Side portrait of a kea

A visit to the kea

We had a few hours spare the other day, so headed out to visit the kea at Staglands Wildlife Reserve & Cafe. Of all the animals and birds they have at Staglands, the kea are my favourite. Timing is everything and we were lucky to be there when the kea were getting fed, so they were very active.

Hungry kea eating carrot
Munching on carrot

We spent most of our time during the visit in the kea aviary. Four of the five kea in the aviary were happy to pose for the camera and I managed to get some amusing shots. I especially like the image below. I am not sure what the kea was up to, but it made for a funny photo.

Kea checking the under carriage
Kea checking the under carriage

One of the four kea considered himself the boss, and made a point of chasing the others away from the nectar juice. The images below show just how much he enjoyed drinking the nectar.

Kea slurping up the nectar juice
Slurping up the nectar juice
Nectar drip on kea beak
Nectar drip on beak

As I usually do, I concentrated on getting close ups of the kea. With each visit to the kea I try to get images that are a little different, or what I think is a little better than previous ones. The aviary is long and narrow, and achieving good images without the netting showing can be somewhat tricky.

The inquisitive kea
The inquisitive kea

Staglands also has loads more animals and birds. I like to keep these posts to a reasonable length, so will add those images in my next post. As usual, I love to receive your feedback so send your comments using the form here.

Kea getting too close to the lens
Kea getting too close to the lens

Please share posts that you enjoy, as I would love to see more nature lovers enjoying my posts. For more kea images check this page in my gallery.

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