On saturday I visited Kapiti Island, a nature reserve a few miles off the coast about an hour north of Wellington. The island has been a bird sanctuary for around 100 years and in recent decades all predators and pests have been eliminated. This helps species that struggle on the mainland, particularly flightless birds.
I was travelling with Helen, who is also over on secondment for DfE in England, and her partner Harry. After driving up from Wellington, the journey across to the island was by a combination of tractor and ferry -
Only a handful of visitors are permitted on the island each day, particularly at the north end, which was our destination. This meant we barely met another person all day as we wondered the island trails.
The big draw is the range of bird species and it was a great chance to get some use out of my zoom lens. I found it was pretty tricky to get good shots and ended up with lots of pictures of empty branches just after birds flew off (I'm sure some of them were doing this as a deliberate game). Here are some of the better pics -
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| A Kereru (NZ Pigeon) |
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| North Island Weka |
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| Two Tui |
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| Robin |
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| Pukeko (from a long way away) |
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| Extra hard to shoot birds in flight! |
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