Growing up
Light-mantled albatrosses nest on cliffs, tucked on tiny ledges, exposed to the elements. There is a nest just across the cove from us on the island, and we've been watching…
Re-greetings
Albatrosses are famously 'monogamous', choosing one partner to nest with for most, if not all, of their life. Real life is messy, and this does come with caveats - there's…
Northern Giant Petrels
Northern Giant Petrels don't get a lot of love. Their various nicknames include 'stinkpot', which is, if occasionally accurate, a little rude. Having been the recipient of the self-defence projectile…
Yawn
Erect-crested penguin It turns out that sympathetic yawning is a cross-species phenomenon. I've noticed it with dogs, and now also penguins and albatrosses. They yawn, I yawn. It doesn't seem…
First Light, Last Light
The first week on Antipodes Island, in mid-December. The wind is light, the sky is calm and clear. In the evenings, late, the sun swells to a rich golden glow…
Slick
I've been looking for monochrome images while out shooting recently - paying more attention to light, shade, and contrast rather than colour. This photo - shot on an Albatross Encounter…
Wings overhead
I posted this photo to Instagram a while back, but it's a bad platform for landscape-orientation images. They don't lend themselves to the scroll well. Here it is in all…
Freeze-frame
This image is actually a still taken from a video, shot handheld on a rolling boat! There are four species of seabird cruising through the frame, and while the video…
Blue morning
A wee while ago I went up to Tāwharanui for a morning wander with Yusuf (see his photos here!), looking for birds, looking for light, looking for nice images. The…
Spring babies
Spring really is a fantastic time for bird photography, with babies abound. As well as the pīpīwharouroa from last week's post, I enjoyed following this pīwakawaka/pied fantail family around as…
Pīpīwharouroa
Last spring I finally managed to get some photographs of pīpīwharouroa - Shining cuckoos - that I really like. They're so elusive, noisy but sneaky and perfectly camouflaged. There were…
Antipodean albatross
Why you should Vote Toroa for Bird of the Year
Why you should vote #seabirdsnottreebirds and support toroa/Antipodean albatross for #BirdoftheYear
Kākā calling
Lockdown is dragging on, and with delta cases popping up outside of Tāmaki Makaurau, I'm content to wait it out. That doesn't mean it's easy. I'm losing my field season,…