While in Dunedin for a few days, I got to see a few gulls!
Many more than I usually see.
New Zealand.
Click on any photo to enlarge
This cutie was hanging out on the lawn at Dunedin Botanic Gardens.
We did an afternoon trip to Taiaroa Head at the top end of Otago Peninsula. This is where the Royal Albatross Centre is but our purpose was simply to have a nice drive on this lovely fine day – Saturday 10 October. FYI Taiaroa Head is the only mainland Royal Albatross breeding colony in the world.
Outside the Centre were LOTS of gulls! Every sheltered space seemed to have snoozing gulls. There were lots who weren’t snoozing too – very noisy.. and smelly!
We decided to walk down to the beach that you can see in the above photo. It leads to a penguin viewing area but we weren’t expecting to see penguins as it was the wrong time of day – we just went down to have a look around.
Here’s the gull photos I took down at the beach…
More Information
Fabulous blog-post about Taiaroa Head and the varied bird life
This couple are expert wildlife people who also take wonderful photos (by Zoomology).
Northern Royal Albatross
via the Royal Albatross Centre.
Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2020)
That’s a beautiful harbor, Liz, and I love your fun pics of the gulls in the surf.
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Yes.. always wonderful to drive up the peninsula and get the harbour views!
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I watched the cam from that place all during the last nesting season; the Cornell birding site provided the link, and that’s where I found it. It’s fun seeing a bit more of the area!
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There’s going to be more pics from Taiaroa Head and also some interesting things from the drive to get there. A trip up the Otago Peninsula is always fascinating!
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Love your photos of gulls paddling 🙂
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Cool! thank you 🙂
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🙂
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This is such a magical place, and the drive to get there provides such glorious views of the peninsula. I consider this-and Banks Peninsula–among my very favorite Special Places in this adopted homeland of ours.
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‘The drive to get there’ was indeed the point of our trip on this particular day but we ended up thoroughly enjoying Taiaroa Head when we got there. There’ll be more pics!
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The Royal Albatross Centre is a great place to visit for serious birders…we loved it!
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I’ll bet you did!
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Ahh, Taiaroa Heads is a fantastic place for bird watching, isn’t it?! Thanks so much for linking to our post, too, Liz. 🌞💕
-Emma
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It’s really awesome Emma, loved our visit! So glad to be able to link to your fabulous informative post – sure takes a load off me 🙂
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