Korimako Waiwai

close up of Korimako Waiwai

I finally got the korimako watercolour finished and able to print him off to join wee piwakawaka. Unfortunately I overworked the kotare painting so I am going to redo it again at sometime as it was looking so cute. Enjoy :)

I haven't used watercolours in this way for a while so it has been fun getting used to them again. Korimako has turned out really well in my view, he has that cheeky twinkle that I associate with bellbirds and aim to capture when painting them.

Should you be interested in checking him out, limited edition prints of him are available for sale on Felt Korimako Waiwai listing on Felt

The Grey Ghost

image from the forest and bird blog

This evening there was an article on the Sunday programme about the South Island Kokako. Bird enthusiasts have labelled it the Grey Ghost due to it's ability to blend into the mist and to avoid being seen. It was declared officially extinct in 2007, much to the sadness of many of us who share a passion for our indigenous species. You can view the article in the Forest and Bird blog here, Bird Stalkers article

However there is still hope, a group of ornathologists who go by the name  SIKIT, (South Island Kokako Investigation Team) are appealing to people who have had encounters with the birds. A recorded South Is kokako call that was documented over a year ago has inspired further attempts to prove that the red wattled kokako is still in existance. You can check out there official site here, The Grey Ghost Let's hope that they can find further evidence soon so that the species can get the support it needs to continue.

Forest and Bird

tātāeko / whitehead

Here is an interesting article talking about the variety of bird life that existed in Auckland prior to it becoming an urban sprawl. Yay for programmes like the Ark in the Park for coming up with ways to try and bring back some diversity of bird life back into the Auckland region Forest and Bird article