AFTERSHOCK Kicking it off with Kingfishers

OK, since my last post I've lived through a devastating earthquake and over 1100 aftershocks! Which has some what slowed down the photography and much of life here in Christchurch.  My project to photograph the godwits was put on hold and I will have to wait until their return in September - when they will fly an amazing 11,000km non stop from Alaska back to here to New Zealand.

Winter is now on the doorstep and the days seem to be getting shorter and a lot cooler :-( But not all is as bleak as it may seem for the photography - for with winter comes great lighting and good numbers of kingfishers to the coast!! Kingfishers are one of my favorite birds to photograph and have been a good target species to kick off the photography in this new post quake (hopefully quake free) era!

Sunset kingfisher

'The King' 

A New Zealand Kingfisher regurgitates a large pellet of indigestible crab remains.

Local wanderings

I'm working on a few photographic projects at the moment and I've been able to spend a fair bit of time down at my local estuary (Avon/Heathcote) here in Christchurch. While some projects are in the making I thought I'd add a few shots that I've taken this week in between photographic ventures. I really enjoy getting to know the ins-and-outs of the estuary and I find that the more time I spend down there the more I learn about the habits and behaviours of my feathered friends :)

Photos from top to bottom. Backlit white-fronted tern. Mallard duckling. NZ kingfisher and crab. Shag Rock a prominent feature of the Avon/Heathcote Estuary (an older photo).