Kelp Gull giving what for! 😃👍 #BirdingNewZealand #gulls #seegulls

Another image of Antipodean (Gibson's) Albatross in flight. #BirdingNewZealand #albatrosses

Antipodean (Gibson's) Wandering Albatross waiting for a handout from the back of the boat. It was just meters off the back of the boat for a good half hour feeding on the chum. #BirdingNewZealand #BirdsSeenin2024 #seabirds #albatrosses

New Zealand Kaka (Nestor meridionalis) .. a big, brown, noisy parrot. It likes to stay in the canopy and its plumage reflects so little light, that I found it hard to get a decent photo of. #BirdingNewZealand #BirdsSeenIn2024 #parrots

Adult and juvenile Kelp Gull and a Red-billed Gull enjoying the morning sun at Petone Beach. #BirdingNewZealand #gulls #seegulls

The ballistic missile known as the Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator) flying above the boat. 😃👍 #BirdingNewZealand #BirdsSeenIn2024 #gannets

Here's a rare one that is making bit of a comeback ... Brown Teal (Anas chlorotis) #BirdingNewZealand #ducks #waterfowl #BirdsSeenin2024

One of the commoner shearwaters off the coast of New Zealand ... Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus carneipes) #BirdingNewZealand #seabirds #BirdsSeenin2024

Black or Parkinson's Petrel (Procellaria parkinsoni). They have a shorter, thicker bill than the shearwaters. #BirdingNewZealand #seabirds #BirdsSeenin2024

Grey-faced Petrel (Pterodroma gouldii) from the Cook Strait ferry. This species has much longer wings than the shearwaters. #BirdingNewZealand #BirdsSeenin2024

Another image of an Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator) cruising over the boat. #BirdingNewZealand #gannets #BirdsSeenIn2024 #seabirds

Saw lots of albatrosses this afternoon on the Cook Strait ferry, but not always easy to ID or to photograph. Here is a couple I was able to ID (I think :D). Left is Northern Royal Albatross and right is White-capped Albatross. #BirdingNewZealand #albatross

Lots of Fairy Prions (Pachyptila turtur) around the boat but so tough to get a decent photo with their erratic flight and all the rocking and rolling in the swells. #BirdingNewZealand #BirdsSeenIn2024 #seabirds #prions

Interesting the way shearwaters take off. No flapping. They just open their wings, paddle a bit with their feet and the wind immediately lifts them off the water. 😃👍 Flesh-footed Shearwater (Puffinus carneipes). #BirdingNewZealand #seabirds #shearwaters

I guess oystercatcher-toed doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as pigeon-toed. 😄 Variable Oystercatcher tracks on a beach near Kaikoura. #BirdingNewZealand

A breathtaking sight.. Antipodean (Gibson's) Wandering Albatross soaring just meters above our heads! They are such huge birds! Bigger than a goose with an 11 foot (3.5 meter) wingspan. 😲 #BirdingNewZealand #seabirds #albatross

New Zealand has no alcids, so if you see something on the water that looks and acts like an alcid, that's a Common Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides urinatrix). Lots of them in the Cook Strait, visible from the ferry between North and South islands. #BirdingNewZealand #seabirds

Crossing the Cook Strait, this Caspian Tern was racing the ferry. 😃👍🏁 #BirdingNewZealand #terns

Sound on! A beach near Kaikoura on the South Island. The next point of land is Chile! 😀 #BirdingNewZealand

Variable Oystercatchers (Haematopus unicolor) are so darn photogenic. 😃 Here is one enjoying the early morning sun on Aramoana Beach. #BirdingNewZealand #waders #shorebirds