I’ve always been a birdwatcher. From a young age I’ve sat quietly in hides with a pair of binoculars, wandered rainforests staring up into the canopy, and awoken at frankly criminal hours to catch the dawn chorus. I’m not usually one for chasing after rare sightings. But on Thursday night (19th Jan), the Birds Auckland page on Facebook lit up with the news that there was a Red-footed Booby at the Muriwai gannet colony. What. Red-footed Boobies have never been sighted on the mainland before, with the only records in our region being up at the Kermadec Islands.
Normally at this time of year I’m in Rotorua with the family. By chance, I was up in Auckland. Until the following evening, when I was catching the 7pm bus back to Rotorua. Having standing plans to head out to Bethell’s Beach early the next morning, I frantically engaged in a bit of messaging with my adventure-buddy Rikki about making an earlier detour to Muriwai. Morning wasn’t the best time to engage in Booby-watching – it would likely be out foraging – but I had to at least try, right? Never mind the fact that I didn’t have a camera…
Morning came, and the weather was beautiful for gannets. By which I mean the wind was absolutely howling, the sea was a churned mess of white water, and the sky was glowing blue and gold. Rikki and I wrapped up and headed out to the viewing platforms with binoculars and a borrowed DSLR with the kit 18-55mm lens (Thanks Amy!). With an onshore wind, the pungent aroma of a fully attended gannet colony was right in our faces. It was a bit like having two rotting sardines forced up each nostril. Right up there. Like, embedded. No escaping. But guano has never bothered me much.
No booby. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting it to be there in the morning, but I didn’t have an evening to spend. In any case, the light was beautiful and the gannets were putting on the best show of graceful flight that I’ve ever seen. And with a borrowed camera, I was having a ball. I’ll admit to being in a bit of a photographic slump recently. It happens every year (sometimes more than once!), but I really just had the blues. All it took was a beautiful morning and kit I wouldn’t normally use, and I’m back on a roll.
I made some of my favourite images that morning. After Muriwai we headed to Bethell’s to check out the beach and one of my study sites, and found a discarded buoy coated in Gooseneck barnacles, writhing in the air. Pretty neat! Rikki and I always find cool stuff when we go beach-wandering. Next stop was Lake Wainamu, over a glorious moonscape of black sand dunes that burnt my feet and made for some interesting photographs as well. After a quick swim and fruit salad, we beat the heat back to Auckland, and I packed my stuff to head home.
As the afternoon wore on I got increasingly restless. I really wanted to throw in the towel, miss my bus, and head out to Muriwai again in the evening. It was a near thing. In the end, I was on my bus and enjoyed a relaxed ride home, with a glorious sunset. I consoled myself with the possibility that the Booby had moved on, and that even if I had stayed, I wouldn’t have seen it. Courtesy of the free wifi onboard, I was treated to some amazing flight shots of the Red-footed Booby, which had arrived back at the colony just as I was getting on the bus. Bollocks.
Saturday, and we headed to Mt Maunganui for the annual family relaxation week. Re-kitted out with my old D300 and 70-300mm, I enjoyed walking around the Mount in the evening, watching the occasional gannet skim the waters and plunge in for a feast. Sigh. I admitted to my parents how close I had come to missing my bus. Last minute bus-fares are hell on the wallet though, and family holidays are not to be missed.
Sunday, and after a morning deliberating, Dad and I packed up our camera gear and drove three hours to Muriwai. All it took was some gentle prodding from Mum to get us in adventure mode – and it was beyond worth it (it always is). The weather was a repeat of Friday, high winds and glorious light, and the gannets were taking full advantage of it. And perched on one of the trees, in a dead giveaway, was the Red-footed Booby. Gannets don’t perch. They are ground-nesters. Red-footed Boobies do perch – and our little Sulid friend was securely perched (albeit quite buffeted by wind) just below the lower viewing platform.
I can’t describe the thrill I get out of seeing a new species. Seeing an unusual species adds to that! While the Booby remained firmly perched and dozing all afternoon, it was still fantastic to see it and be able to photograph it. Not only did I get my photographs of the first Red-footed Booby recorded on mainland New Zealand, I also got to spend a glorious afternoon photographing gannets at Muriwai, one of my favourite places. I also got the most thorough coating of guano that I’ve ever had, courtesy of the hundreds of gannets that soared above the platform. No less that eight direct hits, one bang on the crown of my head. Nice.
We weren’t the only people out for the Booby, and our record of a 3 hour drive was thoroughly beaten by the dedicated Colin Miskelly, curator of vertebrates at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and organiser of NZBirdsOnline, who’d made the six hour drive from Wellington with his family in tow. Our six hour round trip looked a lot easier after that! And maybe we stayed a little (lot) later than we’d planned, and maybe we only got home after midnight. Adventure comes only with effort. Great photos come only with dedication. Cherished memories come from sometimes taking slightly mad trips with your father.
What do we learn from this? Persistence. Spontaneity. Taking every opportunity with both hands is the best way to not only take great photos, but also have a great life and make great memories. I live for adventures like this. I’ve learned that instead of worrying about what you don’t have and aren’t doing, you should make the best of what you have and where you are. If you’re having a great time, you’ll make better photographs than if you’re a grumbling mess.
It’s not about the gear. My favourite image so far this year (the second one in this post) was shot on a borrowed Canon 100D with kit 18-55mm lens – which was shooting JPEGs because I forgot to check the settings before I got into photographing (Good job Edin). Gear helps. But It doesn’t make the light beautiful, the birds fly, or the moment perfect. You have to find that yourself.
And if that means getting up in the dark or driving for ages to be in a certain place – then it’s worth it.
Thanks Dad, for facilitating my passion (read: madness), letting me borrow some stellar camera gear (D500 + 300mm f/4 combination = revelation! More on that later!), and sharing the adventure.
Thus ends the Booby saga.
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Karen
31 Jan 2017Beautiful Booby Edin, and a great story – love that you ended up on a great adventure with your dad!
I also love your favourite picture with the kit lens – just goes to show, great fun can be had and great pics can be taken with any gear.