A New Zealand Birdventure is the subtitle of Edin’s book, The Brilliance of Birds. She spent a lot of time travelling alone to get images to fill some gaps in her archive of bird images but I was lucky to share a few adventures with her in the process. I have written before about the unseasonable weather we encountered in Fiordland when chasing Rockwren and the unique opportunities that gave us with Black-fronted Terns. This week I am going to share a few images from other New Zealand Birdventure missions.
First opportunity was when I accompanied Edin on her drive down from home to Wellington to catch the ferry across to the South Island. The Manawatu estuary is a great birding stop so we planned a night there. The evening was windy and cold and we got some opportunities on Spoonbill, Pukeko (which made it to the book on page 251) and Wrybill. Fish and chips from Mr. Grumpy’s was a warming finish to the day.
The next day dawned bright and clear and we found a good flock of Wrybill feeding in the slick of receding waves on the beach side. They kept us enthralled for ages and gave Edin a photo for page 376 of the Brilliance of Birds.
Our next shared adventure began in Dunedin, late September when I flew down to spend a week driving back home with her. The first couple of days on the Otago Penisula photographing at Taiaroa Head, on a trip with Monarch Wildlife cruises and exploring Orokonui Ecosanctuary. The photo on page 285 of the Brilliance of Birds shows a bronze morph Otago Shag in flight with the Taiaroa Head lighthouse in the background.
Orokonui Ecosantuary is a place I would really like to spend more time. There are excellent opportunities with Kaka and Bellbird/Korimako and Edin’s photo on page 133 of the book was taken this day. It was my first time photographing Brown Creeper and there were opportunities with Fernbird and Otago Skinks as well.
Next step was to head north for Kaikoura with brief breaks at Oamaru and the Ashley Estuary just north of Christchurch. We arrived late in the day to a cool and misty South Bay. Next morning we went and arranged a couple of pelagic trips with Albatross Encounter, one for that afternoon and the second for the following morning when Mike Ashbee and Kathy Reid were driving up from Christchurch to join us for the pelagic trip. Our timing was perfect to catch the return of the Hutton’s Shearwaters and Edin’s photo of this unique alpine breeding seabird is on page 240.
Albatross Encounter pelagics are always memorable and each one I have done has been unique. I will do another post to share more images as there are so many opportunities on these trips. After returning to shore we headed to the end of the Kaikoura peninsula and had some fun with White-fronted Terns and this is when Edin made her image for the double spread title page of The Brilliance of Birds.
South Bay is also an excellent spot to photograph Banded Dotterels so we spent a fair amount of time lying on the fine pebbly beach with them.
Just before leaving Kaikoura, Mike mentioned that a Hoary-headed Grebe had been seen at Lake Elterwater which we would be passing en route to Picton just as the sun was due to set. Arriving, we didn’t see much except Australasian Shovellers. A little patience was rewarded with a rare (for the South Island) New Zealand Dabchick swimming in from the right and a pair of Hoary-headed Grebe swimming in from the left. They performed almost on cue in the last of the sunlight to give us some golden images to end a remarkable day in the New Zealand Birdventure. More was to follow in November but that is a story for another day.
The Brilliance of Birds was published in September 2019 and makes an excellent gift for anyone interested in finding out some interesting facts about New Zealand birds or just enjoying some great bird images. It is available in your local bookshop in New Zealand or a variety of online stores.
Visit Edin’s blog for some of her New Zealand Birdventure stories.
Photos with Nikon D500 and Nikon 500mm f4VR+- 1.4x teleconverter or 300mm f4PF or Nikon D810 and Nikon 24-120mm f4VR.
