Banded Dotterel and New Zealand Pipit

IMG_1596aa-blogThis morning we went for a drive out to Baring Head for a look around. My father-in-law had been there recently helping a friend paint a shed and was telling us about some fenced off areas where there were some special birds breeding.  He said he didn’t see any of these special birds but was assured they were there.  We had a look around but didn’t want to get too close as disturbing the birds is not something we do deliberately.IMG_1591aaa-blog
IMG_1546-blogAs it happens we didn’t need to get too close to see one of the Banded Dotterels.  It was doing its best to lead us away from its nest (which we didn’t see) and we let it. These shots are not great due to the distance (they are heavily cropped) but they are the first Banded Dotterels I have ever seen so are indeed something new to me. As we were moving away from the Dotterel we saw something else foraging in the sand and stones.IMG_1469-blogAnother new bird for me, I thought they were sparrows or similar when I started photographing them. It wasn’t until we arrived home and I was able to look them up that I realised they were in fact New Zealand Pipits. There were lots of them flitting about but these two let me get very close to them. One of the image shows the bird has a bug in it’s beak – something else I didn’t notice at the time.  I can see me going back and taking a bit more time with these birds – quick trips don’t produce quality images.IMG_1465-blog

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