CORRECTION: I have heard from readers around the world (2) that snipes really do exist. All I know is that my relatives had no intention of finding them. A "snipe hunt" was an excuse to wander in the Wisconsin woods drinking beer.
Katrina and I carried on the New Zealand road trip to the very end. While Leah, CJ, and Sophie stayed behind in Invercargill to do school work, Katrina and I took a ferry to Stewart Island on the tip of the South Island of New Zealand.
From there, we took one more ferry to Ulva Island. To clarify, we were on an island to the south of an island to the south of the South Island.
Ulva Island is unique because there is not a single mammal on the whole island--not a squirrel or a rat or any potential predator for New Zealand's native birds. This is relevant because for hundreds of thousands of years, all of New Zealand was this way. As a result, its native birds, such as the kiwi, either never developed the ability of fly or lost that ability.
Suffice it so say, when predators eventually arrived they found the equivalent of bacon-wrapped scallops. The native birds have been destroyed by the tens of millions. Ulva Island, however, is one place where many of these native species can still be observed. So we did some bird watching, including a search for the elusive kiwi.
At one point, two "kiwis" came running out of the bush. I took nearly a hundred photos before a New Zealand family came over a bluff and informed us that we were photographing a weka, not a kiwi. We had done the equivalent of confusing a seagull for a bald eagle. Bummer.
However, I did sign up for a late-night "kiwi adventure." (Katrina had no interest and went to bed instead.) The kiwis forage for food at night. So on nearly the longest day of the year, I set out at 10 p.m. hiking with a guide through the woods and along the beach for kiwis. After about three hours, nothing. It began to feel like the "snipe hunts" that relatives would take us on in Northern Wisconsin. (For the record, there is no such thing as a snipe.)
Then, sometime after 1:00 a.m., we spotted two kiwis. They look like rodents with big legs and a long beak. No photo, I'm afraid, as it was long after dark and the kiwis were illuminated only by flashlight. Very cool nonetheless and a fitting end to our stay in New Zealand. We've now made it back to Christchurch and will fly to Melbourne, Australia tomorrow.
Katrina and I carried on the New Zealand road trip to the very end. While Leah, CJ, and Sophie stayed behind in Invercargill to do school work, Katrina and I took a ferry to Stewart Island on the tip of the South Island of New Zealand.
From there, we took one more ferry to Ulva Island. To clarify, we were on an island to the south of an island to the south of the South Island.
Ulva Island is unique because there is not a single mammal on the whole island--not a squirrel or a rat or any potential predator for New Zealand's native birds. This is relevant because for hundreds of thousands of years, all of New Zealand was this way. As a result, its native birds, such as the kiwi, either never developed the ability of fly or lost that ability.
Suffice it so say, when predators eventually arrived they found the equivalent of bacon-wrapped scallops. The native birds have been destroyed by the tens of millions. Ulva Island, however, is one place where many of these native species can still be observed. So we did some bird watching, including a search for the elusive kiwi.
At one point, two "kiwis" came running out of the bush. I took nearly a hundred photos before a New Zealand family came over a bluff and informed us that we were photographing a weka, not a kiwi. We had done the equivalent of confusing a seagull for a bald eagle. Bummer.
However, I did sign up for a late-night "kiwi adventure." (Katrina had no interest and went to bed instead.) The kiwis forage for food at night. So on nearly the longest day of the year, I set out at 10 p.m. hiking with a guide through the woods and along the beach for kiwis. After about three hours, nothing. It began to feel like the "snipe hunts" that relatives would take us on in Northern Wisconsin. (For the record, there is no such thing as a snipe.)
Then, sometime after 1:00 a.m., we spotted two kiwis. They look like rodents with big legs and a long beak. No photo, I'm afraid, as it was long after dark and the kiwis were illuminated only by flashlight. Very cool nonetheless and a fitting end to our stay in New Zealand. We've now made it back to Christchurch and will fly to Melbourne, Australia tomorrow.
you better use a different bird book. the snipe is a real bird. in fact there are lots of different snipes. a common one is the wilson's snipe, and very alive--the last one i saw was on plum island a few years back. i have seen snipes in the midwest too, though not on a "snipe hunt".
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