Photographs I wouldn’t have taken – part 2
I few years ago I wrote about how my photography evolved from birdwatcher-imagemaker to something more nuanced, in being responsive to the environments I find birds in and making photographs…
Island nights
I've spent a week under the stars, camping in a pōhutukawa clearing on a seabird island. Wind was constant, an endless river through the canopy. Hushing leaves and groaning trunk-creaks…
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Return to Motuihe
Three years ago, I spent the weekend seabird surveying Motuihe island looking for penguins. Last weekend, I did the exact same thing, with the exact same crew. It was wonderful.…
Celestial Navigators
It’s gone eleven at night, and still. The ocean is a gentle hush against the cliffs below, echoing in the narrow inlet. The sky is clear, velvet dark, moonless, starfull.…
Garden tūī
I've been getting distracted while working from home. It's feeling very springy and with the flowering karo there's a sudden influx of tūī rushing around and filling the garden with…
The ancient one
Nightlife on Aotearoa's predator-free islands is pretty special. While I'm often working all night with seabirds, I occasionally get some free time for a wander with my camera to check…
Conservation Week
Happy Conservation Week! It's a time to celebrate all the great mahi that people all over Aotearoa do to protect our natural environment - our unique species and ecosystems that…
Spring bloom
Karo - Pittosporum crassifolium It’s last light, golden fragments flung from scattered clouds in an icey blue sky painting the tallest reaches of a struggling karo tree that sits outside…
Brown quails
I get a real kick out of seeing these little birds. Brown quails are one of two introduced quail species in Aotearoa - originally from Australia, they have filled the…
Little shearwaters
Last week I started work on another part of my PhD project - monitoring the breeding success of little shearwaters. These wee birds are very cryptic. Unlike fluttering shearwaters, we…
Geckos in the ceiling
This week I’m back in the field again - looking for little shearwaters! One of the highlights of working on the islands (apart from all the birds!) is the amazing…
Hawking fantails
I've been really enjoying playing with my 300mm f/4 PF recently, getting used to a non-zoom lens for bird photography. I've been lab-bound for a while, escaping on the weekends…
Sitting with the Southern Royals
Come and sit with me in the tussock, looking out across the megaherb gardens on Campbell Island. Tuck down and nest in the golden grass, sheltered from the wind strafing…
Little goals
I've been trying to nail a nice riroriro Grey warbler photograph recently. There's a pair that shows up every now and then in my sparse urban garden, foraging in the…