Friday Bird of the Week.
Hey Neighbourly folk, I am adding a new feature to Neighbourly every Friday. There are some amazing bird photographers in the region and I will be highlighting their best pictures.
This week's picture features my favourtite bird, the beautiful karearea (NZ Falcon). Simon Wooolf took the picture at Wrights Hill, Karori, and wrote an interesting account of the observation.
It settled itself down on a wooden structure, preened itself, and then dosed off! Then the action started.
Three, or four Welcome Swallows decided to dive bomb the Falcon! Now in flight, and in dive mode, Falcon's are the worlds fastest birds. This bird was obviously stationary. Swallows and Swifts feature in the Top Ten Fastest Birds too. The Karearea is a threatened species in NZ. Predators are man, and while breeding cats, ferrets etc, and believe it or not hedgehogs! I have never seen other bird species attack a karearea!
Normally our falcons are fearless. I have had them land a metre away from me. If threatened, and especially in breeding season they are not just fearless, but are brave, and ruthless. Even we humans will depart the scene rapidly if attacked!
Incidentally once awake the karearea took the aerial attacks in its stride and was pretty non-plussed!
I'm pretty rapt with the series of shots I gained, as the swallows were attacking at over 150kph. There was contact made on a couple of occasions, however I wasn't quick enough to catch that part of the action, even with my camera set a1/4000 sec and with my trusty Sigma 150 - 600 lens.
If you get the opportunity to observe these wonderful Taonga of our New Bush, do so. I have never been disappointed!
Simon Woolf.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
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