A close-up photo of a common skink. Taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV, EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, 1/160 s exposure at f11, ISO 1250, flash held off camera.
The Marlborough Region is rich with lizard species, and I managed to catch up with a couple of them this past spring while staying with friends on their high country station.
The common skink is a widespread species, found through much of New Zealand from about the middle of the North Island south, but the Marlborough mini gecko is endemic to the region.
The Marlborough mini is a small brown gecko, and like many of our native lizards it has not yet been formally described as a species. Many of our skinks and geckos are very similar in appearance, and the true diversity of our lizards is still being unravelled.
A Marlborough mini gecko crawling over moss and lichen covered rocks. Taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV, EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, 1/60 s at f9, ISO 1000, flash held off camera.
I was a little unprepared when I found these lizards (the joys of flying and luggage restrictions), and didn’t have with me some of the gear that I’d normally use in that situation. Still, I managed to improvise and make a few photos that I think were worthwhile.
A plumed whistling duck resting beside a small urban pond reflecting the fresh spring leaves of trees on the other side. Taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x TC, 1/500 s exposure at f10, ISO 400.
The latest additions to my website are a few images of plumed (grass) whistling ducks (Dendrocygna eytoni)—rare vagrants to New Zealand from Australia. Three of these stunning little ducks were discovered in a city park in Napier, and reported on BirdingNZ.net, and as soon as I could I was off to try to catch up with them. In Australia they feed on grasses and legumes near wetlands, and these birds in Napier seemed quite happy grazing the mown lawn of a urban park.
A tired little egret (Egretta garzetta) yawns while resting beside a small coastal wetland. Taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS USM, 1/250 s exposure at f9, ISO 200.
I have been a bit slow at uploading new photos recently. It’s that time of the year again when work, and life in general, seems to go into overdrive trying to get certain things done before the world grinds to a halt for a few weeks in late December. This is the worst time for nature photography, in my opinion. Beaches are crowded, many birds are looking scruffy in their old feathers, and the sun is too high for much of the day. Of course there are still loads of opportunities if one cares to look, but I hope to spend more time catching up on processing earlier photos. I have managed to add a couple of new shots of a reef heron shot on the Coromandel Peninsula, and a little egret that is a long time resident of a small coastal wetland in Hawke’s Bay. Little egrets are rare stragglers to New Zealand, and when they do turn up it is usually at a coastal wetland or estuary.
