Zealandia

The sun was shining and we had a few hours to spare so we headed off to Zealandia. I have a membership there so to get the most of the pass, I need to visit often. This was the first time I have taken my big lens to Zealandia and while I am still getting used to using the monopod, I did have some success. However by the end of the day I was shooting with it hand held. I need more practice at this but I did get a couple of sharp shots of the Takahe using this method.

Zealandia - Nov 2011

Tuatara

"I can fly!"

Young Bellbird

Adult Bellbird



Tuatara

Falcon in flight

Another day at Zealandia

Over the last few weeks there have been several really great images of the New Zealand falcon posted by Hutt Camera Club members on Facebook . Being a keen bird photographer I asked where the images were shot and promptly took myself there as soon as I could.  It turns out that the falcons are currently nesting at Zealandia and it is possible to get reasonably close to them. So a friend and I ventured off to have an attempt at getting our own great images of them.

New Zealand Falcon

The falcons share nesting duties and typically swap places on an hourly basis. Of course the first day we were there they were obviously unable to tell the time! We stood around and waited for the change over for about two hours before giving up. On our second trip the following week I managed to get these shots. The falcons have hatched one chick this year, I am keen to see it when it leaves the nest.

New Zealand Falcon

New Zealand Falcon

Further down the path the New Zealand robin (see previous post) was hoping about in the branches along the side of the path so we stopped and photographed that too. While we were with the robin a couple of saddlebacks played around in the bush beside us, staying just out of reach of the cameras. The saddlebacks are very hard to capture as they move about so fast and in areas where there is little light.

Saddleback

The feeding stations are great places to stop and photograph the birds. The kaka are particularly fun to watch as they prance about doing their thing. They are just so busy and boisterous, and you can see a very distinct pecking order of the birds around the feeding station. The smaller birds stayed back and waited their turn or scavenged off the ground, letting the kaka and tui have their fill first.

Bellbird

Bellbird

Kaka

I have been to Zealandia many times and never until this visit had I managed to see the tuatara out. I was definitely excited to see on the notice board that someone had spotted them just an hour before so hurried to the right number post and there it was. Unfortunately its position next to a plastic drainage pipe was not great for photography (see previous post) but I saw the tuatara!! On my next visit the same tuatara was out in the same spot still next to the plastic pipe!

Pied Shag

We also took the time to ride in the little electric boat they have there. This gave me the opportunity to photograph the pied shags without needing a huge piece of glass on my camera. The shags are quite used to the boat moving around and happily posed for the photos. We were also able to get almost underneath the tree they were nesting in. One doesn't want to get right underneath for obvious reasons...

Pied Shag

Pied Shag

Pied Shag

Pied Shags Nesting

Planes, trains and automobiles...

So we caught a plane to Auckland, then we were picked up by a car so there is two of the three. The next morning we caught the train into Auckland city to get the ferry out to the Island. It bought back many memories of my high school years where I used to catch the train to school every day. Back then we used to get a free pass on the trains if we were in uniform and on our way to school, I notice now that they kids have to pay. They do get a concession price but it is not quite the free ride that we used to get.

Tui

Once in Auckland I got to see the Britomart train station, the last time I caught a train to Auckland the main station was  not only in a different place but a different building. I understand that building is now student accommodation. It makes much better sense to have the main station where it is now, much easier to get to where you want to be. The ferry building was just accross the road so we didn't have far to walk in the rain.

Stitchbird

Yep it rained. I am told the weather in Auckland will change in fifteen minutes and that is pretty much what happened the entire day. The sun would shine one minute and then rain the next. We didn't have any idea which way to dress, for the rain or the sun - either way it was pretty darn cold. I am amazed that there were any birds out for us with the weather the way it was.

Puriri Moth

There were a group of school children on the boat with us. They were on a field trip out to the island and they looked like they had a fantastic time there. I was impressed with how well behaved they were too, we moved among them and they were always focused on what they were supposed to be doing.

Bellbird

 It was nice though that on the way back home on the boat they kept all the kids downstairs and let the adults who were not connected with the school group relax in peace and quiet. By this time we were all exhausted from all the walking and were dozing most of the way home.

Flight times

When you are sitting on a plane waiting for take off and for some reason the hostesses are still fussing around and the doors are not shut until suddenly two late passengers come puffing their way into the plane. You know then why there was a delay and you frown at those two as they walk past you to their seats. I have done this many times in the past but I have never been that passenger that has held up and entire plane... until this week!

Tui in flight

Our flight to Auckland was at 3.00pm, our flight home was at 3.30pm and for some crazy reason we had the times back to front. So we sipped on a glass of wine while waiting for our flight, then sauntered down to the departure lounge making a stop at the toilets along the way. It was while visiting the conveniences that we heard that dreaded message over the intercom.

Male Stitchbird

 "This is the final boarding call for passengers....." It was our names they were calling! Well I don't think I have run so fast carrying all my camera gear before but yes, we were those two passengers who held up the flight for at least ten minutes. Ok so it wasn't a huge amount of time and the hostess later told us that they were still loading the luggage down below but it was extremely embarrassing walking down the aisle of the plane with everyone and I mean EVERYONE staring at us with disapproving eyes.

Bellbird singing

I don't care how early I get to the airport in future but I am not going to be that person again. The funny part of this story is yet to come. Our flight home started with a gate change, so everyone had to find their way to the new gate. Then there was the delay - two passengers had checked in and failed to show up for the flight. They were probably still back at the other departure gate waiting for the plane to arrive.

Tui

 Anyway we had to wait while the luggage was unloaded and reloaded so that their bags could be removed from the plane before we could take off. It felt like they were punishing us for being late on the way up. We had no one to frown at for the delay, they didn't manage to catch the flight at all - I felt a teeny bit sorry for them but was also a little smug because we made it to the plane on time - albeit without the glass of wine.

New Zealand Robin

Tiritiri Matangi

I have been in Auckland for the last few days with my camera and have been having a blast. We went over to Tiritiri Matangi Island which is a bird sanctuary. It is an awesome place that I would like to spend more time exploring - perferably when it is not raining! Yep you guessed it, we had rain, It did fine up from time to time but there were showers on and off all day. However even with the rain we managed to get some great photographs. I have so many to process that I will probably be working on them for the next week!

There were many birds that we saw but didn't manage to photograph and that was a little disappointing but I am more than happy with the ones I did get. The stitchbird was very pretty - I loved the yellow colour on the male bird. The female was less flashy with her colours but she made up for that with puffing up her feathers and dancing about. There were bellbirds everywhere and their song was heard all day long, The tui's were the bosses of the bush, the bellbirds would sit back and wait for the tuis to go before feeding.

I am very keen to go back to the island in Summer when the weather is better. There is so much I didn't get to see and so many birds still to be photographed. I will be adding photos from this trip over the next week or so.