I was told today that it has been many years since a kotuku was seen at Waikanae Beach. This year the locals are enjoying the return of one kotuku/white heron who appears to have settled in for the Winter. Watching the bird, it soon became apparent that it was following a group of black shags that were fishing in the lagoon. This made it easy to predict where it would fly to next and it didn’t disappoint.
This morning there were several big lenses pointing in its direction and they didn’t bother it one little bit. It just kept on preening or fishing or doing what kotuku do. The bird kept us on the opposite side of the lagoon to it for most of the morning, so we were never really a threat. It did mean that big lenses were essential to capture any reasonable images, especially if we wanted to keep the sun behind us.
We were surprised when the kotuku flew over to where we were sitting and started preening as if we were not even there. I felt so privileged being able to spend time (albeit short) so close to such a majestic bird. There are some amazingly beautiful native birds in New Zealand, but this has to be one of my favourites.
The Waikanae kotuku is enjoying its current home so much, I don’t see it leaving any time soon. At least until next breeding season when it will head back to Whataroa on the South Island’s west coast. I visited the colony a couple of years ago during the breeding season. You can see images from the nesting kotuku here and here.
