node-gallery | TomKal foto

The White-headed Stilt is fairly widely distributed in Australia. In the bush, even on small ponds, lakes or large water reservoirs black-winged stilts could be seen. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the background was varied which would be a good opportunity to take interesting pictures, they did not allow to approach close enough to take advantage of this situation. Photos were taken, but not as good as this interesting bird deserves. The range of distribution is Australia and New Zealand. Pied stilts are quite distinctive due to their long legs. They are quite small, their body weight is about 150-200 grams. Let us come back to the shooting. As I wrote, a few trials resulted in few pictures pied stilts in Australia. At the beginning in New Zealand it was not better. At low tide there were two sites where the sea exposed the sea-bed of the area covering hectares. There could be seen feeding gulls, oystercatchers, white-faced herons and common stilts of course. Unfortunately, we had to stay close to the shore, because muddy ground was not safe. I could see dozens of pied stilts but due to their filigree body even lens of 600 was not good enough to take satisfactory pictures. The light was far from perfect as well. But it pays to wear equipment patiently and persistently. Visiting New Zealand, on fairly specific ponds, near the geysers I could see two pied stilts which accepted quite short distance. So many interesting pictures were taken that it was difficult to choose which are best to publish.
Last minute news - New Zealand - 02/2014