Wildlife Encounters

We’ve had a great week for wildlife. On Wednesday night, Elizabeth heard something moving around in the bushes as she was leaving our hostel. It was a hedgehog! We heard (and saw) it again Friday night. I did a little reading on the internet, and apparently they’re quite unafraid of people. They seem to think the spines are enough to deter anything that might want to mess with them (unfortunately for them the spines don’t do much to deter cars- the first hedgehog we saw here was roadkill). I should also mention that hedgehogs have been introduced to New Zealand and are considered a pest because they eat the native snails, insects, and bird eggs.

On Thursday Matt and I explored the Otago Peninsula. Sand Fly Bay is one of many bays along the peninsula. The bay, we learned, is named not for those pesky insects, but for the fact that sand flies across the bay from the sand dunes on windy days. I hate flying sand, so thankfully Thursday was calm and beautiful. Sand Fly Bay is a popular place to look for New Zealand’s Hooker’s sea lion, as well as the rare yellow-eyed penguin. The penguins spend the night in the bush around the bay and spend the day out fishing. This means the best time to spot them is at dawn and dusk. We were there in the middle of the day, but we did see lots of penguin tracks going up and over the sand dunes (there’s a card in the picture for scacle). Amazingly, Matt spotted a lone penguin jumping around on the rocks at the far end of the beach. We watched it from considerable distance since they are very shy so we didn’t get any pictures. But just so you can see what they look like, I’ve included a picture from the New Zealand Department of Conservation.




We saw about 10 Hooker’s sea lions napping on the beach, and two more playing in the water. Matt took some great pictures of them playing in the waves.






I’m trying to keep a nature journal and sketchbook as a record of the things we see. I started this in Virginia. I’ve had numerous journals, and I had a few nature journals as a kid, so this is a renewed effort by me to pay attention to what I see. My inclination is to write and make lists more than to draw, but I’m forcing myself to draw even though I’m not very good. The only way to get better is to practice! I drew a picture of the hedgehog and tried to draw a sleeping sea lion and a landscape, but they’re nothing worth sharing. Maybe in a few months I’ll show you a handsome sketch.

Carrie