While yesterday may have been a visit in search of the rifleman family, it always includes a stop at the bellbird feeder. There is one male bellbird / korimako, that rules the feeder and will chase away any other bird that comes near. It is fun to watch this small green bird take on the larger tui if they come into his territory. As a photographer, I see the benefits of this one bird being so stroppy. He is usually easy to find and will often sit still long enough to photograph. Not as long as we would like but it only takes a few seconds to focus and press the shutter. Knowing where to look and seeing movement in the dark bush to locate him is the tricky part.
After leaving the bellbird, we headed back down the main track to have lunch at the cafe. It is never a straight forward walk back, as we usually find more birds to photograph along the way. With the new season’s flax flowers just starting to open, we found a tui was happily feeding. It was getting pollen on its face and beak, which I couldn’t resist getting a capture of. Next we stopped at the kaka feeder for a short time to watch the kaka play and feed. The blackbirds hang around looking for crumbs that might be dropped, and they weren’t disappointed. I even found one willing to pose for me. Moving further down the track we saw a cute little chaffinch. She stopped for a quick photo then flew off back into the trees.
