Sanctuary Ponds

It was a miserable day and I popped out between showers for a short walk. It was bleak at the estuary so I crossed the road to take a look at the autumn colours at the Sanctuary Ponds. Rounding the back of the pond, I startled a group of pukekos which flew up into a tree standing in the pond. There were eight pairs and they looked like dark purple fruit hanging in the tree. I took many photos as they looked so comical - swamp hens are not built for tree roosting.

I was devastated to find not one of the pukeko pics had turned out - they were all too dark. In my enjoyment of the scene I had quickly put the settings onto shutter priority, boosted the shutter speed to catch the birds flying and quite overlooked that it was a dark, dull day and there would be little light under the trees. Duh! I felt like such a beginner.

Fortunately, I had taken a couple of quick snaps of the tree colours on arrival - so one of those will have to be my blip today.