Skulls, swans and kingfishers

I went down to Petone today to see if George (the white heron) was about. I have seen some lovely images by a fellow photographer just recently showing him in residence but alas he was no where to be seen. I spent some time there chatting to the locals and seeing what was about. This collection of images is the result.

As soon as this swan saw me, it started swimming directly towards me. I am assuming it was expecting to be fed, maybe it had read my car's number plate, but as soon as it realised there was nothing to be had it lost interest and swam away.

There were kingfishers about but they are very skittish here and it is very hard to get close enough to them to get a decent shot. The tide wasn't out far enough to get out the hide. I did manage a few images though.

There were a good number of shags there today and this last image is of one trying to dry itself. I think someone forgot to mention to it that there was no sunshine today - hardly even a breeze!

A mixed bag...

Yesterday afternoon I headed back over to Pauatahanui with the intention of photographing more kingfishers. Unfortunately I forgot to check the tides first so arrived there about thirty minutes away from high tide. Normally there isn't much to see around this time, or so I thought, but I am stubborn and decided to sit it out and wait.

It wasn't long before I noticed a couple of Caspian Terns flying past the car and landing some distance from me. One of them was squawking a lot and the other was hovering above with a small fish in its beak. Instinctively I picked up the camera and photographed the event. The images are not that great because of the distance but I have to tell you it was fascinating to watch!

After that I saw lots of Caspian Terns out fishing in the channel, they would fly high always looking downwards, then dive for their dinner before flying back low to the water. It was almost like a dance but again, a little too far away for me to record.

As the tide started to go out the usual suspects started arriving in their usual order. Swans and geese first, followed by the white-faced heron and then the pied stilts. The spur-winged plovers fly past making lots of noise but didn't settle anywhere close.

I had decided that six o'clock was my cut of time, and as I had already been there for a couple of hours I had to stick to that. The kingfishers hadn't shown up yet but I was resigned to not seeing them as the tide was still too far in. I was proven wrong yet again, five minutes before I packed up my gear a kingfisher fly into reach of the lens. He didn't stay long and but I did manage to get a few shots before he left again.  All in all it was a mix bag of images that I ended up with but worth the trip out there.

Spoonbills and swans

We ventured down to the Petone Estuary a few hours before high tide yesterday. The tide was coming in fast which meant that I needed to be careful about where I was standing a few times but it also meant that if the birds wanted to remain standing they have to move closer to shore too. I was hoping to see some kingfishers but there was pretty much everything but.

Not long after arriving and spotting a group of spoonbills, I noticed that one of them was dancing about quite a bit. After looking through the lens it became obvious that this one was smaller than the rest and without the usual yellow brow. It was also being really annoying to one of the adult birds seeking food. I have never seen a juvenile spoonbill before so was rapt at the photographic opportunity unfolding before me.

I followed the young bird with my lens while it tried every trick under the sun to get fed by the adult but alas it was not fed and I didn't get a shot of spoonbills feeding their young. Another time perhaps, I am more than happy with the shots I did get.

As the tide came in the birds got a bit restless and gave signs of flying off. A couple did a circuit or two before returning to the rest, but they didn't leave. Perhaps they did it specially for me so I could practice my panning! Sounds good anyway.  I waited for them to fly off but in the end they had more patience than me and I headed home.

 

There were swans all over the place the entire time I was there and I pretty much ignored them after spying the young spoonbill. I did however give them some attention when it looked like there was going to be a fight between a few of them. Feathers were ruffled and they did puff their chests out a bit, but the fight was avoided.

Pekapeka Wetlands - Hastings

Last time I was up Hastings way I passed what looked to be a new walkway of some sort that was in the process of being built. This time I was able to stop and visit. The Pekapeka Wetlands have been turned into a place to be with nature. You can walk across the board walks, sit and relax in the sunshine and enjoy the birds going about their daily tasks around you.

Juvenile black swans feeding on the weeds.

The Welcome Swallows were doing their best to chase us away from one area. It was near a bird watching hide that had been built in the middle of some really tall vegetation making it impossible to see any birds, but I suspect the swallows had a nest in their somewhere. They were dive bombing us trying to move us on. It worked, we moved.

Welcome Swallows

The Australian Coots were a delight to see because this family was a bit older than the ones we photographed in Palmerston North. The chicks were at their juvenile stage where they had lost their ugly faces and orange feathers and now looked sleek and black like the parent birds, just missing the white front plate.

Australian Coots - parent and four juveniles

It was also the first time I had photographed a Dabchick. While I got to see it quite a bit as it motored away from us all the time then dove into the water, it was very hard to get a good shot of. I think it was underwater as much as it was on top. Cute little guy though.

Dabchick

There is obviously more development happening in and around the wetlands and I am sure it is going to get better and better from a photographer's point of view. I loved that there was seating where we could just sit and wait for the bird life to grow accustomed to our being there with them and move closer to us. Bird photography often requires a huge amount of patience and this is a place I will go back to.

Australian Coot - adult

Australian Coot - Juvenile

Goldfinch at the carpark of the wetlands

Swans at the lagoon

While at the convention last weekend we were spoilt for choice when it came to nature photo opportunities. The swans and their cygnets were just too cute to ignore. There was a pair that were doing a dance for us (probably just for themselves but we enjoyed it) and they repeated it over and over. It involved circling around each other giving us the perfect opportunity to get the heart shape made by their head and necks.

The cygnets from another pair were just too cute. Their parents would bring them over to us when we arrived, check us out and then head off again. By the end of the weekend they were so used to having cameras pointed at them that they just ignored us completely. I am sure if the chocolate box company ever needs cute images for the boxes, last weekends convention attendees will have heaps!

I didn't take as many shots of the swans as I did of the coots, but that is because the coots are something I had not photographed before and were really interesting! The swans just had the cute factor.

Sitting at the beach...

I woke up this morning to brilliant sunshine streaming through the windows. We had already decided that today was to be a day of doing very little so that I could stay off my feet and rest them. My ankles have not been too good just lately and I wanted them in good condition for the nature workshop I am doing tomorrow at Zealandia. But the sun was shining and I so wanted to be out with my big lens on such a perfect day!

Mallard duck and ducklings

So I came up with the idea of taking my new camping chair to the Petone Estuary and sitting with my camera.  I wasn’t going to go looking for birds; I was just going to wait for them to come to me. Best idea I have had in a long time! The tide had turned and was on its way out, but there was still a lot of water about and very few birds. So I sat and watched. Within minutes I saw what I can only describe as a duck train! Mother duck and a train of ducklings following close behind – very cute.

Red Billed Gull

The gulls were the first to arrive as the tide receded, I noted several different species of gulls, both red billed and black billed gulls were fishing side by side. Next came the Caspian Tern. It landed on the start of the sand bar and waited. It was still waiting an hour later when the water was almost totally gone. I was starting to make up stories for it – I could imagine it had said to a fellow tern “meet you at the sand bar”, and it had been stood up. Another hour waiting and it finally decided to have a fly about, but having found no other terns, went back to waiting. I felt sorry for the lonely tern.

Caspian Tern with wings spread

Next to arrive at the Estuary was the oyster catchers. I have never really watched them before but one by one they all carried out the same little routine. Fly in and land, then take a bath. Meticulous care was taken on the wing feathers before splashing about one more time, then getting on to feeding themselves. It was almost like they just had to be looking their best for the camera.

Oyster Catchers

Oyster Catcher

The grey heron put in an appearance next. It wandered up and down the beach in front of me, stirring up the water with one foot them diving its head into the water to grab any unsuspecting crab that showed itself.  I didn’t spend too much time watching the grey heron as it wasn’t doing anything unusual and you can have only so many heron photos.

Grey Heron

Next up came the swans! This was indeed a surprise for me as I have never seen the swans here before. I knew they were there from time to time but never when I personally have been there. Four of them casually swam in feeding along the way on the weeds in the water. They stayed for a bit then left just as gracefully as they arrived.

Black Swans

The last of the birds to arrive was the starlings. LOTS of starlings. They strutted around amongst the oyster catchers, often getting squawked at for getting too close. The sun showed off their stunning colours as they pecked about on the sand bar.

One of the birds that I really wanted to catch in flight was the kingfishers. Today I saw one pair in the distance flitting about but none where I was sitting. I had purposely sat where I knew the kingfishers usually were but they chose today of all days to go elsewhere. Never mind, there is a lot of summer to come for me to catch up with the kingfishers again.