What Ive found of late, is that it is harder to disconnect from the rest of the world, simply because connecting is now so much easier. It's a world now of tablets, smartphones and computers everywhere. So of late, I've started disconnecting completely- at least one day a week. Sunday is now my day for going feral. I disappear into a local nature reserve with nothing more than a daypack, some supplies and a camera.
The last hike was back into Okura. I figured that the actual rain would keep a lot of people away and I knew the secluded beach had a small population of NZ dotterels (tuturiwhatu). This small shore bird is actually endangered. So, it is kind of a special place to visit. Last weekend I had watched them with my son, from the edge of the beach with binoculars. This time around, I thought I'd try for some photos.
I guessed right with the rain keeping people away. So it was just a matter of hiking through the forest to reach the beach. Along the ridge lines the forest thinned out into manuka and tanekaha trees. 
Down at the beach it was close to high tide. This means the shore birds were close enough to photograph, with sufficient patience. The trick so often is to try to shoot at their eye level. That means getting down low- or lying flat on damp sand. The bonus is you look a lot less threatening to the birds.
To start with, there's a couple of dotterel photos. The first is my favourite and required very little cropping.
The mature males are in their breeding colours
The beach also has a thriving population of oyster catchers
While the land contiguous to the beach had a lot of chaffinches…
and even the odd kingfisher
Posts Tagged bird
Going feral in the weekend May 20
No CommentsBird photo for Friday May 10
No CommentsIt really feels like winter has arrived in New Zealand. The recent torrential rain and dips in temperature have signaled the warm dry weather is at an end. With the onset of winter comes the local birds foraging for food. Their searches become increasingly demanding as their warm weather food sources wane.
This is the time of the year when we get the local groups of tauhou (silver-eyes) visiting. These small birds like the 'high octane' diet of nectar and fruit.
Not just for the birds- Archaeopteryx May 02
No CommentsOne of the most profound insights Darwin made with his research on evolution, was the notion of common descent. Common descent meant that every species today, descended from different species in the past. Many of the species today would also share the same common ancestor.
Darwin did not have much in the way of evidence to support this. The Origin of The Species did not employ fossil evidence to demonstrate evolution because in 1859, there wasn't a lot of fossil evidence of any kind. Likewise, Darwin did not have the molecular evidence we have today.
This made the discovery of Archeopteryx in Germany, in Late Jurassic rocks, suddenly important. This 1861 discovery, soon after the publication of the Origin, provided fossil vindication of what Darwin had deduced. Here was a species that was a genuine mosaic of avian and non-avian (theropod) traits. Birds aren't found throughout the geological column- there are none in the Permian or the Triassic. They don't appear until the Jurassic. Their ancestor had to be non-avian. This fossil confirmed that. 
What set Archeopteryx apart from many earlier transitional fossils (Caudipteryx, Anchiornis) was that it was capable of basic flight. With its laterally facing shoulder joint and split propulsion lift wing, with asymmetric feathers, basic flight was now possible. The hallux (the 4th digit) also appears reversed which would give a basic perching function [1].
Nonetheless, the long bony tail of Archeopteryx, the simple shape of its sternum, the fact it still had bony jaws with teeth, all showed its transitional status [1]. Without a keel on the sternum, the flight muscles would be limited in size. Likewise, the long bony tail (the species lacked the pygostyle of modern birds) would also have compromised flying ability.
References
[1] Sereno, P.C. (1999) The Evolution of Dinosaurs, Science 284:5423, pp2137-2147
It’s a kereru surprise Mar 28
6 CommentsWe have a small population of wood pigeons (kereru) about us. These are a threatened species, but adaptable enough to use the small areas of bush around us for habitat. Photographing them however remains a challenge. They tend to perch up higher in the tree canopy, giving strange angles and unflattering views). Or if they're in a more exposed position, well outside the reach of my camera gear.
Nonetheless, one was kind enough to perch on a kanuka branch close to our house this morning. Not being slow to miss a chance, I took a series of pics of the bird.
Here's one fresh from the camera (no cropping, sharpening or similar PP effects)
Wednesday Wildlife: Australian Coot Mar 13
No CommentsHas been an interesting day so far. A quick appearance on the TV3 Firstline on the ivory traffic. Which meant braving the Auckland motorway to the TV3 studio. And the delays caused by the traffic accidents along the way.
Then it's catching up on the elephant news from CITES. So what better way to get away from elephants than to take a break with our native bird-life. The Australian coot is a recent migrant to NZ and I took this picture early evening, at Lake Pupuke.
Link to larger image
The Birds of Spring Oct 08
No CommentsIt's been a tough few weeks for photography as work pressure and turbulent weather has got in the way of employing the camera. I recently got a Sony 2x Teleconverter (off Trademe) and have been hoping to test it out. I've been happy with the 1.4x TC for a while but appreciate that image quality does take a small hit with a TC. On the other hand, my longest lens is a 300mm G prime. While this has superb image quality it isn't always long enough for nature photography. The 1.4x TC extends it to a useful 420mm focal length. The 2x takes it out to 600mm.
Once you start shooting at these kind of focal lengths (my rule of thumb, 500mm or more) stability is an issue. This is why tripods are normally used as an adjunct for the big lenses.
I didn't really have time to pack and setup a tripod however on Sunday, so I did it the hard way with a handheld shot. I'm usually pretty steady with a camera and lens (which helps with a lot of the macro shots I do), but cranked the shutter speed up to 1/1000 sec and ensured the camera stabiliser was working. This should buy me a few extra stops of stability.
Tuis are starting to increase in abundance our way, so I went out for some snapshots. Lighting conditions weren't ideal. I like to have a bit of directional light with our native birds, especially as they often have a metallic sheen to them when the sun hits them at certain angles.
Anyway, this is my hand-held, manual focus shot of a local tui.
Wednesday #Wildlife: Fluffy! Sep 19
4 CommentsI took my daughter to Lake Pupuke recently for a session on bird-photography. The weather was of curse, atrocious. It was a weekend in NZ afterall :/
The Lake is home to a number of bird species and this includes the Australian swan. The adult swans are I confess, one of the least endearing birds I've encountered. Large aggressive birds are a tad lacking in charisma.
Still, its hard to deny that juvenile birds, clothed in down, have a much greater appeal. The weather conditions were keeping this group of cygnets close to their mother. Enjoy :)
Wednesday #Wildlife: Birdlife Sep 12
No CommentsA local visitor, foraging for nectar. This is the Tauhou or silvereye. They kind of appeal to me with their bright white-ringed eyes, and bold attitudes. This one has a nice dusting of pollen on its lower face.
The Watcher Aug 10
2 CommentsSometimes you can be happy with the subject of a picture, but the background kind of competes with it. So one solution is to replace the background with something simpler. This can happen with more natural shots taken in situ, as the subject- say a bird- isn't inclined to pose for you.
This was my solution to this sulphur crested cockatoo pic. With the bird being so white, I went for a replacement black background. End result, well, I liked it much better :)
The Watcher
Photo is available on my
Zenfolio Website and at
Committed Photography
Aerial exempler: the takapu (#gannet) Jul 23
No CommentsWhile many of our forest birds are either flightless or poor fliers (I mean, seriously, who else wonders how a kereru manages to stay in the air?), the sea birds can be more adept. One of the most exciting to watch is the takapu (or Australasian gannet). Auckland is fortunate enough to have a colony nearby at Muriwai and some good viewing areas.
Here's an example of the takapu in flight
Link to larger image
This photo is also available at Committed Photography
