Some of the images I have been delayed in processing were from a visit in February when fellow Birds NZ member, Denise Poyner, came down from Auckland to explore some Rotorua bird photography spots. One of our plans was for an Okareka photowalk as it is one of my favourite places and in the summer is a great opportunity after work.

Evening light can be really lovely and the distant hills can give great backgrounds. A long hot summer had seen a good breeding season for the Pied Stilts and especially the New Zealand Dabchicks seemed to have done well with more chicks than I recall seeing in the past.

It had also been a good year for cicadas with many flying and singing along the lake edge.

We had some hope of seeing Spotless Crake as I had recently rediscovered where they were after the marginal flooding over the past couple of years. Unfortunately despite seeing many other birds we didn’t see the crakes. A trip to Okareka is always worthwhile.

Photos with Nikon D500 and Nikon 500mm f5.6 PF lens