Well, we are approaching 1/4 of a year in serious lockdown in Auckland, while most of the rest of NZ is at a lower level of control. There are hopes of expanding our freedoms as the city gets to 90% with the first of the Pfizer vaccine, but no significant movement on the cards until we reach 90% double-shot with a 3-week bedding in delay after that.
In the meantime, we have been allowed to journey around within the city limits and that includes the Muriwai Gannet Colony, where the nesting season is in full swing, with birds in all stages of the cycle: from just arriving, to mating, nesting and brooding. It's a bit yet for chicks to hatch.
While in lockdown I bought (via click and collect or delivery) some new gear: a couple of Canon R6's plus an R5 and the following RF lenses: 24-104 f/4L, 100-500L and 24-240.
I had shot with the first two using both camera types but decided to try the 24-240 out on the R5 as a bit of a stress test for the lens - good as a light single-lens solution potentially. Here are a couple of shots from the several hundred images I took. I have my cameras set up with the C1-3 settings assigned to Animal Eye Tracking, Human Eye Tracking and Tracking with no priority respectively. In this case I was using C1.
The birds were very active, motoring along and changing direction and distance randomly. Images shot hand-held.
I found the 24-240 a bit slower to find focus with the R5 than the R6 and that cost me some shots. The images I have posted are, in all cases heavily reduced in size and resolution from the 45MP as shot, plus some are significantly cropped - considering the modest telephoto range of the lens - something I wanted to test.
First a shot of the colony: When I arrived yesterday, it was shrouded in sea mist, which was rather lovely!
#1: The first image is looking along the coast to the south. Beneath are black iron sands eroded from the volcanic cone of Mt Taranaki, and there are lots of surfers out enjoying the waves.
#2: Looking directly out to see to the mist in the distance, covering only a part of the colony
#3: Forming bonded couples and building nests.
#4: When stuck on a nest, preening is a good way to pass the time - I must try that at home when I get bored...
#5: Birds are busy on the wing - finding food and nesting materials, or just getting some exercise...
#6: Air Traffic Control was somewhat lacking yet the birds deftly weaved their way around one-another
#7: Gathering and stealing nesting materials was a consistent activity
#8: The relatively large wingspan of these big birds really shows up at some angles.