A recent weekend trip to Auckland saw us arriving in pouring rain and largely huddled indoors for the first day. The following day dawned bright and we decided a small expedition close to base was preferable to another day of driving so explored Onepoto Domain in Northcote.
The domain has some lovely open grassed areas and a couple of ponds, one of which is a perfect venue for radio-controlled yachts. A flock of Rock Pigeons fly between groups of children offering food so can present flight image opportunities. Feral Pigeons don’t have the best profile and are subject to a number of demeaning names but I have a soft spot for them having kept a loft of pigeons as a child. The joy of getting home from school and watching my birds fly is a very happy memory.
Most interesting was a Kawaupaka/Little Shag that was fishing actively with regular success. Reviewing the images it was clear that shrimp were the prey. This kept us busy for a while trying to get action images against decent backgrounds.
Part of the Onepoto Domain includes a boardwalk and a bushwalk offering a variety of habitats. A benefit of my recent nocturnal macro explorations is an increased knowledge and awareness of invertebrates. Exploring a nursery-web in Mānuka along the boardwalk we found the female guarding her nest. This highlighted the fact that bird photography gear is not ideal for macro work but can achieve a result of sorts.
The bushwalk yielded a weta resting in the sun which was a bit unusual to see. The bird gear again enabled a record shot. I must remember to add a macro lens to my travel kit in future!
A final pass of the ponds yielded my favourite image of the day. A pair of Warou/Welcome Swallows were resting on some Casuarina branches in the shade. The soft light with a lovely background of reflected light on the pond with the Casuarina needles adding a hint of texture.
While the primary aim of the expedition had not been photography, a walk in the park at Onepoto Domain yielded a number of photogenic subjects and a couple of pleasing images in the record of the day.
Photos with Nikon D850 and Nikon 300mm f4PF lens apart from Myna and Swallow with Nikon 500mm f5.6PF lens with TC14EII teleconverter for Myna
