I’m calling this week’s blog Blurry Bird Butts of New Zealand, because the greater majority of bird photos that I took while there would fall into this category.
For example: this male Tomtit. This fellow was warbling away (which was made even more impressive by the grub he had clamped in his bill the whole time) up in a tree near Franz Josef Glacier. In addition to the sky being overcast, he was strongly back lit, so this was the best photo I could get.
I think this blurry bird butt (photographed on Ulva Island) belongs to the introduced Hedge Sparrow, although the bird seems a bit brighter in color than the those in the ID photos. I can only speculate (if I’m right), that the NZ version has gotten brighter in the relative absence of predators.
Weka are not shy, but they are fairly active when looking for food. On the beach there was usually enough light to get a photo of one, but in forests they proved too frenetic for me to get a “posed” shot.
A fairly good guess, anyway.
This is possibly a Wandering Albatross, or at the very least a Mollymock of some kind. Mollymocks are the smaller stockier members of the Albatross family.
Probably a Wandering as well.
Nothing like trying to get a photo from a fast moving water ferry on a overcast morning. That, and the penguins kept diving under.
The males are black and white, while the females (which we didn’t see) are brown and white.
This is the most focused shot I got of the very rare Saddleback, and it’s head is hidden. Sigh.
I know, I know, at least we got to see one.
Apparently the English call cormorants “Shags”, and so do the Australians and the Kiwis. Of course the English use the word “shag” to mean have sex, so I don’t know where they were going with that name.
Taken while whale watching of the coast of Kaikoura. Too bad the boat wouldn’t stop rocking (it was very choppy that day).
As elusive and fast moving as the sea birds. Plus, you know, under water.
Even at a great distance, the albatross in flight is truly awesome.
I particularly liked the tomit down in comment — what a cutie.
Yes, the Tomtits were very cute, and very active, as befits a small charming puff-ball of a bird. That shot was one of those photos that was so close to being perfect. Of course, those are the ones that irk me the most.
Usually my I average one really good shot for every ten to twenty taken. The New Zealand trip was more like one to fifty. Part of it was the light, which forced me to use long exposures and/or a narrow depth of field. The rest, I don’t know what to blame it on other than not being familiar with the critters and the territory and therefore not knowing how second guess my subjects.
I’ll have to do a NZ plant diary next, as the flora tended to be a bit more accommodating.
I’ve been having my own struggles with a blurry bird. I’ve been trying to get a good shot of a really handsome pileated woodpecker but it’s very skittish and I’m not having much luck. Here’s my 2 “best” shots.
I can’t help thinking that standing beneath a bird trying to photograph his rear end must result in a very blurry camera lens.
I’ve seen a bird take deliberate aim and squirt at my companion. And she wasn’t even trying to take his picture – maybe that’s why he did it.
Thanks for the photos, Keres. My fave is ‘another Pippi.’ I can get lost in it and find a dozen birds.
Thankfully, there was no intentional “fowling” of my camera or my person. I can only remember being guano-ed once (dead on the top of my head), and I’m pretty sure it was unintentional.
Like most birds, our ducks “lighten the load” when scared, so we always pick them up butt-side down and away.
Taken at Kaikoura, where the mountains literally meet the sea.
Even if it’s blurry, at least you can see the colors in this shot.
We have lots of these on our place, only the Tasmanian variety are more grey colored compared to the NZ ones. Fantails are nearly impossible to photograph as they move constantly from one branch to another, frantically displaying their tails at any and all interlopers or would be trespassers.