Up until a couple off months ago I’d not done much in the way of New Zealand native bird photography for awhile, so wanting to visit relatives on the east coast starting from Timaru then proceeding through Oamaru to Dunedin and as I’ve done before I hatched a plan to visit favourite inland places that are quiet and lonely, such as the central lakes Ohau, Pukaki and Tekapo, where I could slowly walk or sit with my camera and wait.
Last time I visited the head of Lake Pukaki I had a marvellous time observing a number of endangered species including the black-fronted tern which live only in New Zealand – they feed on insects, lizards and small fish, and in this photo a few of them demonstrated their skill as low level aviators above the unique glacial blue waters of the Tasman River, which originates just upstream a little in Mt Cook National Park…
However on this trip that began in mid Nov. 2018, the weather changed the game plan – it was about as extreme as you ever get in New Zealand. Relatively speaking there was not a lot of damage fortunately but it played havoc with roads, notably in Central Otago where lots of rain over a short period of time is not the norm., thus as the vegetation is sparse there is no “blotter effect” to hold the water back from draining into rivers instantly, instead run-off is immediate and there-in lies the ingredients for overflowing rivers, landslips and general unusual doings.
In fact since then I’ve never seen our southern inland areas so green – Maniototo farm land..
I’ve posted pictures of the trip on a sister site:
Lake A A wild nor wester pipes down the valleys…
See more images at the source: Rogue weather for a roadie from Central Otago to the Mckenzie Basin and back again via Dunedin – Wanaka Images and Photography