Yesterday was probably the last day of good weather we will have until next week, and it seemed such a shame to not be going anywhere to make the most of it. So when a fellow photographer messaged me and asked if it was too late in the morning to head to Staglands, I said “of course not, lets go!” And we did.
We arrived out there at about 11am and to be honest it was borderline on being too late. The carpark was full, the overload carpark was filling up already and the queue to get in was very long. We hadn’t been reading our newsletters and missed that they had an early bird promotion going through January. It was very busy!!
We spent a couple of hours there, mainly with the birds this time. The aviaries are often where people wander through and out. We like to stay and often capture some amazing images in them. It was the lovebirds and lorikeets who entertained us in one of the aviaries, and of course the many kea in the other one.
Once out of the aviaries, the peacocks put on an amazing display for all who would take notice. They were also extremely popular for folk wanting selfies with them. I am sure the birds were somewhat relieved at the end of the day when everyone went home and they could relax their feathers.
We only saw a tiny part of the reserve this time as with all the people there it was very slow going and while it is fantastic for the reserve to have so many visitors, I prefer to go there on the quiet days when everyone else it at work or school. It’s much easier to get a park then also!
