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

Winter morning, Pohangina Valley (2)

Another view of the valley across the paddock from my verandah.

All content © 2017 Pete McGregor

Winter morning, Pohangina Valley

A few days short of the shortest day, this was the view from my verandah.

(I still can't work out why blogger insists on enlarging my photographs and destroying the sharpness, even though I've specified 'Original size'. The original of this is beautifully crisp. Sigh.) 

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Cat on a [warmish] tin roof

The day was hardly warm, but one of the cats next door knew where to get the last of the afternoon sun.

I love the way a cat can bring a scene to life.

All content © 2016 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

Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne's Lace (Wild carrot; Daucus carota) is a common weed around here. The intricacy and form of the flower heads fascinates me.

The dark object on the left of the flower head is the bum of a striped dung fly (Oxysarcodexia varia).

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.

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

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.

All content © 2017 Pete McGregor

Survivors

It's just a record photograph, but I like what it records: some of the rabbits have survived. These two were feeding in the front paddock early this morning. Although the telephoto lens has compressed the perspective so the rabbits look similar in size, the closer of the two (on the right) is much larger than the one behind. I'm guessing we have two generations here.

[1/30 sec at f4, ISO 640]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

October in the Pohangina Valley

In mid October the valley couldn't make up its mind about which season it was supposed to be in. It should have been spring, but could just as easily have been autumn. On mornings like this, I didn't mind.

This was the view from near my gate.

[1/320 sec at f5.6, ISO 200]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Macrocarpas and rain

We've had plenty of rain in the valley lately, but it has its compensations—like the way it shows up these gnarly old macrocarpas.

[1/80 sec at f8, ISO 200]

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

Spring, Pohangina Valley

After days of intermittent rain, the weather began to clear.

The view from the edge of the terrace, overlooking the river flats.

[1/250 sec at f8, ISO 200]

All content © 2016 Pete McGregor

Triple trouble — another gang of puppies

For a few days more, I have three of these (and their mum) living in the kennels near my back door.

[1/100 sec at f5.6, ISO 320]

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

Honeybee on tarata

Spring is well under way here in the valley. The blossom on many of the fruit trees is well past its peak, new leaves are expanding on many of the deciduous trees, and this morning I watched a thrush gathering a bill-full of earthworms for its insatiably hungry young. I walked to the gate and, on the way back, stopped by a big tarata (lemonwood; Pittosporum eugenioides). The air was full of the sound of honeybees working the pale yellow-green flowers.

[1/800 sec at f4; ISO 320]

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