It was a gorgeous sunny day so we decided to head to Zealandia. It was the first time I have been there without the aid of a crutch or scooter to get around and I was keen to see just how much I could manage. I surprised myself! I walked the Te Mahanga track and then up and around the swing bridge track back down to Tui Lawn. Ok so my back wasn’t too happy by the end of it but my feet coped really well! It’s nice to be mobile again, even if it is only til the next surgery.
There was a lot of bird activity in the bush and I have to say I am totally out of practice! I struggled to get good speeds and as a result got a lot of very noisy images and a whole bunch of silhouettes. Regardless I enjoyed seeing all the birds and having the saddleback family feed around me was a real treat. I also saw a flock of whiteheads with fledglings being fed.
Zealandia is great in that there are seats every hundred metres or so which means that I can rest as often as I need to. It is often during these rest times that I see the most birds and get the best shots. I think I need to rest more often! At one point I had a robin at my feet, a hihi pair in the branch above my head, and several silvereyes flitting about in front of me. It was great!
I hope you enjoy today’s selection of images from Zealandia. I have removed a lot of noise but they are a good representation of the birds I saw in the few hours that I was there.
