New Zealand is a world hot spot for cormorants or shags as they are known locally. Spotted Shags are probably my favourite with their gracile features and stunning breeding plumage. Photographing them usually requires a South Island trip as that is their stronghold. There is however a small Hauraki Gulf population that has been struggling.

The rocky shore on the western Coromandel just north of Thames is one of the few sites that I have relatively reliably seen Spotted Shags in the North Island. I always look forward to travelling this road in the hope of seeing them but trips over the past few years revealed few. In contrast on this latest trip to Te Puru there were quite decent numbers and one evening I made a trip down at last light to photograph them. High winds and a very rough sea had them dispersed with some sheltering high on the rocky shore as their preferred rock stacks were inundated.

On the day we left the conditions were a complete contrast with low tide and a flat sea. The shags were littering the rocks and concentrated in numbers exceeding any I have seen before. Despite the harsh light I couldn’t resist stopping and photographing again.

Many were resting on the rocks with a number flying in to join them but some were foraging in the shallows.

Efforts are underway to encourage re-establishment of previous colonies in the Gulf. This includes an effort on Otata Island in the Noises group using call back and decoy birds on whitewashed rocks. This article in NZ Geographic outlines some of the issues and the work being done by Matt Rayner, Tim Lovegrove and Todd Landers with the Neureuter family on the Noises.

I have been lucky to stay on Otata while assisting Edin with her Masters research. Meeting Sue and Zoe Neureuter I was hugely impressed by their passion and drive to protect and restore the ecosystem of the island and gulf in general. It is impossible to remain unmoved on hearing the changes that they have witnessed in their lives. These restoration projects give hope that the damage can be reversed.

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