According to the US Census Bureau°, 0.09% of US residents have the first name 'Brent' and 0.0003% have the surname 'Doscher'. The US has around 300 million residents, so we guesstimate there are 1 'Brent Doscher's.

I'm special.

There's things I remember and things I forget
I miss you, I guess that I should
Three thousand, five hundred miles away
But what would you change if you could?

Escape from Owlcatraz

Yesterday I took a journey with Malcolm to Shannon, which is about an hour to an hour and a half north of Wellington. The goal was to get some footage of owls for his documentary. The destination was a place called Owlcatraz.

Warning: The following contains heaps of educational information

We arrived, and after standing around for a little while and being entertained by Joey the Cockatoo and his antics, we headed down into the owl pen. The owners of Owlcatraz have spent mostly their entire life studying owls and have given these owls a safe environment to live in.

So we entered the pen to capture some footage of the Southern Boobook Owl (also called the Ruru by the Māori, and the Morepork for the sound it makes). There were about 6 owls in the pen, which was an octagon that simulated the natural environment of the Boobook, with trees and mist and timed lights.

We spotted one Morepork on a branch about chest height, so we turned on our red-gelled lights and began to film. The little guy instantly woke up and was absolutely intrigued by the light. He turned his head from side to side, and was entranced by the camera for the first couple minutes, staring straight into the lens with his wide eyes. The Morepork wasn't more than 8-10 inches in height when his head was tucked into his body, and he was very cooperative.



Since the lights were on a timer, they turned off at one point. This is supposed to simulate dusk, so once the light drops below a certain brightness level, it means that it's time to wake up and start feeding. Instantly the owl began to stir more, getting ready to fly away. But the owner overrode the lights and turned them up a bit more. It was interesting to see the effect, as the owl relaxed right away, and went back to a calm state.

So we began to talk to the owner while we were filming, and he told us a bit about the Morepork. It is a nocturnal owl, that hunts in complete darkness unlike other owls which hunt at dusk and dawn. It is able to see heat traces of prey, and has the advantage over animals that rely on sight during the night.

The Ruru is a great symbol of luck in Māori society, and when going into battle, if a Ruru was spotted flying the opposite direction of the soldiers, they would retreat. If flying with the soldiers, they would go into battle with the blessing of the Ruru.

At one point the owner told us how many people had wanted to do exactly what we were doing. Video and still cameras are not allowed in the pen because many people are very unintelligent and turn the flash on to photograph the owls. Because their eyes are SO sensitive to light, this literally blinds the owls for months. If done in the wild, it can kill them, as they obviously rely on their sight for hunting. People have done it before and he has to take the birds in and feed and nurture them until they regain their sight, and they are never able to fully recover. He said tears stream down their face because of how much pain their eyes are in.

While the adult Morepork is nocturnal, the young prefer light, and often sleep in a more lit section of the pen. Often times in the wild this causes problems, because they are active during the day. They often times mistake hawks for their mothers, fly to them, and are killed.

The owl sleeps on one foot because that way it magnifies any movement in the tree they are sleeping in by 100 times. It allows them to sense any bugs such as wetas that are scampering around. When the owl is sleeping, they barely have their eyes open but are completely aware of any presence around them. A trick that we were shown is that if you take a stick and lightly push against the feet of the owl while they are sleeping, it will move to the stick while remaining asleep in order to maintain balance. This apparently can be done with any owl, even those in the wild. Very cool.



After about twenty minutes we had to leave because another group was arriving, but not before we walked the perimeter of the pen and saw the young owls flying around. The whole experience was very cool, and it was incredible to have the unique opportunity to film and photograph such rare and beautiful birds.

The flights are booked...

I leave Wellington for Sydney on June 27th. I depart Brisbane for Wellington late on July 13th. I fly up to Auckland on the 15th, arriving at Auckland International Airport at 6:30PM, and board my plane for LAX at 9:30PM. I can already imagine the sadness I'll feel when I board the plane to leave. New Zealand has become my home.

After a slight mishap on my bike which started with my front wheel stopping on a rocky downhill section and ended with the bike on top of me, I have both a bruised face and a cast on my left arm. That's life I guess.

I FINALLY have an idea for my photo tech paper (course) that I'm really excited about. Now I need to be able to pull it off in a month while simultaneously working on a documentary book on triathletes (which is a year long project that I have to complete in a semester) and heavily researching advertising/fashion photography. These last 5 weeks of classes are going to be hard as.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow-lines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

-Mark Twain

Three Amazing Things

1) Spaced is an amazing show. I recently was clued into it from a guy from England that was in our hostel in Queenstown. The entire series is on Youtube, and it is pure genius. Simon Pegg, comedic mastermind, is behind the show and is the main actor, accompanied by none other than Nick Frost and a collection of other hilarious actors and actresses. Overall it's a very goofy show, and the comedy parallels that of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

A small hilarious clip about how men's minds can all work on the same wavelength much like women's, but in a very very different (and cooler) way.



2) The greatest burger chain in the world is reopening its location in Wellington. Anyone who has talked to me since I've been here or spent any time with me obviously knows how much I love Burger Fuel, as I'm always trying to locate one, and usually failing to do so. But the Wellington branch burned down a few months ago, and walking past yesterday I caught glimpse of a new sign, one saying that they're opening soon. Yesssssssssssssssssssssss..

3) Scrubs returns this Thursday for those of you in the U.S. While we're still a couple seasons behind over here, any progress in the U.S. is good in my book. BUT that's not the real good news. Since the writer's strike seriously messed up the entire final season, it has been officially announced that there will be another season, the 8th, that will air on ABC next year. That means scrubs will end the way it should, and won't be forced off the air without a real conclusion.

And with that, I'm outta here.