New Zealand Robin

This little guy was so friendly I only just managed to get a photo of him. He kept coming towards me, almost right at my feet. Unfortunately I had a long lens on so the closer he got the worse it was for me. Just when he was in a good place to photograph a group of people came down the track and I lost sight of him. Definitely one little guy I will look out for again.

New Zealand Geko

The sun was shining and warm, just how these gekos liked it. These little guys were in an enclosure at Zealandia and because it was so warm they were clustered up against the glass. Getting a shot of them through the glass without having reflections showing was a mission, but thankfully one I managed to achieve. Nga and I took turned blocking off the sun so we could get the shots.

The Kaka

We found the kaka at the same feeding station as the bellbird. To start with they were hidden well up in the trees but once they saw the bellbird getting all the attention they came down for their piece of the action. They are awesome birds to watch, very cheeky in their manner and they were not affraid of the cameras one little bit.

It was interesting watching the kaka feeding from the station. The had to land on a lever which in turn lifted the lid to a tray containing their food. Once they had taken the food they would fly off into the branches above and eat.







These images were shot at an ISO of 1600 which probably won't mean much to some folk reading this but the fact that the images look fine and haven't had any work done on them in photoshop, tells me that my new camera is way better than the old one. I am really enjoying using it. Like my trip to Barton's Bush, I didn't use a tripod for any of these photos, they were all hand held in low light and they worked!









The kaka took control of the feeding station and the bellbird had to wait his turn to get to the nectar.

There was a definite heirachy amongst the birds and the kaka were right up at the top and that is exactly where they liked it. At the lower end were the blackbirds and sparrows and they waited ever so patiently until the feeding station was free.

The Bellbird

Today it was time to play with my new camera, to work my way through the new features and settings that it has. Ngahuia and I headed to Zealandia Bird Sanctuary in Karori. I haven't been there for a few years and there have been a few changes made since I was there last. There is an impressive new visitor centre that I spent about 5 mins in on my way through. I will have to explore that on another visit.

We found our way to one of the feeding stations for the birds and there a friendly chap who saw our cameras told us of an opportunity not to be missed if we were paitent enough to wait for it. I decided to sit and wait while Nga went to the top of the dam, and I wasn't disappointed. Within two or three minutes of her heading off the bellbird or korimako came out. These little birds are unique to New Zealand and for such a little bird they make a whole lot of noise!

This particular bellbird enjoyed the feeding station and fed from one of the bottles there. It hovered just below the bottle long enough to have a quick meal before heading back into the bush. There ended up with quite a few of us standing there with camera's poised waiting for the bird to return. Each time it would sit under the bottle (giving us time to focus our cameras) then it would fly up to the feeder and hover.

The bellbird was the highlight of the trip for me, and I am very happy with the photos that I managed to capture of it. The new camera performed beautifully!

More from the bush

There was more rain today and yet still it's not overly cold. This makes me want to pack up my tripod and head back into the bush again. I know that with a bit more time, and a steadier camera I could have improved on many of the images I shot the other day. Regardless, here are a few more of them. Different varieties of fungi once again shot over a fence and hand held. The white one to the left I am told is of the Tremella family of fungi.

Barton's Bush - Trentham

Barton's bush is a small block of protected native bush alongside the Trentham Memorial Park. It is so protected that there are fences along all the walkways to stop you going off the track. Probably a good move for me, less chance of falling down another hole! However as a photographer this also made it very difficult to photograph all the wonderful fungi that we found yesterday.

It had recently rained and the weather was warm. Perfect conditions for the fungi to grow in. I have never seen so many different varieties of fungi in this bush before and many of them I didn't manage to capture because of the fence. I didn't set out to shoot fungi so I wasn't prepared for it either. No tripod for a start! Photographing anything in the dark is a mission without a tripod and macro shots of fungi are even more of a challenge. The bush is dark and there just isn't enough light to get a steady clear photograph without noise showing in the image. I am sure there is a lens out there that could do it but it's not currently in my possession.


Most of my images are extremely noisy due to the bad lighting but I have put some up here anyway just to show you the amazing fungi that is growing less than a mile away from where we live. Photo fodder so close to home!

Where are the bears?

I usually find that going to the zoo early in the morning is the best time. The animals are much more active and the light is better for photography. Unfortunately from time to time this can backfire, especially if there is some you particularly want to see. For me it was the bears - I love photographing the bears and their antics but on this last trip this is all we saw.


There was a cleaner tidying up the enclosure who was more than happy to talk to us about the bears and why there was an electric fence up the top of the enclosure. Aparently the bears would be back out soon but I wasn't interested in waiting and we didn't go back. The bears will have to be another day.