HOBBIT HOUSES IN MATAMATA, NEW ZEALAND

   Matamata is a town in the shadow of the Kaimai Range Mountains, on New Zealand's North Island. South of the town, the Hobbits Movie Set was created for Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" films.  Within Matamata there are a number of buildings which have been built or renovated to look like Hobbit houses.

PIED CORMORANTS OR PIED SHAGS, THAMES, NEW ZEALAND

VARIABLE OYSTERCATCHER, THAMES, NEW ZEALAND

COMMON MYNAS, THAMES, NEW ZEALAND

MALE MALLARD, THAMES, NEW ZEALAND

SOUTH ISLAND PIED OYSTERCATCHER, THAMES, NEW ZEALAND

   We can ID this oystercatcher as a South Island Pied Oystercatcher by its striking black and white plumage, long red-orange bill and red legs.  The white notch in front of the folded wings distinguishes the South Island Pied Oystercatcher from the Pied morph of the Variable Oystercatcher. 

   The South Island Pied Oystercatcher is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 733.

   

PIED CORMORANTS (OR SHAGS) SOUTHERN BLACK-BACKED GULLS (OR KELP GULLS),