It’s always windy at Muriwai – it’s why the Gannets nest there. There were serious gusts blowing when we spent the evening there after our day on Tiri, so much so that despite a balmy 12degree C air temperature, my fingers were frozen stiff around the camera after a few hours. However, it did make for great conditions to photograph the Gannets, who seemed to be enjoying the lift and were soaring effortlessly around the cliffs. It was a fantastic day overall, but my shoulders and wrists were very stiff the next day! I’m sure it’s just my body telling me I should do this more often.
Our last trip to Muriwai was in November last year when my examinations had finished. We went twice over the course of two days, and I took one of my favourite photographs of a White-fronted Tern. This time I wanted to focus more on the Gannets, but I was distracted by the terns flying around in pairs! The windspeed made it exceedingly hard to photograph these little birds, but by listening for their calls we could usually focus on them before they came hurtling past, and track them as they bobbed around in pairs. 
Gannets are glorious in the air and a bit uncoordinated on the ground. Watching them fly is absolutely breathtaking, and I can see why people from around the world visit Muriwai. The cliffs are covered in layers upon layers of old nests and guano, but the smell is hardly noticeable when the wind is whipping across your face.
Now that Daylight Savings has flicked over, it stays light long into the evening and we persisted until around half-past seven as the sun was beginning to go down. Being slightly more prepared than last time, I remembered to bring a wider angle lens, and gave the Sigma 24-105mm f/4 it’s first real test-run. It’s a great lens, and I’ll probably put together a post about my new Sigma lenses at some point. 
I returned to the Gannet Colony on the 18th for a biology field trip, and the weather was the complete opposite. It wasn’t windy at all and it rained solidly while we counted the Gannets and observed their behaviours. While I would have preferred to be taking photographs the whole time, it was nice to have a different experience at Muriwai, although I needed a warm shower when I got home!
