Spotted shags and a single gull, found by Nigel yesterday when he visited the Kaka Point area in The Catlins. Looking at the photos last night, neither of us knew the identity of this shag but I’m confident from my online research that these are Spotted Shags.
This is on the south coast of the South Island, New Zealand
Following photos have been cropped from the 2nd photo
Further Information
There are great photos of the spotted shag in this article at TERRAIN
YouTube video showing spotted shags in breeding season on cliff ledge:
A Minute in New Zealand – Spotted shag (Stictocarbo punctatus)
Text by Liz, photos by Nigel; Exploring Colour (2019)
Exploring Colour 
Awesome shots, so nice to see them in a lovely habitat too, I like that rock formation!
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The Catlins is a wonderful area. Thank you Donna.
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Nice shots. 🙂
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Thank you Louella
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Looks like they’re playing king of the mountain.
Not deviating from State Highway 1 and 93 from Invercargill to Dunedin, we never visited Catlins. We did, however, see a slew of shags on a pier in Oamaru:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/new-zealand-shags-on-pier/
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Once I saw it again I remembered that photo, I’ve never seen so many shags in one place! A “slew of shags” is very apt 🙂
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Lovely photos Liz!
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Thank you!
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There were shags (a different, darker coloured variety) both where I grew up and where I lived later on in Scotland – I’ve just read that they’re on the ‘red list’ here as a threatened species.
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Wonderful birds! I’ve seen cormorants fishing in the Garonne and been amazed at how long they can stay beneath the water.
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Amazing! Also love how they hang their wings out to dry LOL
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Exactly. Someone told me they do that to throw shade on the water so they can see the fish below. Don’t know if it’s true, but it sounds smart to me.
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They need to dry out after those long dives that you noticed. Something to do with a lack of oil to keep the water out I think – I’m hazy on the exact explanation without looking it up!
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It’s amazing how they do it, anyway. They look as though they’re standing on the water…oh, wait…
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Hey Jane..recalled this June chat with you just now when I read about a bird called the Black Heron in South Africa that holds its wings over the water to provide shade and attract fish – and then it can catch them. There’s a name for it – canopy feeding. In case you’d like to see photos I’ll give you the link, there’s two photos midway down the page: https://howieswildlifeimages.com/2019/08/02/marievale-in-may/
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Ah, canopy feeding! That rings a bell. Thank you, I’ll go look 🙂
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Those are great, Liz and Nigel. And I was the first (other than you) to see them! 😊
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Absolutely, you’re the first! Thank you Tanja 🙂
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