Whio at Leon Kinvig hut

From early Monday to late Thursday afternoon last week, I helped survey the whio (blue duck; Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) population in the headwaters of the Pohangina river. A team of three with a specially trained German short-haired pointer checked the lower river (from Cattle Creek to Leon Kinvig hut, for those of you who know the place), while Nathan from DOC (Department of Conservation) and I checked the upper river including most of the major tributaries.

Late in the evening of the first day, this male turned up in the river by the hut. Not much light for photographing, but this gives a good impression of these lovely birds. The pale pink bill's extremely bright — so much so that in many photographs it's overexposed and appears white — and can be easily seen even when the dusk's so far advanced that the rest of the bird has disappeared into the dark surroundings. I've often thought perhaps this enables pairs to keep track of each other during their crepuscular feeding, but I can't think how this might be tested, even in theory and certainly not in practice. Any suggestions?

More from the survey shortly...

[17 December 2012, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 800, 1/50 at f5.6]



All content © 2012 Pete McGregor