A recent flare of COVID-19 saw the last minute cancellation of a trip to Auckland. What was going to be a trip to Muriwai and Tiritiri Matangi morphed into a brief visit to Ohiwa Harbour in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

This is a place we have visited often in the past but not too frequently recently. Summer memories of fishing for sprats with small children from the wharf seemed far removed with the cool air of winter. The campground is a perfect spot for an short walk to the wharf and a good population of kingfisher/kōtare provided a number of opportunities in the late sunlight of our first day.

The walk to the wharf provided a good reminder to always be ready to shoot with exposure preset for the lighting conditions which were initally flat and diffused on our second day. Common introduced birds often take a backseat to more sought after natives but are just as beautiful. This superficially drab female Blackbird shows some lovely feather texture and colour variations against a decent background while briefly perched in dead weeds next to the road.

Waders are another option at Ohiwa with some overwintering Bar-tailed Godwits and a number of South Island Pied Oystercatchers present. On this visit no decent opportunities were available as the tides saw them dispersed to sandbanks out in the harbour. There is also some decent Fernbird/Mātātā habitat at the end of the spit and around the southern edges of the harbour.

Our brief visit had been timed to a weather forecast window and as the expected weather arrived the light on the final day faded to a dreary grey which matched the plumage of the gull. The rain on the way home rinsed the salt spray from my car.

Photos with Nikon D850 and Nikon 500mm f5.6PF