While the purpose of our Turangi visit was to try and photography Whio/Blue Duck ducklings on the Tongariro River, there were a few extras on the set.

Timing is often the difference between a good and a great image so many images are taken. In the above image the preening duck stopped preening and stared intently upstream. I was half expecting another duck to drift down with the hope of an interaction but he settled so suspect it may have just been a fisherman that caught his attention.

When a behaviour occurs it worth shooting a burst to catch the peak of the action. In this next image I was hoping for a wing stretch which I got but then a bit more that I hadn’t fully anticipated. A frame to add to my collection of “shitty photos”.

It is always worth being prepared for the unexpected and I again managed to get some nice images of non-target species. I previously wrote about getting a good shot of a female Blackbird while heading off to photograph Kōtare/Kingfishers. Blackbirds are often difficult and this male was much more co-operative than usual.

I was also lucky to catch a nice little Tahou/Silvereye to add to my collection from my Backyard Birdhide.

Photos with Nikon D850 and Nikon 500mm f5.6PF