Close up

Back to the unit this morning and when I left this afternoon everything is in order insofar as it ever can be in an acute ward.

This evening I went down to where the Grey Ducks (Parera) hang out. I also got a photo of a heron and a number of shots of two Kawaupaka (Little Shags) on a clump of rock. One was in the white throated phase, and the other was in the pied phase.

The main purpose was to get a decent photo of this native duck. As soon as I was in the far vicinity of them, they swam away. The zoom on this camera was good enough for me to get "close up", anyway.

Cropped slightly into a square format. Otherwise as taken and processed by the camera.

LATER ADDITION
The common duck in NZ is the introduced Mallard (from Europe). The parera is a common native duck, found throughout the country. It is very slightly smaller than the mallard, with which it has interbred extensively. The parera has a conspicuously striped pale head, and a grey bill. Pure bred parera are found mostly in remote wetlands, and parera are uncommon in agricultural and urban habitats which are dominated by mallards.

The cross-bred birds have less distinct facial stripes, and the bill is less obviously grey. These birds have distinct stripes and grey bills, and I think they may be mostly parera in genetic origin.