Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:12 am – Posted by Tom | 1 Comment
As I come to the end of nearly two thoroughly enjoyable years observing New Zealand’s wildlife through my camera, I have become aware of many startling differences between my experiences of nature in Aotearoa and my home in the UK, and how these differences affect our perception of the natural world and the future for our wildlife.
The endangered NZ Dotteral, Photo: Tom Marshall
Since I flew in over the Southern Alps in late 2007, I have relished the chance to genuinely explore and discover New Zealand’s wildlife in a way rarely possible in the UK – by simply visiting the local shoreline, taking a tramp in the high country or by getting eye-to-eye with wading birds in the mud of Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere.
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Published in: Auckland, General
Tags: beach, endangered, nz dotteral, protection, vehicles on beaches
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Tue, 19 May 2009 12:33 pm – Posted by Tom | 4 Comments
Yellow eyed penguin, Andrew Walmsley
Guest blogger - Photographer, Tom Marshall
A comment my colleague and I often get as New Zealand photographers is ‘you must have had a wonderful time in Antarctica’. As much as I’d love to say ‘yes, it was awesome, but a bit chilly’, the truth is we’ve never set foot south of Dunedin and people are usually looking at our pictures of Fiordland Crested or Yellow-eyed Penguins.
Now I love ‘Happy Feet’ and ‘March of the Penguins’ with their iceberg-strewn backdrops as much as the next person, but it’s surprising how few people realize that we have some of the most amazing – and rarest penguins on the planet are right on our doorstep.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said recently of a new tourism drive ‘I doubt tourists will want to come to the South Island just to see a penguin’ – but why not? From recollection they were fairly thin on the ground north of the equator last time I was there, and with a million birdwatchers in the UK alone, I’m sure there’s plenty of people who’d willingly put up with the West Coast’s finest sandflies for a glimpse of a Fiordland Crested Penguin in his dapper dinner jacket.
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Published in: General, Marine and Coastal, Otago, Southland / Stewart Island, Threats and Impacts
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Fri, 03 Apr 2009 1:07 pm – Posted by Tom | 3 Comments
Guest blogger: Photographer: Tom Marshall
Its not often you get the chance to hang around with royalty, but for the last few weeks I’ve had just that privilege with the Kingfishers (Kotare) of the Avon-Heathcote estuary near Christchurch.
Most often thought of as a bird of wetlands and coasts, the New Zealand Kingfisher is in fact a member of the ‘tree kingfishers’ family (Halcyonidae) and is just as likely to seen in farmland and forests, often far from water.
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Published in: General, Native land animals
Tags: hunting, kingfisher, prey
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Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:38 am – Posted by Tom | 1 Comment
Guest Blogger, Tom Marshall, Photographer
We’re constantly being reminded in New Zealand not to ‘drive tired’ and ‘take a break every two hours when travelling’, but next time you reach for that Red Bull or coffee hit on the highway, spare a thought for some of our feathered summer tourists.
Our Alaska-bound godwits, Photo Andrew Walmsley
Travelling the length of Aotearoa tip-to-tip would be an impressive feat for anyone at 1600km, but try doing nearly seven times that distance without so much as a pie and an L&P en-route, and you have the astonishing migration of the Bar-tailed Godwit.
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Published in: General
Tags: bar-tailed godwit, migration, technology
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Tue, 02 Dec 2008 9:30 am – Posted by Tom | 3 Comments
Guest Blogger, Tom Marshall, Photographer
Over the last few years I’ve developed something of a soft spot for photographing wading birds. You can’t miss those lanky legs and knobbly knees (something I can relate to) and amazing beaks from the delicacy of an avocet, to the almost ludicrous mandibles of the spoonbill. Although the myriad beaks in the bird-world come in all shapes and sizes, ups and downs and colours, nothing can quite prepare you for the wybill.
That’s right folks, do not adjust your set, that beak really is bent sideways.
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Published in: General
Tags: photo, wrybill
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