NEW CAMERA!

My trusty old Nikon D80 was finally able to retire on Tuesday! After taking well over 200,000 shots and enduring countless hours of sand blasting, rain showers and all sorts of abuse it was able to take a well-earned break and become my back-up camera to my new Nikon D300s ... well that's what the plan was until yesterday morning...

I was photographing black-fronted terns yesterday morning and really enjoying the fast focus and frames per second (fps) of my new camera when the shutter release button decided to seize up on me!!! I've had the camera for three days and it's already in the shop for repairs!! We'll the trusty old D80 has been brought out of retirement until the D300s is fixed (luckily under warranty)!  

The photo above is of a few of the bar-tailed godwits which have decided to stay here in Christchurch for the winter and earthquakes (brave birds) instead of migrating to Alaska for the summer. The photo to the left is of a juvenile little pied shag drying its wings.

The series below is of the two species of oystercatchers found here in New Zealand, the South Island Pied Oystercatcher (SIPO) and the endemic Variable Oystercatcher.

The South Island pied oystercatchers (Haematopus finschi) unlike their variable cousins breed inland along rivers, lakes and cultivated land; sometimes as far inland as the Southern Alps. In winter the birds congregate on the coast and can be found throughout New Zealand.

Variable oystercatchers (Haematopus unicolor) breed throughout New Zealand and nest on the coast usually in between rocks or on sand dunes (see the eggs in the photo below). Variable oystercatchers are predominantly black in colour, although their frontal plumage can range from solid black to pied. They can be identified as they are slightly larger than SIPOs.

South Island Pied Oystercatchers approach their high tide roost on the Avon/Heathcote Estuary.

South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi)  

A juvenile SIPO searches for food on the mud flats of the Avon/Heathcote Estuary

Above and below: variable oystercatchers defend their territory from rival pairs

Its amazing to watch oystercatchers find, probe and open mussels and cockles in one swift motion, and the ease at which they pull chitons from the rocks is amazing - those things dont come off easily!!

eft: Variable Oystercatcher eggs

* A big thanks to the guys at Photo & Video for having me as their guest photographer last month!

* And thanks to David Streeten from StreetwiseDesign for featuring me on his bulletin board !

I cant wait to get my new camera back!!!

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)