Dawn At Sandy Bay

Sandy Bay at Oanui is one of those rare spots on our coastline where a coastal reserve has been established and with the help of many hardworking volunteers, the rare coastal dune environment is being preserved and some of our threatened coastal birds given a chance to nest.  It also has great views back inland to the mountain though on many of my previous visits the mountain has been covered in cloud. 

On Friday morning, I woke early and saw that it was going to be a cold clear morning. WIth a recent fall of snow on the mountain I decided it would be a good morning to see if I could get some dawn shots of Taranaki from Sandy Bay so I quickly gathered my camera gear and headed off in the dark to drive around the coast road.

I got to Sandy Bay just as the dawn light was breaking and captured these stuning images of Taranaki Maunga.

I took this one from the Rd just past Rahutu

The stunning dawn silhouette of Taranaki Maunga - taken from the dunes at Sandy Bay

An early morning flight of paradise shellduck doing a flyby.

Taranaki with a thin coat of snow.

The sun rising over the western flank of the mountain.

Sandy Bay - dunes and coast

After the sun was up I spent some time stalking the oyster catcher and dotterel along the foreshore.

Variable Oystercatcher (torea pango) perfectly posed against the sea in the early morning light.

Another shot of the Oyster Catcher

Banded dotterel (tuturiwhatu). There was a small flock of around 30 banded dotterel on the beach.

Banded Dotterel

Banded Dotterel