Last Sunday saw us driving North to Waikanae. Its a small coastal town that is home to the Nga Manu Nature Reserve. The reserve has some beautiful walks and lots of native birds can be seen and photographed there. I particularly like the walk in aviaries that allow me to get very close to some of our most beautiful birds.
Unlike most nature photographers, I like to get in close. To capture the feather details and the gloss of the eyes that are often missed when the full bird is photographed. I especially like it when the birds engage with the camera and stare right down the lens at me.
The birds in these images are all males and are not genetically pure kākāriki, so they are being kept in the aviary to keep them from breeding. The breeding programes run by Nga Manu and other places like Pukaha, aim to keep the kākāriki genetically pure to preserve the species.
I had a lot of fun with the kākāriki on this visit and really didn’t go anywhere else in the reserve. It’s nice to be able to focus on one birds at a time, especially when they are happy to play too.
