Muriwai Gannet Colony (New Zealand)

I was working in Auckland yesterday so decided to stay for the weekend and visit the Muriwai Gannet Colony and Miranda Shorebird Centre, both less than an hour's drive from central Auckland.

Muriwai is one of the black sand beaches on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand (see map).

Muriwai Beach, North Island New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 @ 16mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/125

It is the home of a large colony of Australasian Gannets, only a few hundred metres easy walk from the car park at the beach. About 1200 pairs of gannets breed here over summer but by this time of the year there are very few birds resident in the colony.

Muriwai Gannet Colony, North Island New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 @ 10mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/1000

Muriwai Gannet Colony, North Island New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Pentax 16-50mm f/2.8 @ 28mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/250

However, there were still a few remaining, some with juveniles still yet to fledge (and, unfortunately, a few recently dead juveniles)

Australasian Gannet, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (+1.4x adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/800

Australasian Gannet, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/2000

and enough adults flying around to provide some in flight targets

Australasian Gannet, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (+1.4x adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000

Australasian Gannet, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (+1.4x adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/640

Australasian Gannet, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (+1.4x adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1250

Australasian Gannet, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @130mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/2000

as well as some shenanigans on the ground.

Australasian Gannet, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/2000

I found one 'outsider' among the roosting gannets.

Brown Booby (immature) + Australasian Gannets, Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @200mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1600

Brown Booby (immature), Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (+1.4x adaptor), ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/500

and I managed to get one half decent shot of it as it flew away (unfortunately I had the 70-200mm zoom attached to the camera and no time to swap over to a longer lens).

Brown Booby (immature), Muriwai Gannet Colony, New Zealand
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @200mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/2500

still to come...the search for Waybill at the Miranda Shorebird Centre.

Indented Head Fly-by

I spent today with the Melbourne Birdlife Photography Group, checking out some of my favourite sites around the Bellarine Peninsula. Unfortunately, the weather was dismal - grey clouds and drizzly rain - for most of the day but we managed to get a few shots of birds in flight at the last stop for the day at the Indented Head boat ramp. Indented Head juts out into Port Phillip Bay, intersecting a well used seabird flight path, so it's a great place in the late afternoon when birds are heading back to roosting sites for the night. With heavy cloud cover, the light was not great so it was a constant balancing act of trying to get the best ISO and aperture to maintain at least a reasonable shutter speed but a few cormorants and gulls provided some entertainment.

The lights and railings on the jetty provide roosting spots for the gulls

Pacific Gull, Indented Head
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 extender), ISO 400, f/4, 1/4000

Silver Gull (immature), Indented Head
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 extender), ISO 400, f/4, 1/3200

while they wait for the returning fisherman to throw them some scraps.

Pacific Gull, Indented Head
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 extender), ISO 400, f/4, 1/2000

Pacific Gull, Indented Head
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 extender), ISO 400, f/4, 1/1600

Silver Gull (immature), Indented Head
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 extender), ISO 400, f/4, 1/6400

Little Pied Cormorant, Indented Head
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 extender), ISO 640, f/4.5, 1/1000

Pied Cormorant, Indented Head
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x1.4 extender), ISO 640, f/4.5, 1/2000