The unwell came outside, although for different reasons, so I left them feeding the fish and went into the wheelhouse...

Also keeping me busy was five minute bird call counts for SIRCET, doing a piece to camera for the BBC and meeting a Prince ...

The following day I was guiding on the Birding Bonanza, which has grown into a good combo - pelagic, Ulva Island & kiwi spotting ...

I think I make a better bird-watcher than illustrator of children's books, but it's a privilege to be involved with Seaberry Stomp ...

While I was away from Stewart Island, two Japanese birders saw a bird they couldn't identify. Turns out it was a first for NZ ...

You never know what you'll see from the ferry; one morning I got quite a fright when I was taking the ferry off the mooring (in the dark)...

As North Island birders feasted on a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and a Crested Tern I had to be content with finding my first Cattle Egret ...

January is a busy month on Stewart Island but I'm learning the ropes for a new guiding opportunity with Wrybill Birding Tours...

My photo of a stunning Stewart Island sunrise taken on Anzac Day 2012 was selected for the "Pride of Southland" book ...

Our suburban apartment had magnificent views over the Pacific and Monterey Bay and my first bird was a Western Scrub-Jay ...

I'm sure my sister regretted lending me her car, a fact I pushed to the back of my mind as I went on a day trip to Norfolk and then Wales...

A regular visitor to our garden is a male Weka, now with his third female (that we know about) and a newly hatched chick ...

It's not every day that someone phones to offer you a helicopter trip out to Mason Bay to count New Zealand Southern Dotterels ...

Many people don't associate Stewart Island with waders - we have the whole population (around 300) of Southern New Zealand Dotterels...

So out with the old and in with the New Year. 2012 was a good birding year for me, adding eight new birds to my New Zealand list...