The List

Birds I still want, birds I’ve already got, and places I keep telling people I’m going to get to.

Done, happy with it Done, want a better one Not quite — no shot I like yet Not yet

Birds

• Kea — my favourite, and the reason the rest of this list exists
• Kākā — Kea's forest cousin
• Whio (blue duck) — Have seen in Cape Kidnappers reserve and Tongariro National Park, but not captured
• Kārearea, the NZ falcon — New Zealand's only falcon and is the country's most threatened bird of prey
• Takahē — Have photos from Auckland Zoo, still want to see a wild one
• Southern brown kiwi (Tokoeka) — everyone claims to have seen a kiwi, almost nobody's actually photographed one in daylight, want to be the exception
• Yellow-eyed penguin (Hoihō) — Rarest penguin in the world and I live an afternoon's drive from where you can reliably find them, feels like something I shouldn't put off
• Royal albatross — Three-metre wingspan, breeding a few hours from Christchurch, hard to believe until you've stood under one
• White heron (Kōtuku) — For something this rare, one good frame would do
• Saddleback (Tīeke) — Wiped off the mainland and brought back from a handful of islands, want a photo that's actually a small conservation story, not just a bird
• Wrybill — The only bird alive with a sideways bill, have seen, but not photographed
• Fantail (Pīwakawaka) — They are cute little birds that follow you around in the forest
• Tūī — shows up at the feeder

Places

• Mesopotamia — already got a small gallery out of this one
• Aoraki / Mount Cook — the mountain every other mountain round here gets compared to. Overdue
• Milford Sound and Fiordland properly — everyone's seen the cruise-boat photo. Want the one you only get by walking in
• Stewart Island — as close to untouched as this country gets, kiwi by daylight and skies dark enough to actually mean something
• Otago Peninsula — albatross and yellow-eyed penguins inside one afternoon, an efficient way to make a dent in this list
• Kaikōura — the only place round here where the Alps run straight into the ocean. Wanted a frame that shows both in one
• Zealandia — a fenced valley with half my bird list living inside it, the practical trip before the harder ones
• Tiritiri Matangi — further than Zealandia, but apparently worth building a whole weekend around
• Cass and the Craigieburn Range — drive past it every time I go to Arthur's Pass, finally stop for photos instead of just passing through