Still more Hamilton Zoo photos

Today I made a flying visit to Auckland for work, and yes I did fly! The flight there and the flight back couldn't have been more different! I was in the back of the plane on the way up to Auckland with my knees up round my ears to prevent them from being jammed up against the seat in front me. I couldn't even hold a book open without it hitting the seat in front. The only thing to do was to try and sleep my way through the flight.

On the return I checked in early and had some time to spare, so I sat by a big viewing window and watched the planes coming and going. It was very relaxing with the sun streaming in. I have to wonder though after listening to all the notices over the speakers... just what does "further and final" really mean? I thought final meant final. That's it. No more! But no, in airport land, final means they will call you about five more times before they remove your luggage and lock you out. Certainly doesn't instill any urgency into you if you know they will call for you again.

Checking in early meant I could change my seat from the back of the plane to row nine and to make it even better there was an empty seat beside me. I had room to stretch out my legs as I relaxed in the nice wide leather seats. A glass of wine was handed to me and some crackers and cheese to nibble on. A nice way to end a busy day. Now I am more than ready for the weekend... one more work day to go.

More from Hamilton Zoo

Yesterday I was talking about being at the Hamilton Zoo. Today is more of the same, however it is focused totally on the birds and the large walk in aviary. While I was there one of the zoo keepers came in to refill the feeding stations and she saw me photographing one of the Kereru. She pointed out to me that he was a little ugly around the head because some time ago he had flown into the netting and damaged himself.  He is now perfectly healthy; however his head feathers never grew back the same. He was however very keen to pose for the camera!

 

The white-faced heron was also quite happy to pose for the camera, so long as there was a mouse for him at the end of it. After being given one treat (mouse) he followed the zoo keeper about in the hope of getting a second one that she was carrying around. Of course he succeeded. He was fun to watch as he grabbed the mouse and then ran down the walkway to eat it in peace.

There were lots of kakariki in the aviary, both red faced and green. They were a bit more stand offish but when there was fresh food to be had they didn’t seem to mind coming in a bit closer. It was about this time that my card was full on the camera and I was busy changing it as two kingfishers flew to the ground at my feet fighting each other. I did my best to get the camera back together in time to photograph them but alas they were too quick or I was too slow.

The light in the aviary was quite dark and I did struggle with this a bit. I missed some awesome photos by having the settings not quite right for the light. There was a pair of kokako flitting about in front of me and trust me when I tell you they move fast! I didn't get the shot I wanted but I did get one or two.

 All the while I was sitting there watching and photographing the birds, I had a pesky kaka trying his best to get on my shoulder. If I shooed him away once I did it a dozen times but he kept coming back. In the end, thankfully, he decided my husband’s shoulder was much more interesting and started smooching about in his beard. The kaka was happy, not sure about the husband!

Hamilton Zoo

We travelled to Hamilton over Labour weekend and visited the Hamilton Zoo while we were there. It is clearly the favoured spot for mums and toddlers because the majority of the people we saw there were in that age group. The zoo is very well set out for pushchairs etc. so I guess they have their eye on who their target market is also.

 

I was very impressed with the enclosures from a photographer’s point of view.  The glass viewing areas were clean and easy to photograph through without too many reflections getting in the way.  The meerkats were just gorgeous. In Wellington the meerkats will stand guard and they are seriously standing tall and watching out for trouble. The meerkats at Hamilton zoo was clearly on guard, but it was totally relaxed sitting in a position with a good view watching the world go by without a care. Very cute to see and to photograph!

The lemurs were also very interesting to watch. They had not long been fed so were pretty active while we were near their enclosure. Again glass windows made for easy photography and I am very happy with the results. The highlight of my zoo trip was the walk in aviary. It is an example of a native gully restoration and is fully stocked with birds. I sat in the aviary for ages enjoying the birds swooping about in front of me.  If the weather was better I might have set up camp and stayed there the entire day!