SPRING IS HERE

SPRING IS HERE

 

I can always tell when Spring is here because a pair of mallard ducks start knocking at my door... every Spring without fail the pair arrive on our front deck and tap on our glass sliding door wanting a feed. Spring is finally here!!! and the breeding, nesting and hatching has begun! What a wonderful time of year for a wildlife photographer. Amongst the earthquake rubble the daffodils are in full flower and our city is being transformed by Spring's vivid colours!

| Above: A pied shag with stunning breeding colours |

Lately I've been busily trying to get my images organised and I've spent the last few weeks editing and sorting through a huge number of photos... and I can happily say that I'm almost done (phew!). I always prefer to be out with the camera rather than behind a computer, although I find it interesting going through old pictures and re-discovering photos and trips again.

It's been great doing talks for photography clubs and societies... and I had a wonderful time talking to the New Brighton Photography Club on Tuesday night - what a good bunch of people! I'm looking forward to meeting and talking to the members of the Greymouth Photography Club next month and spending some time photographing some of the birds on the west coast!

 | Above & Below: The endemic Black-fronted tern |

Last Friday night a friend and I threw our kayaks on the car and headed up the coast to a place called Kaikoura to spend the weekend kayaking around the peninsula. There is always something special about kayaking around the peninsula and we were treated by some great weather, some fantastic views and great wildlife like the New Zealand fur seals. 

A special moment for me was when a reef heron flew directly over our kayaks and landed on the rock platform a few metres away. The photos below are  some of the photos of the reef heron (Egretta sacra) feeding... what a buzz considering that these secretive herons are not a common sighting in New Zealand, especially in the south island.

 

  

| Above: A banded dotterel strolls amongst the weed on the Kaikoura Peninsula |

| Above: A New Zealand dotterel preening | Below: Shag Pile, Christchurch |

It's been fantastic to have the very talented Karen Neal use some of my photos as references for her wonderful wildlife paintings. I received a print of the wonderful kingfisher painting 'Gone Fishing' recently... go check out her work!

OUT & ABOUT...

As well as kingfishers, black-fronted terns (Above) are also common visitors to the coast during the colder months, So lately I've found myself venturing to one of my favourite spots just out of Christchurch to photograph these handsome little birds. I got up early yesterday morning to continue my quest in capturing the terns, It was a beautiful day with soft Autumn lighting, and I spent the best part of the morning crawling after a group of roosting terns who would scatter every now and then as a dog or walker would venture to close to the resting flock. Keep an eye out for a black-fronted tern post!! I managed to see a white-winged black tern which was a first for me (uncommon Asian migrant)! 

On the way back from photographing the terns I was reacquainted with an old friend, a black stilt Himantopus novaezelandiae (above), who I've been photographing in this area on and off for the past few years. Black stilts are endemic to New Zealand and are still considered the world's rarest wading bird!!! There were only 23 black stilts left in 1981. So it was a real pleasure to spend time photographing this beautiful bird who has been hanging out with it's more common cousins, pied stilts (below). Thanks to intensive management numbers are on the increase, according to a February 2010 estimate there was 85 black stilts in the wild.

                                                                                                                                      Female blackbird

                                          Young mallard ducklings follow each other over the Lilly pads

                                                                                                     Male California quail

                                                                                                                                           Male Bellbird 

                                                                                   Little blue penguin, Kaikoura, NZ

Shag Rock, one Christchurch's iconic natural formations will never be the same after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake which hit here on February the 22nd 2011. The photo on the right is what shag rock looked like before the quake and below are photos of Shag Rock now (Shag Pile)... I think it still has some charm and almost looks like a giant hand pushing up through the rubble (if you look hard enough)...

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). 

 

 

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

'LOVE IS IN THE AIR' 

The white-fronted terns' noisy chattering is a sure sign that spring is underway! From now (October) to January these birds will breed on sand dunes, rocky islets and shingle banks around the country. Males court females by delivering fish held crosswise in their bill. I can't help feeling a little sorry for these small fish which are often still alive and kicking as they are held in the male's beak for a few minutes and then offered as a gift... I wonder what the fish is thinking? 

White-fronted Terns (Sterna striata) are the most common tern in New Zealand. Unfortunately recent counts have shown that their numbers are declining quite rapidly!

The reasons for this are not fully known, although it is thought that disturbances to their breeding habitats such as 4WD vehicles and predation from rats, stoats, hedgehogs, black-backed gulls etc. have all contributed to this decline.

White-fronted terns are also known as 'kahawai birds' as they are often seen feeding with schools of kahawai (Australian Salmon) that push krill and small fish like smelt and pilchards to the surface making it easier for the terns to feed. It is therefore also quite likely that the over-fishing of kahawai may also be contributing to their decline.