Antipodean adventures in birdwatching : Part 1

(A Tui)

I originally named this site “A man, his camera and a lake” but this blog doesn’t feature that lake. Instead, it features a number of other lakes, a reservoir, a nature reserve and more, all of which are in New Zealand where I have the opportunity to see some native New Zealand birds which, not surprisingly, I hadn’t see ‘live’ before.

However I’ll start with two that there are no of my photos for.

Firstly, I got to see three Kiwis. This is slightly special because there aren’t that many left and they are naturally nocturnal. The ones I saw were at the national Kiwi conservation centre where they breed them. They also have an enclosure where they have flipped the hours so it’s night inside when it’s day outside. I therefore got the chance to see three birds moving around using their low curved beaks to forage for food. They did have a stuffed bird which you could photograph, and you can see here.

The second is the Nankeen Night Heron, another nocturnal bird. I got to see this when we stopped on the long drive from Tangiriro National Park and Wellington. While waiting for our lunch at a road-side café I noticed what could only be a twitcher – well he was carrying a camera with a 800mm lens and a tripod. I asked him what he was on the lookout for and he said he had come to take some shots of the Nankeen Night Heron as this was the only place it was found in New Zealand (along the Whanganui river)and two nests had been seen. He showed us where one of those nests was and you could make out a heron sitting on it but while watching I was lucky enough to watch as another heron arrived and the two birds swapped places. My camera was safely stowed in the car and as I didn’t want to miss anything, the only thing I did miss was trying to take a photo. I’m hoping I’m not breaking any copyright by sharing this one from the internet, shot by https://mdahlem.net

Given some of my hit and misses with my camera I’m not sure I would have got a good in-focus shot anyway. The name Nankeen, my friendly ornithologist told me comes from the colour of their lower body which is similar to a colour of cotton that was imported from Nankeen city in China.

So from a variety of places and times here are a selection of some of the birds I have enjoyed ‘spotting’ while here.

Though one stands out I would love to get a good shot of a Fantail – but not only are they small but they are constantly on the go so I, and you, will have to make do with some slightly blurred shots.

The shot of the Silvereye is better

One of the frequent spots so far have been for Shags (which we in the UK generally call Cormorants). There are a number of different types here n NZ and think my shots include Black Shags, Pied Shags and Little Shags

(amazing eyes)

(spot the nests)

Interestingly the NZ’s North Island Robin robin doesn’t have a red-breast

while the Pacific swallow does.

Not surprisingly given I’m on an island and often near the sea, there have been lots of gulls but instead of Black headed gulls which are probably the ones I see most often at home, here the most prevalent ones are black billed and black backed gulls.