Springs brings the Kowhai blooms which bring the Tuis to feed on the nectar. The tree at the corner of our property blooms a little later than most and it is a favourite time of year as good pictures can be had from just outside our back door. The tree is generally claimed by one dominant bird who scares away all others until he will tolerate one other, presumably a mate. The tactic of other Tuis is to mount a group raid so that he cannot chase them all off at once and they can steal a feed of nectar – today we had over 25 in the tree at one stage.

It is a challenge to get clean images as the birds move very quickly through the twigs and flowers and generally have their beaks thrust into blooms. When they finish on one spray they will often look up to plan their next move and you have a second to plant a focus point on their eye and grab a shot, hopefully with sharp focus and no movement artefact.

Pictures today with Nikon D800, Nikon 200-400, Sirui R4203L tripod, RRS 55 Ballhead and Wimberly Sidekick.

Quite different pictures compared to last year