The Winter months often make it difficult to get out with the cameras. Sometimes a dull day can be perfect for bird photography. No nasty shadows or harsh light to deal with. Just over a week ago now, my fellow photographer friends and I headed to Waimanu Lagoon in Waikanae. This is an area where the shags or cormorants have chosen to breed. The lagoon often has juveniles practicing their fishing skills.
A flat leaf, resembling a flounder albeit inedible, serves as a playful opportunity for young birds to develop their skills. However, if a leaf is unavailable, sticks can alternatively be used to fulfill this purpose. Consequently, the birds interact with these sticks, engaging with them for extended periods and thereby offering numerous photographic opportunities for both observers and photographers.
Once all the action had died down, we started looking around the lagoon. We spied a kingfisher sitting in a tree above us. It was perfectly hidden in plain sight.
A small dabchick was actively diving in search of food, exhibiting remarkable speed while consuming its catch and because of this, the only opportunity I had to photograph it occurred during a brief period when the bird paused to groom itself. I really liked how the water droplets were clinging to its back.
Next up we have a pukeko busy scratching an itch, not taking any notice of us pointing a camera lens at it. A red billed gull was calling for… I don’t actually know what it was calling for but it was noisy!
The little black shags often hunt for food in a group allowing them to heard their prey and surround them. They were taking a break when we came across them so they provided us with a great photo opportunity. I liked how the light was highlighting the feathers giving lovely definition which is often hard to achieve on a black bird.
The last image is a portrait of a juvenile pied shag. We were only at the lagoon for about an hour and a half. However it was bitterly cold and rather than get chilled to the bone, we all decided to head to a local cafe for a hot drink. I hope you have enjoyed this brief look at some of the birds of Waimanu Lagoon. There were many more birds that we didn’t photograph but sometimes being warm is more important so we headed off. Feedback is welcome here.