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

Kingfishers and Spur-winged Plovers

Juvenile spur-winged plovers seeking food from the parent birds.

One of the things I like about Summer is that it is easy to pick up the camera after dinner and still have enough light to be able to photograph the birds. Last night we went for a drive round Pauatahanui Inlet and ended up parked by the kingfisher tree. We were there maybe two minutes before we saw at least three kingfishers zooming past.

So I set up camp in the reeds with my trusty chair hoping I would blend a little with the surrounding environment, and sat in wait. The kingfishers will usually be back every ten minutes of so if they are in fishing mode and I had the time to wait. My ever suffering husband was tucked away in the car with a book so I had until the light faded at least!

My camera is great for most things but I am finding it a bit of a frustration with the kingfishers. It doesn't cope well with high ISO (really noisy) and it isn't all that fast on continual burst mode. Both of which I need to be able to capture a great shot of the kingfisher in flight. Doesn't stop me trying though, I would love to prove myself wrong.

While I was waiting for the kingfishers I was distracted by a huge amount of noise. Three juvenile spur-winged plovers were literally bulling their parents for food. The parent birds weren't having a bar of it and in the end flew off a distance. I guess they forgot they had taught the kids to follow them because the procession of juveniles followed them from one end of the beach to the other. They were very comical to watch.

Frequent Flying at Zealandia

Male Hihi (Stitchbird)

We went back to Zealandia today even though there was light rain when we were heading out. It was a little chilly for a while and the seats were a bit wet to sit on for rests but otherwise it turned out to be a brilliant day. We arrived at the Kaka feeders just after they had been fed and there were a huge number of them jumping about and arguing with each other. I wasn't going to bother with them today but I couldn't resist stopping for a few minutes.

Kaka

We walked up to the Discovery area where there are always lots of Hihi (Stitchbird)'s and we weren't disappointed. They flittered about around us between the trees and the feeders hardly ever stopping long enough for me to click the shutter. I thought the Fantails were the teases of the trees, but they have nothing on the Hihi There were bellbirds and robins there as well. The robin decided I must have something good in my camera bag so took a bit of time to check it out.

Male Hihi (Stitchbird)

North Is Robin

We took the boat on the way back and were lucky enough to have it to ourselves. There were no shags sitting on the raft which was a shame but there were a few playing about in the water that I managed to get a few shots of. Michael (the boat operator) was most accommodating after seeing my camera. He unzipped the plastic windows and turned the boat this way and that, and backed off for me when he got too close to the birds. He pointed out all the birds of interest and their nests along the way. A real treat!

Pateke and duckling

Pateke and duckling

Pied shag playing about in the water

Medieval Mahem at Harcourt Park

I had some time spare this afternoon so went to have a look at the goings on at Harcourt Park. The medieval folk are there this weekend for the National Jousting tournament. I didn't see any horses or jousting while I was there (which wasn't that long) but there were some battles going on.

These images are from a 'capture the flag' battle between the blue team and the red team. The blue's won easily. I am told from one observer that the reds were using the wrong weapon to be able to win. It certainly looked that way but the end result.

There was lots to photograph there, people in costumes, tents and such like. Unfortunately it was way too hot for me to be walking around so I headed back home to the shade. I wouldn't want to be wearing some of those heavy costumes in this weather, they must really be cooking inside them.

Tomorrow I am heading to Zealandia, so it will be back to the birds again :)

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.

Water Babies

I have been a bit slack lately, I started writing this post about three or four days ago. Just goes to show I do actually work through the week! We feed the birds on a regular basis in our back yard, and one of the things birds like to do after dinner is clean up. The birdbath becomes a busy place and for the most part they are a bit shy about going there when I am watching. Understandable as I wouldn't be happy with a bunch of birds watching me take a bath either!

So I set up the camera and the remote so that they could have their privacy and I could still get the shots. The only trouble was I could see the birdbath from the computer so I had to go by sound alone. If I heard a splash I pushed the remote button. It worked surprisingly well!

What surprised me the most was not only the amount of birds you can fit into a tiny bird bath, but the different types of birds and their interactions with each other. The sparrows would sit around the edges while the starlings splashed about, this gave them a light cooling off shower without having to get totally into the water. It seemed to work for many of them - not all though, as there were some sparrows looking like downed mice from time to time.

The Shag Tree

We headed up to Waikanae yesterday because there wasn't a lot happening at Pauatahanui and there is ALWAYS something to photograph at Waikanae. Yesterday was no exception!  The spoonbill (only one) was off in the distance and unreachable even with my big lens. There were pied stilts and pukekos, shags and ducks. It was just a case of finding what would capture my interest and make a good shot.

I started trying to photograph the shags flying in from the estuary but they were either too fast or changed directions too often and I never really managed to get the shot I wanted. I did manage to get one carrying some sticks back - he was obviously still nest building.  I looked around to see what else there was and found the cutest New Zealand Scaup (male) playing about in the water. He was there one minute and gone the next as he dived under the water out of sight.

Then we drove round the road and went looking at one of the shag trees. There are several that they roost in and one in particular had a couple of easily photographed nests. There were at least three different species of shags in the tree which I found absolutely amazing.  There were pied shags, little shags, and little black shags all nesting in the same neighbourhood.

I like to think I timed it right but then they are probably feeding the chicks constantly however I was very happy with the feeding shots I got. It is a shame that the nests are so messy among the branches but if you can get past that the birds are really interesting to observe. I certainly would not want to me a shag mamma, the kids would always be trying to get down your throat!