The New Zealand Fantail

pïwakawaka

Today I went up the Skyline walkway, a steep walk not far from Murchison, that takes you high above the native trees, where you can get a good view of the township.

This morning I spent 2 hours up the walkway, walking the steep track, but also stopping for a breather to take photo's of a few of the birds in the trees.

This wee fella is a New Zealand Fantail. Normally I have a lot of trouble photographing a Fantail, mainly because they just won't stay still - they flit from branch to branch, not giving a hoot that I want them to stand still just for a few seconds so I can focus the camera and take a photo. As you can imagaine, I took lots of photos, and managed to get this one while it was contemplating its next move.

As well as the Fantail, I also took lots of photo's of a Robin, (Toutouwai) and a Wood Pigeon (Kereru).

Being close to town, I had full cellphone coverage, so on my iPhone I found a list of bird calls, that I played. Interestingly enough, the Fantail came when I played its call, and the Bellbird's sang, when I played their call - although they never came low enough to take a photo off. Just as well there weren't many people on the walkway - or else they would think I was totally nuts!