New Camera

Of course you know that as soon as the battery was charged I was in the car and off to the inlet. I was hoping there were kingfishers about to try the new camera out on and I wasn't disappointed. I practiced on a few other birds first to make sure I had the settings where I wanted them, and I had to deal with clouds blocking out the sun but I think I got them mostly right.

The new camera has things in different places and that is going to take some getting used to. But that is just practice so I just need to take more photos to get it right. One of the things my obsession with the kingfishers has taught me, is that nothing is going to happen how I want it until  I have put in the hours to achieve it.

When I head out to the inlet now I do so with the intention of being there for at least two hours. Anything short of this doesn't really seem to work. I take a blanket in case it gets windy and it often does, and I take a good jacket as well. I have been caught out a few time and gone home shivering with cold when everyone else is hot. The wind chill factor coming off the water is always colder and if you are just sitting there it can chill you to the bone.

I am looking forward to my portable hide arriving because over winter I am hoping it will keep the wind off me a bit better and I will also be able to shoot the birds in the rain if they are out there. Yep I hear you, totally mad but very determined to put together a great portfolio of kingfisher images when I am done with them.

As we were heading off we rounded the bend and there were the spoonbills all tucked up for the night. I couldn't resist taking this shot, even though it meant deleting one of the kingfisher shots to make room on the card for it.

Waiting for the tides to change

Juvenile Royal Spoonbill

I can't get out to the kingfishers this week due to the tides being all wrong and I am not enjoying the wait for them to be right again. My obsession is screaming at me to take more kingfisher photos yet when I follow the tides and go to Petone all I find is spoonbills. Crazy when only a few months ago I was complaining about not being able to photograph the spoonbills!

The kingfishers at Petone are wise to me. I did see one in the distance but it wasn't going to let my lens get anywhere near close enough to photograph it. So instead I sat and waited for something, anything to walk in front of my lens. The juvenile spoonbill was the first to arrive doing a special rain dance just for me.

Not long after the parent bird joined in and they worked in unison up and down the channel in search of food. Every now and then the young one would nip at the parent's leg and would get growled at for its efforts. It may be looking more and more like an adult bird but its behaviour is anything but.

I doubt that the camera will be out much this week because I have to admit I am bored with the Petone Estuary at the moment. I want kingfishers damn it and I want them where I want them! I know, I don't want much but next week I should be able to get back to Pauatahanui again and finger crossed the kingfishers will play nicely for me when I do get there.

Chasing time and tides

Yesterday my allocated time for photography didn't fit with the tides at Pauatahanui, so we headed down to the Petone Estuary for a change.  I parked myself on the opposite side of the lagoon to normal and sat and waited. It was a matter of minutes before two Royal Spoonbills flew in to feed. They were feeding almost before they had folded up their wings!  Guess they were hungry.

Adult Royal Spoonbill displaying breeding plumage.

The spoonbills made their way from one side of the lagoon to the other depending on where there were people, dogs and bicycles disturbing them. I had parked myself in the right position because each time someone or something spooked them, they came back to where I was, and they didn't see to worried about me. Probably because I didn't move a whole lot.

As we were leaving I noticed (pointed out by my husband) that there were two herons really close to the path we were walking down. One of them was a juvenile having a bad hair day!  Looked kind of cute with its head feathers all fluffed up. I did see one kingfisher while we were there but that was only for a fleeting moment. The slower birds just aren't as much fun as the kingfishers!

Adult White-faced Heron with the crab that got away!

Juvenile White-faced Heron

Juvenile White-faced Heron

Respecting space

Juvenile spoonbill

There are a lot of nature photographers that frequent my usual haunts and for the most part they are a friendly considerate bunch. We may not all know each other but we will usually wave 'hello' or get into a discussion about the birds that are about and where to find them. 

We are also very careful not to upset the birds in their natural environment. We are observers and as such shouldn't make the birds uncomfortable with our presence. Royal Spoonbills I have noticed along with the White-faced Herons have a very definite 'space' and if you breach it in any way that's it they are gone.

Spoonbills over the far side of the lagoon.

Last evening I took my camp chair and parked myself at the Petone Estuary. I find that if I just sit and wait the birds will cease to see me as a threat and will come to me. It is way better than chasing them from one side of the lagoon to the other and way less stressful on the birds. I saw the spoonbills over the other side of the lagoon happily feeding and figured if I wait long enough they would make their way over.  Then a few minutes later I see another photographer all dressed in green with his tripod and camera scare the birds away in his attempt to get close to them.

In flight after being scared off.

To say I was annoyed was an understatement, as the birds flew off into the distance I decided I would have to make do with the gulls and oyster catchers. The other photographer headed off in the direction the spoonbills took and I didn't see him or the spoonbills again for a while.

Juvenile spoonbill

After about thirty minutes of sitting and watching, I was lucky enough to have the juvenile spoonbill and it's parent fly in to start feeding in the water nearby. I was in photographer's heaven when the other three adult birds joined them - right in front of me!

The four adult spoonbills

I clicked away happily enjoying their closeness thinking I should share this wonder. I rang friend and fellow photographer suggesting that she come down and bring her camera with her.

Adult spoonbill catching shrimp

Between calling my friend and her arriving, the other photographer dressed in green had followed the spoonbills to where I was. He walked past me and then set himself up in the bush above where the birds were feeding. Way to close for them to be comfortable as was plain to see by the way they instantly started moving away. Once they were out of reach of his lens and mine, (they flew back to the other side of the lagoon) he packed up and set about following them back to the other side to repeat the exercise.

Adult and juvenile spoonbill

Eventually he left, the spoonbills returned to feeding where we were still sitting, and both myself and my friend managed to get some great shots. I am still annoyed about the unnecessary stress placed on the birds - being chased from one end of the estuary to the other - and the fact that the other photographer didn't give a toss that he might be ruining someone else's chances at photographing them.

Still water provided a mirror image

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.

Waikanae Estuary

Judging the tides, the weather and the time available to me is not always easy. Yesterday we had the time and the tide, and after so many beautiful days I was hoping for blue skies too but when we arrived at Waikanae it was overcast and cloudy.  Strangely as we left, the clouds broke up and the blue sky was there after all - just a little bit late for me.

The Waikanae Estuary is a great place for bird photography, there are so many different species of bird that you can easily get close to if you are patient and quiet. I took a camp chair and sat and waited for the birds to come to me, and that is exactly what they did. I was hidden in the reeds so not seen as a threat. I will do this again as it worked so well. Comfortable too!

I was especially happy to see the Royal Spoonbills fly in. They are such majestic birds to photograph and it is not always easy to get too close to them. Again, the birds came to me so weren't worried about my being there - it was great! I just wish the clouds weren't about because the water looked so flat and grey.

I noticed that one of the Spoonbills had blood on the top of her head. She had obviously been in the wars somewhere and was quite annoyed with anyone who came too close to her. (I am assuming her gender, I could be wrong). She lashed out at the other two a few times while I was watching them.

Camping out...

 
The weather is overcast and light rain from time to time but as it is our holidays it was hard to say no when a friend suggested we go out with the cameras. We chose Petone Estuary and went pretty much prepared for anything. Camp chairs for comfort (because we are patient and wait for the birds to come to us), light stands to hold up our umbrellas (to shade us from the sun or shelter us from the rain) and the odd rock or two as a foot stool.

Our patience paid off when a couple of white faced herons wandered over our way and entertained us with their fishing antics. There was the odd seagull silly enough to think we had food for them, an oyster catcher that was missing a foot, but the highlight of the day was the Royal Spoonbill that showed no fear of us at all and happily wandered around our camp feeding on the weed.

When the tide moved further out so did we. We picked up the chairs and moved out onto the seaweed in the middle of the lagoon in the hope of getting a better view. I think the only people getting a better view were those on the bridge laughing at us. Even the birds laughed at us. Must have really been quite a sight ;)

Royal Spoonbills at Petone

I went looking for the tui again at Petone Estuary last night. I like the spot there for them because the light is behind me and illuminates the tui feathers beautifully at that time of day. Alas they were no where to be seen. The tide was on its way out and there was a white-faced heron mooching about but he wasn't doing anything exciting. I wandered about for a bit before hubby asked "what are those white birds over there?"

I knew in an instant what they were and was very keen to get 'over there'. Unfortunately that would have involved wading out in the water so I had to make do with some long distance shots of the two Royal Spoonbills that were casually feeding in the shallow water. They certainly did look very regal in their breeding plumage.

One of the bird took flight and headed over the other side of the estuary. I managed to capture one shot as it left. I wasn't ready for it to be flying however as the second one was still there I quickly flicked settings on the camera and when it took off too (as I knew it would), I clicked away with a smile.

With the sun shining directly on the white birds it was extremely hard not to get the whites to blow out, especially as I was shooting from such a distance. While the resulting images are cropped, I am happy with the outcome. Next time I might just have to find a dingy!