Korimako in tree lucerne

This male korimako (NZ bellbird) brightened a grey, winter's afternoon. The yellow on his bill and face is pollen from the tree lucerne flowers he'd been foraging among.



All content © 2017 Pete McGregor

The piwakawaka visit my verandah

Recently, a gang of about four to six piwakawaka (New Zealand fantail) have been doing laps around the house, taking advantage of various perching places at both ends of the verandah to scout for insects. I can't say how much of a delight that is to me.

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Coot chick

At the Vet pond at Massey this morning, a pair of coots were being pestered by their two chicks. (And yes, I know, and I'm waiting for the wisecracks.)

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Early morning starling

In the early morning before full light, while a little colour remained in the sky, a starling perched in the old plum tree.

All content © 2017 Pete McGregor

Miromiro (tomtit), No. 1 Line track

Miromiro (not to be confused with riroriro) are currently easy to see on the No. 1 Line track. Photographing them's another matter, but this bedraggled little female posed nicely for me yesterday — but only for a few seconds. I managed several photographs as she flitted about and paused to pose, but she quickly lost interest. The whole encounter was over in less than a minute.

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Riroriro (grey warbler), No. 1 Line track

I find riroriro one of the most difficult birds to photograph. They seldom pause for more than a second, and they're usually flitting around among a tangle of twigs and branches and foliage. Often they're high enough in the canopy so I have to deal with bright patches of sky in the background, while the bird's in shadow. This time I got lucky.

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Grey-headed canary flycatcher, Jamnagar, Gujarat

In Jamnagar, a typically hectic mid-sized Indian city, sits a closed-down tea processing factory. The grounds cover 33 acres (according to the caretaker), and the primary occupants are the thorny scrub interspersed with dry clearings, and the birds. It's tranquil, and it's a great place to watch birds of many kinds if you're lucky enough to get permission to visit, as I was.

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Even the mynahs have a hard time

For all its charms (and there are many), Delhi isn't the cleanest of places, and most  of the birds I've seen haven't been in great shape. The air alone is currently among the worst in the world. Even though mynahs and crows are among the most adaptable and resilient of birds, they can do nothing about air quality.

(Just like last time, I'm having difficulty processing the photographs. Android isn't designed for high quality photoprocessing of RAW files - even the Lightroom app is lousy. Photomate R3 seems to be the bes of a bad bunch. Snapseed would be good, but the RAW files need to be converted to DNG, and the converter apps are appalling. I'm afraid you'll have to put up with approximations. Sorry.)

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

The Village Pheasant

Here's a photograph of the pheasant rooster looking less agitated.

[1/800 sec at f4.5, ISO 200]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Pheasant flap, Pohangina

Just outside Pohangina Village yesterday, we saw a pheasant rooster strolling along the road. We followed him and I managed a series of photographs, most of which failed. Luck was with me for this one, though.

[1/640 sec at f4.5, ISO 200]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Tui at Pauatahanui

At the Plimmerton end of Pauatahanui Inlet we stopped briefly but walkers with babies in pushchairs and dogs meant birds were scarce. I did photograph this tui but held out little hope the result would be OK because the bird refused to come low enough so I could avoid the bright grey sky as a background. However, some judicious processing helped by a relatively low ISO meant I was able to salvage this photograph.

The yellow around the base of the upper bill is pollen from the kowhai flowers from which the tui had been sipping nectar.

[1/400 sec at f5.0, ISO 250]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Pied stilt at Pauatahanui

At Pauatahanui Inlet we stopped to investigate the bird hide. I'd driven past many times and had often thought about stopping, but something always seemed more urgent. This time, with no hurry to get back to the valley, the temptation was too much. It proved worthwhile, with good views of pied stilts, grey teal, and several other kinds of waterbirds. 

[1/200 sec at f4, ISO 250]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Yellowhammer in kanuka

The introduced finches, like this male yellowhammer, are larger than Aotearoa's tiniest birds like the riroriro (grey warbler), but I find them at least as difficult to photograph. Riroriro seldom pause and usually flit about among a tangle of fine branches that makes focusing a nightmare, but at least it's often possible to get close to them while they forage. Getting close to a yellowhammer, on the other hand is inordinately difficult, so I usually need to crop the photograph heavily, as I did with this one.

[1/2000 sec at f4, ISO 250]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Tui at the Pohangina Wetlands

Photographing tui on the Massey University campus among the cherry blossom is one thing, but photographing a tui feeding on the native kakabeak (kowhai ngutukaka) at the Pohangina Wetlands is another: somehow intrinsically more satisfying. I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps photographing the Massey birds, which are habituated to constant human presence, seems too close to photographing animals in a zoo, or maybe the juxtaposition of a quintessentially New Zealand bird and a plant most closely associated with Japanese culture seems slightly contrived.

Of course, while kakabeak is a native plant, it's almost extinct in the wild, and if you see one it's almost certainly a cultivated plant.

[1/400 sec at f4, ISO 250]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Pohangina Valley Pheasant

Pheasants are a not uncommon sight on the roadsides in the valley, but photographing them can be difficult. On Sunday I happened to have the fortunate coincidence of a cooperative driver and a similarly cooperative rooster, and one of the three photographs turned out quite nice.

I love pheasants and never fail to get a thrill of delight when I see one.

[1/400 sec at f4, ISO 250]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Tui time

Early spring's an excellent time of year for appreciating tui on the Massey University campus. An abundance of nectar-producing blossom attracts an abundance of tui, and because the birds are habituated to humans, they're easy to approach closely. Yesterday I finally took the time to make some photographs, and because the day was heavily overcast, I didn't have the usual difficulties with the shiny iridescence of the plumage.

[1/80 sec at f5.6, ISO 200]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Korimako on kanuka

More korimako, I'm afraid, but I can't resist these marvellous little birds. On a heavily overcast, dull day, I prowled along the edge of the terrace and encountered this female korimako inspecting the bark of an old kanuka for tasty invertebrate morsels  —  a change of diet from the more usual tree lucerne nectar.

I loved the scratch and papery rustle of her little claws on the peeling bark as she spiralled up the trunk.

[1/200 sec at f4, ISO 320]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

More korimako

Yes, another korimako (male), but I like these glimpses. This is how I usually see them.

[1/640 sec at f4, ISO 250]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

The Far Side kereru

This, I imagine, is how Gary Larson might have envisaged kereru.

[1/1250 sec at f4, ISO 250]


All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Winter korimako

Keeping the theme going. Sparrows aren't the only birds with the inclination to fluff up when the air's cold. For the sake of respecting the truth, though, I'll point out that this afternoon was unseasonably warm and sunny; however, we're still officially in winter even though we're only just over a day out from the official start of spring.

This korimako sat himself in a particularly awkward position against a bright sky, but by overexposing and with judicious processing, the photograph turned out not bad.

[1/250 sec at f4.5, ISO 200]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor