A recent visit to Zealandia to look for the riflemen that are so hard to find, resulted in some lovely kakariki images. These little parrots just love millet and there is a feeding station at Zealandia where they can often find a millet spray or two. I remember when they were first released into the valley. They would stay near the feeding station but were not that happy about cameras clicking away at them. Now they appear also tame and are happy to have the camera get up close and friendly with them so long as there is some millet on offer.
I often see it as a challenge to get as close as possible to a bird when photographing it. I will start taking shots from a distance then slowly creep forward all the while clicking the shutter. This method has allowed me to get some amazing bird portraits and some of the best have been the kakariki. This recent visit was no exception. The biggest problem is deciding which images to cull from the library, because there were just so many that I liked. I hope you enjoy the selection I have put in this post. All of these images are available as canvas prints. Contact me if you are interested.
