Birds, Taranaki & A Plane

I had a great mornings photography at the Waiwhakaio river mouth on Saturday.  After weeks of wet and unsettled weather we had a couple of fine days in a row with Saturday dawning fine and clear so I headed out just after sunrise. I was hoping to get some photos of a skylark.  Theres normally plenty of them about a the Waiwhakaio river mouth but they're fairly shy and so far I haven't managed any decent shots of them.

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Anyway, first up the mountain - looking stunning in a heavy coat of snow.

The infamous Te Rewa Rewa bridge with Taranaki on the horizon.

Taranaki and the Pouakai ranges, taken from the small coastal dunes.

A blackbird, warming itself up in the sun on an old flax flower spike.

A skylark foraging amongst the sand and rocks.

A pair of skylarks flying in over the tussock.

A skylark living up to its name, hovering and singing.

A little shag (kawau paka) drying out its wings on the rocks.

A pair of little shag (kawau paka) on the rocks at the river mouth

A pied shag or karuhiruhi with its wings hung out to dry.

Kahu, the swamp harrier. I was extremely lucky. This harrier had been circling around in the distance then suddenly swept in and circled around me letting me get some great shots with it lit by the morning sun.

Kahu, sweeping past the top of the distant mountain.

After the harrier had gone, I spotted this bird sneaking out from behind the moon on its way into New Plymouth.

There was a small flock of goldfinch feeding on the puha (milk thistle) seed beside the walkway as I was heading back to my car.

These scaup (papango or black teal) were totally unconcerned by my presence - just carrried on dozing.