Takapu, the Australasian Gannet
It was a beautiful day in West Auckland today and we decided to go visit the Gannet Colony at Muriwai Beach, about 40 minutes north of Auckland. Someone told us that the chicks should be hatching, but it is obviously too early for that, as we observed much nest-building behavior but no chicks.
Gannets are beautiful birds to watch in flight, but dirty, stinky and noisy close up. Nevertheless, the beauty of the scenery, the drive, the fresh strawberries we bought on the way back, and the company of my beautiful pregnant wife made for a pleasant afternoon.
Click HERE for pictures.
We stopped by the shops in Henderson on the way back to look for Christmas presents and for a body pillow for Mindy. We happened into a shop called BabyCity (do babies really need their own city?). I am still recovering from the sticker shock. It is my firm belief that babies require far less than the typical first parents buy or receive in gifts. I hope I am right, because what we say was ridiculously expensive. Strollers, car seats, and other "essentials" averaged about NZ$450.00. I am thinking we will be buying second-hand with a smile after seeing that.
posted by Brandon at 4:12 PM
2 Comments:
The life of the Gannet is very interesting. The mother and father take 12-15 hour shifts while their chick is in their nest. The parents care for their chick for about 15 weeks before it is time for the baby to leave the nest for the first time. Without every flying or hunting, the baby chick's first flight is all the to Australia!! No scientists know why exactly, but Gannets fly to Australia to live for a couple of years. When they are old enough to mate they return to NZ, to their cliff where they were hatched. They live out the rest of their lives here in NZ working their way up the pecking order (pun intended) to the best spots on the cliffs. This usually takes 2-3 years. Hope you enjoyed Mindy's Gannet facts :)
5:40 PM
Very interesting. You know in the Victorian age the young men from wealthy families all took did the "Tour" after they graduated from University...they toured Europe for a year before they settled down to "real" life. (I think these facts are correct but realize my research is romance novels so don't hold me accountable) Anyway maybe this is the Gannets equivalent to the "grand tour."
The pictures were beautiful! Glad you had such a good time. You are right-I agree with you...the amount of "stuff" bought for babies borders on the obscene. They need love, security, mommy to feed them, a little place to sleep (if not sleeping with mommy and daddy) and a car seat (I think the sling or snuggli or some variation is nice)...all that other stuff is the creation of the marketing gaints who create this urgency that we "must" have all this stuff. It's ok, maybe nice to have, but it's not necessary and it takes up incredible amounts of space and costs obscene amounts of money! Sign me Scrooge!
9:36 PM
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