a task, through pain, through nausea and if that includes a physical punishment later I pay the price.  It has been a lot to adjust to with chronic fatigue.  ME is a thousand times worse than any migraine and with continuous effects, gut, allergy, flu symptoms, even multi day migraine symptoms and orthostatic intolerance issues so I have to do regular safety checks and be fully certain of my condition & mental acuity.  If I am too far gone to drive, eyesight affected or hands & terrible fatigue it is a no go.  We have backup plans in place, lots of hydration & rest ahead of any planned trip so I only head out on days where I almost approach normal and only for short trips.  The energy never lasts and the punishment can hit like a goat to the groin.  We travelled back on the busy state highways peppered with wineries, farms, orchards and lots of trucks.  Nice drive but it hit me really hard afterwards, with a couple days of a really bad flare.  I had difficulty sitting & speaking and hand control was affected.  Pain intense.   I think it was worth it.  These moments may be fleeting but they are the light coming through the clouds after the storm.

As if hanging by a thread trying to get home.

Lyrics from "Till The Clouds Clear" - Lamb

What's left to say with all that's come and gone
Words get in the way
And anyway the devil's got your tongue
And the storm brews inside
And there's nowhere to hide
It's gonna blow your cover sky high

If you let this thing go
It's gonna burn, it's gonna burn
You're gonna take the whole world with you when you go

What you gonna do?
When the storm takes over
What you gonna do?
When the storm takes over

So here you are,
demons screaming in your head
You try to shut them out
But they just get louder instead
And nothing you do
can seem to break through this darkness smothering you
when it takes hold your heart turns cold
your very soul sneaks out of you

What you gonna do?
When this storm, this storm takes over you
Can you hold this thing?
Can you hold this thing?

Till the clouds clear