Yesterday my cousin and I went to Ulva Island with our cameras. We had both heard so much about the island and its birdlife, that we had very high expectations. We weren’t disappointed, the birdlife there is amazing. Our first bird encounter was with a cute little South Island Robin. Almost every corner we turned, there was another robin waiting to see if we had disturbed anything juicy.
I was on the look out for some of the birds that I have not yet photographed. Yellowhead and brown creeper in particular, but I didn’t manage to see any. Others we spoke to along the way had seen them along the same track we were on, but for us it was not to be. Instead I found some cute little South Island Tomtits. I didn’t get a close shot of the female, but the male was happy to pose for me with a bug in his beak.
Further down the track we were told about a sea lion alongside one of the tracks, so we made a short detour to see it. A female sea lion about to give birth is not something you expect to see in the bush! We could clearly see her pup moving about in her belly and she lay there. A few other people had stopped there also and the sea lion was not so happy about this. She started moving towards us so we all made a quick exit. We were told later in the afternoon that she had still not given birth. I hope she found some peace after everyone had left the island for the day.
We saw a few bellbirds and saddlebacks along the way but they were very good at avoiding the cameras. I was determined so did manage a few images. However after walking for five hours with breaks on an injured (but taped up) knee, by the time I saw some good possible shots I was more worried about making it back to the boat than taking photographs. Today it is windy and raining, so a good day to rest up to be ready for tomorrow’s adventure!
