South

Handing my last assignment into the office signified the end of a long university year and the beginning of a nine day photographic expedition. Minutes after handing the paper in, I was heading South down State Highway One full of anticipation and buzzing with excitement. 

I planned to spend the first few days around Lake Tekapo, in hope of photographing nesting wrybill, Australasian crested grebes, and of course the rare and endangered black stilts. When I arrived at the campgrounds that evening, I was surprised to spot four rare creatures feeding at the edge of the lake, usually solitary creatures, four wildlife photographers were gathered at the lake's edge. It was nice catching up with Glenda Rees, Craig McKenzie and Tim Rumble & Nick Rumble and we happily chatted the night away about bird photography. The next few days presented opportunities to photograph nesting and brooding wrybill, black stilts and Australasian crested grebes. An elusive marsh crake also made an welcome appearance. 

Above: Wrybill nest: Nothing more than a scrape in the ground, a wrybill stands over a solitary egg.

Above: A male wrybill, broods its young chick. Note: The curved bill that gives the wrybill its' name.

Sporting a sideways turning bill, the endemic wrybill (Anarhynchus frontalis) or ngutuparore is one of New Zealand’s bird oddities – the only bird in the world with such a feature. It uses the bill like a hook to gather insect larvae and eggs from beneath stones, or as a spoon to scoop crustaceans from mud. It's hard to estimate the population of these small cryptic plovers, wintering flocks suggest a total population of 5000-5500, although counts show high variability (which obscures trends); unfortunately the population is believed to be declining.

Brooding Mother: A young chick seeks shelter from its mother. 

After a few days around Lake Tekapo, I headed South towards Lake Pukaki, in the hope of photographing New Zealand's original 'All Blacks', the black stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae), which are an extremely rare endemic bird (found only in New Zealand). Māori call these rare birds Kakī and regard them as a taonga – a living treasure. I always feel extremely fortunate to photograph these birds in their natural habitat. Kakī have black and white plumage until the age of 18 months when they acquire their black plumage. In 1981 kakī numbers declined to a low of just 23 birds, and thanks to the continuing efforts and intensive management their are currently approximately 100 birds. 

  Above: An adult black stilt in full adult plumage.

 Above and below: Two young black stilts mate. Black stilts are known to mate for life.
 

Above: The male drapes his wing over the female as they cross bills in a stylised mating ritual.

Along with wrybill and black stilts, New Zealand's braided rivers provide important nesting grounds for another of New Zealand's rare and endemic birds, New Zealand's original 'Black Caps', the black-fronted tern. These stylish small terns sport a stunning blue-grey coat which is contrasted by their black cap and bright orange beak and legs. There is an estimated population of between 5,000 - 10,000 individuals. When nesting their diet consists of emerging nymph and subimago mayflies, fish, earthworms, grass grub larvae and skinks etc.

Above: An adult black-fronted tern in full breeding plumage. 

 

Above: An adult and small chick on the nest, their nests are simple scrapes amongst river stones. 

I couldn't venture South without visiting my old friends, the fiordland crested penguins. I arrived a little later on in the nesting season this year, which revealed a different side to these photogenic penguins. Arriving a little later meant that most chicks were close to leaving their nesting sites. It was a thrill to witness a few young, adventurous penguins making their way to the ocean for possibly their first time. For the young penguins the beach was like a playground, the pebbles, boulders, and water provided exiting new experiences.

 

 Above: Holding Hands: Fiordland crested penguins make their way to the ocean after an evening at the nest. 

Above: A young fiordland crested penguin strolls down to the beach.

Above: A young adventurous fiordland crested penguin plays in a puddle.

On the way back to Christchurch, I payed a quick visit to another, perhaps less known New Zealand endemic, the fernbird. Fernbirds inhabit wetlands throughout New Zealand, but are rarely seen because of their secretive nature.

Fernbirds are closely related to the grassbirds Megalurus of Australia, and can be identified by their loose and tattered fern-like tail.

Regarded as tapu, Māori revered the Fernbird as an "oracle" or "Wise bird" (Manu tohu). The calls of the bird were interpreted as heralding success or failure in daily activities such as fishing but on a more serious level could also portend prosperity and health or disaster and death. Fernbirds were also offered as a sacrifice when the Maori returned home from an unsuccessful war. Right: Fernbird with nesting material.

In January 2014, I will be exhibiting some photographs at the Amuri Community Arts Gallery in Hanmer Springs. I will be hanging the exhibition on the 4th of January and will be personally there from the 4th - 6th of January. So if you are up in that direction or feel like a day trip to the picturesque Hanmer Springs come have a look and a chat. 

January 2014   |   Amuri Community Arts Gallery   |   Cheltenham St, Hanmer Springs, Hurunui

 

 Below: 2014 Range of Jonathan Harrod Photography business cards.

Thanks for viewing!

Australasian Crested Grebes, Lake Lyndon

LAKE LYNDON | CANTERBURY

For those who missed seeing some of my 'Wild Aotearoa' exhibition at the Green Room Cafe it is now showing at the Restaurant@Rossendale. Rossendale is a beautiful winery situated just outside of Christchurch. So if you want to go and have a nosy and one of their famous Rieslings go and have a look!  

Rossendale Winery: 136 Old Tai Tapu Road Christchurch 8025    |    http://www.rossendale.co.nz/  

It was love at first sight when I first laid eyes on the magnificently handsome Australasian Crested Grebes or kāmana as they are known in Maori. Kāmana have captivated and intrigued me for the last few years. These birds belong to an ancient order of diving water birds found on every continent in the world. They are renowned for their mating displays and the way young grebes ride among plumage on the back of their swimming parents. Three of the 22 species in this order have become extinct in the last 30 years, and unfortunately Australasian crested grebes are endangered here in New Zealand with approximately 300-400 birds remaining. 

|   Australasian Crested Grebe Nest   |   Lake Lyndon   |   18mm   |   1/320sec   |   f/13   |   ISO500   |   

When I heard there was a pair of Australasian Crested Grebes nesting at Lake Lyndon, in the Canterbury high country I couldn't help but have a look. Lake Lyndon is a relatively small alpine lake and has little to no substantial tree cover except for a few stunted willows, this makes finding the birds relatively easy. I took a trip up to the Lake one Saturday afternoon in hope of having a 'reccy' and locating the nest. The lake was quite busy due to weekend activities and finding the birds proved extremely difficult... they weren't in their usual nesting locations and I began to wonder if I was I too late? Had the nest failed? Were the birds laying low due to the increased human activity on the lake? As the sun set behind the mountains I decided to give up the search and have some dinner... I pulled up to the quiet side of the lake and set up my camp stove; as the water was boiling I noticed some movement in one of the small willows right in front of where I was sitting - I had managed to park within 50 metres of this interesting grebe's nest!

What was particularly surprising was that this nesting pair had already successfully brought up a healthy juvenile and had decided to nest again. It is not uncommon for grebes to re-nest after a failed nest attempt, but to re-nest while looking after a rapidly growing youngster was unusual, in fact I haven't heard of this behaviour before. Furthermore, it was helping its parents build the new nest for its younger siblings. WOW! It would watch its parent dive to collect weeds and twigs to place on the nest, and then copy its parents by placing small bits of weed onto the nest itself. What an amazing privilege to watch this interesting learning behaviour in front of my very eyes! Unfortunately the light was now well behind the mountains to the West and photography was out of the question!
 

|   Australasian Grebe with Juvenile in the Morning fog   |   Lake Lyndon   |   390mm   |   1/400sec   |   f/7.1   |   ISO640   |

I had to get back up there to see if I could photograph these amazing birds! I was able to free up a couple of days around Waitangi Day. I drove up to the lake after work and spent an extremely disrupted sleep in the back of the car due to high winds and cool high country temperatures - I woke to the sound of a couple of angry skylarks chasing a sly stoat around outside the car. Rain, mist and howling winds made for less than desirable photographic conditions and what was worse was that one of the adult birds and the juvenile were nowhere to be seen. I spent the day watching the nest from a distance hoping to see the two birds return and relieve the poor incubating parent who looked as if it had a rougher night than me. The day slowly disappeared and still no sign of the missing birds - I was beginning to lose hope as I had seen a grebe predated on this lake a couple of years back and began to wonder if the stoat had got to one or both of the birds. At around 6pm that evening I was elated when I saw from a distance two grebes returning to the nesting site - yes they had finally returned after perhaps spending the whole day sheltering from the strong winds... I imagined how happy the incubating parent would have been to see these two return. Once back, there was a little socialising and some nesting building before a change of incubating duties...phew! The sky was dark and the wind still made it difficult to get any decent shots so I happily watched the grebe family while enjoying a cuppa - I would hopefully get some better weather and some photo opportunities tomorrow.

 

I awoke early to a still, quiet, foggy morning; the sun had not yet broken the horizon and I was relieved to see all three birds around the nesting site. As the light started to appear through the fog I was able to get to work capturing the grebes in the mist (above). The fog, light and calm conditions made it possible to create some interesting images of the nesting (below).
 

|   Australasian Crested Grebe's Nest   |   18mm   |   1/80sec   |   f/11   |   ISO640   |

The sun began to slowly burn off the fog, creating one of the most beautiful high country mornings I have ever experienced! Soon there was enough light to capture the grebes carrying all sorts of interesting nesting materials (below).
 

|   Australasian Crested Grebe with nesting material   |   360mm   |   1/640sec   |   f/7.1   |   ISO400   | 

|   Australasian Crested Grebe with nesting material   |    175mm   |   1/640sec   |   f/7.1   |   ISO400   |

|   Juvenile Australasian Crested Grebe stretching    |    420mm   |   1/1000sec   |   f/7.1   |   ISO400   | 

As the sun rose and the temperature increased the fog totally lifted and revealed a beautiful high country day. The juvenile grebe was extremely inquisitive and happily preened, hassled its busy parents, stretched (above) and played in the clean and cool alpine waters of Lake Lyndon. Australasian Crested Grebes' legs sit well back on their bodies which make them extremely strong swimmers. As a result the grebes spend their entire lives on the water and they are extremely awkward on land. I spent the afternoon photographing the grebe family -what a wonderful way to spend Waitangi Day. Even though the trip had started off a little rough these special moments made the trip worthwhile. NZ scaups, black-backed gulls, shags, pied stilts, south island pied oystercatchers (SIPOs), banded dotterels, skylarks, NZ pipits, and harriers also resided on the Lake. I managed to snap this SIPO (below) as it had a lazy stretch on Waitangi Day!
 

|   South Island Pied Oystercatcher Stretching  |   390mm   |   1/640sec   |   f/7.1   |   ISO500   |

 

|   Australasian Crested Grebe Eggs   |   Lake Lyndon   |

Last Friday morning I returned to Lake Lyndon with a few friends in hope of photographing the grebes with their newly hatched chicks. We arrived up at the Lake to find three cold abandoned eggs! It is always upsetting as a photographer and conservationist to witness an abandoned nest, especially when you watch firsthand the effort that the parents put into building and incubating. Unfortunately this is not an uncommon occurrence in nesting grebes. In fact an extremely high percentage of nests failed this year in Lake Pearson and Lake Lyndon! Strong winds, choppy waves  and rising lake levels can often flood grebe's nests and wash generated by motorised watercraft can also swamp nests and destroy eggs. Noise and predators can scare adult birds off their nests and leave chicks exposed to the cold or predators. The water levels in the Lake were much lower than the week before and had left the nest vulnerable to land based predators. We wondered whether over inquisitive people or animals such as stoats, cats or raptors had scared the adults off the nest.
 

Thanks for stopping by! A previous Australasian Grebe Blog can be viewed here: http://jonathanharrodphotography.blogspot.co.nz/2011/02/australasian-crested-grebes.html 

Australasian Crested Grebes

I wasn't holding too much hope for getting the shots I wanted as I packed up my photography gear, although the thrill of what the weekend had in store made the last couple of hours at work fly by!  Photos or not, I was keen to get away and spend some time with my brother and a mate. There is no room for pessimism when it comes to wildlife photography, but I couldn't help feeling a little pessimistic as the last few attempts at capturing the crested grebes had ended with very little results. A few months ago I had gone up to Lake Lyndon to photograph a grebe's nest with a mate of mine only to find the nest abandoned and a recently devoured adult bird close to the nest. Grebes often bury their eggs with nesting material when leaving the nest unattended and I could see a partly covered egg on the abandoned nest - I hoped that the remaining adult would return to incubate the eggs although this seemed unlikely as the nest remained unattended throughout the day. It was a real shame to see this act of predation on one of New Zealand's rarest waterfowl!

We were treated to a beautiful but short sunrise on the Saturday morning as it soon clouded over and remained overcast for most of the day (which helped diffuse the light nicely). I was surprised to find a nest this late in the season and I was told that it was this pair's second attempt at nesting, as their first clutch hadn't survived. I had a great time photographing the birds diving, nest building, incubating and feeding their new born chick - what an amazing day with these beautiful birds! I was surprised to see the adult birds feeding their young chick feathers which, from what I've read, is thought to be a method of protecting the chick's from gut trauma caused by sharp fish bones. Lets hope that these amazing birds will increase in numbers!