Funny Story

Funny story... I was down at the estuary the other day lying face down in the mud (as you do) taking photos of bar-tailed godwits which were feeding on the mud flats at low tide (right). The spot I was in was just off the main road across from some newly built flashy apartment buildings. I was quietly enjoying watching these beautiful birds  through my viewfinder when I noticed that the birds began to stir as if frightened (weird I thought - I was lying motionless and still some distance away it couldn't be me could it?) Anyway I kept snapping for a minute when I heard some footsteps through the mud behind me and before I had a chance to turn around I heard... "It doesn't look good, nah, It doesn't look good!", then I heard a voice call out "Mate can you hear me, are you alright?" It was some poor guy in a suit who thought I was a dead body washed up with the tide!!! Poor guy! He had walked through ankle deep mud to check on me with his good shoes on,."*#@^!" he swore at the fact he got all muddy for no reason! Anyway I thanked him for his concern and he was off on his way - unfortunately I didn't get many shots but I left with a bit of a red face and a funny story hahaha!  

Below are a few photos of birds I've been working on recently (please click on them to view them larger). I've found the New Zealand shovelers (a sub-species of the Australasian shoveler) to be a real challenge photographically... I've found them to be really skittish - making stalking them quite difficult. So I dedicated three afternoons to the shovelers and decided to set up a hide on a small pond which I knew they frequented, and waited for the birds to come to me. On the first attempt this handsome male (below) showed up at the back end of the pond and started dabbling happily away, just out of reach of a good shot - he stayed a frustrating distance away from the camera, as if he knew of the crazed photographer who lay in wait! Luckily for me another male landed shortly after and chased the bird right towards my hide giving me enough time to snap a few pics before flying off. Unfortunately the next two attempts at them didn't yield any better shots :( ... I'll be back out there soon to try again (that's wildlife photography for you).

                                                                                              Male New Zealand Shoveler (Anus variegara)

                                                   Juvenile little pied shag (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos)

                                                                                                       Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus)

                                        Juvenile Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus)

                                            The endemic Black-billed gull (Larus bulleri)

SPOTLIGHT: Pied Stilt (Poaka)

Pied stilts (Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus) or black-winged stilts as they are also known, are a common native to New Zealand and are also found in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Bismarck Archipelago.

Pied stilts are found throughout the world and the classification of these birds can be controversial as they differ  from place to place. Some believe that there are as many as five separate species while others consider them to be subspecies.  Whatever the case may be the pied stilts found here Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus or poaka as the Maori know these beautiful birds are classified by an all-white head, neck white, black behind, open black chest band and usually a white band across upper back.

Pied stilts are found in a variety of habitats such as sheltered marine harbours, wetlands, estuaries, lagoons, riverbeds, waterlogged pastures and lakesides where they use their extremely long and lanky legs (which give them their name) to wade through the water in search of small insects, marine molluscs, worms and crustaceans which are probed out of the sand or mud. In winter many of the birds that breed on Canterbury's rivers migrate to the warmer North Island harbours to feed.

Breeding and nesting can occur as early as July in the northern part of the country and can continue into summer. Nests are usually built on the edge of wetlands/lagoons or above the high-tide mark on sandy beaches and riverbeds. The stilts are very vocal at this time of year and if an intruder ventures too close to their nest or young they make sharp yapping calls and  often feign a broken wing in order to draw attention away from their exposed nest or young. The female usually lays four eggs which are incubated by both parents. Incubation usually lasts for 25 days. The chicks usually leave the nest the same day after hatching and are covered with a soft down with speckled yellow-brown upper-parts and white under-parts. When danger threatens they drop straight to the the ground and remain motionless becoming extremely difficult to detect. 

 

Above: A young stilt finds its legs on the estuary mud

Right: A pied stilt incubates it's eggs in waterlogged pasture.

Left: A newly hatched chick sits on its nest, stilt chicks usually leave the nest the same day. 

Below: A newly hatched chick soaks up some rays, a relief after being cramped in the egg for 25 days :)