Pigeons

There are numerous pigeons in Matamata now. They make good photo subject. Saw this pair sitting in a tree in the High School grounds as I was walking home last night. Thought that they might fly away when I got closer to them but they just sat there watching me.

Te mata sunset x 2

Another Te Mata sunset, a pretty pink one this time.

Te Mata sunset

This photo is one that was taken at Te Mata while staying there. Love the way that the sun is making the tops of the clouds glow.

Sunset at Te Mata

This photo has surprised me that it is still in Top 20 New Zealand. Placed it there months ago & is still there. Every so often I'll remember to check in, expecting to see it gone. But amazingly it's still there! Thought I would add it to this blog as I'm sure it will disappear sometime when I'm not looking

Tauranga Bridge x 2

This is a second view of the bridge in the last post. It was taken from a walking track on the far side of the bridge.

Tauranga Bridge

Tauranga Bridge can be found in the Gorge between Opotiki & Gisborne in the North Island in New Zealand. It is the only remaining Harp suspension bridge in New Zealand. Original bridge was destroyed during a flood in the early 1900's, this is it's replacement.

Skydiver

This photo was taken at a local event this afternoon here in Matamata. It was started off by skydivers landing on the local park that the event was being held at. I was there to try and capture some photos of these skydivers.

Beach scene

The colour of the water here was amazing. The combination of all the colours in this shot are great.

Rooster

A few years ago some of the senior class of our local high school let some roosters go at the end of the school year. This guy is still wandering around. Had a bit of a fiddle with this photo in Picasa as an experiment. Rather like the way it came out.

Spy bird

Was sitting outside work during lunch one day and looked up into the tree next to me. It was very cute to see this sparrow looking down at me. This photo makes it look like a little feathered spy.

Magnolia flowers

Love this shot of white magnolia flowers against the blue sky.

butterfly x 2

An Owl butterfly taken at Butterfly Creek in Auckland.

Butterfly

A butterfly at Butterfly Creek. Thought I should add a photo of a butterfly from here. Butterfly house was amazing, I had butterflies landing on me at one stage. This one is a Scarlet Mormon

Croc

This is Goldie, the second of the two crocs at Butterfly Creek in Auckland. Goldie was a bit more camera friendly that Scar and I managed to get to great photos of him with his head above the water. Quite like this one of him with all his teeth showing.

Saltie

Since I was a kid I have been fascinated with Crocodiles. During a trip to Auckland a couple of months ago visited Butterfly Creek by the airport and finally got to see Scar and Goldie who arrived in our country in May this year. This is Scar, the day we visited he was very reluctant to leave his nice warm pond. Love the reflections on the water in the shot and the fact that even though Scar is under the water you can still see him very clearly.

Sun rays

For ages I watched the sky looking for sun rays to photograph but never seemed to see them. Finally I was in the right place at the right time and captured this shot.

Kowhai flowers

These are the flowers of one of our new Zealand natives the Kowhai. This tree flowers in spring and has the most amazing yellow flowers. Some native birds such as Tui's love to feed on the nectar of these flowers.

Waxeye

The same waxeye sitting in Kowhai tree, looking rather cute too.

Waxeye in flight

Was out taking photos of the Tui's one day and happened to look around behind me and saw this little waxeye sitting in a tree. got a lot of photos of it sitting in the tree. Was waiting for it to fly so that I could capture a in flight shot. Took this photo just after takeoff.

beach scene x 2

Umm, I hate to say it....another Whangamata scene. This one is a view looking down the beach. Love the way that the hills are reflected on the wet sand.

Beach scene

Whangamata again, this time looking from the mouth of the estuary out to sea. Loved the way that the waves were lapping around in different places. The colours were amazing too.

On the other side

Yet another photo taken in Whangamata. This one was taken up by the estuary at the end of the southern beach. I looked across & saw the tractor and thought it would make a great photo. Was not totally aware of everything else until looking at photo on my computer.

Dog on beach

Ok this is my last photo for tonight.
This photo was also taken at Whangamata. There is a funny story behind it though.
This border Collie came down onto the beach and was having fun chasing seagulls. One of the gulls soon entered into it and was soon chasing the dog too and could be seen dive bombing it. We wondered who would get sick of it first, the dog or the gull. From memory they were still going when we left. :-)

Tui

Another shot of a Tui Taken this spring in Matamata.

Tui in flight

The Tui's here in Matamata were amazing this spring. I spent hours - in bit's :) - taking photos of these birds and would often spend half of my lunch hour playing photographer. One of my goals while taking these photos was to take a half decent photo of a Tui in flight. This turned out to be extremely challenging as when they fly Tui move very quickly indeed. I finally managed to catch this photo quite by accident as it happened.

Gull in flight

I was lucky enough to capture this shot when the gull took off from the rock it was resting on. I had my camera on it and as it took off a hit the shutter button. For once I was not disappointed in the result.

Wave x 2

Another great shot of a wave, again taken at Whangamata. The bird on the shore is a Oystercatcher.

bikes n beach

I noticed these bikes lined up on the beach at Whangamata and saw the photo op. Don't know where the kids were who belonged to them but they made a great addition to the photo.

gull and surf

Another Whangamata photo. Taken on the same day as previous photo of waves. The gull in this photo is rather dwarfed by the wave behind.

Dotterel

As I have been such a slacker in the last few months will add a few more photos tonight.
This one is another that I took while at Whangamata in the weekend.
There was a roped off area protecting the nests of the Dotterels. There were a couple of these birds that would come out of the roped area to try & lure us away which enabled me to capture this great shot

Whangamata

Took this amazing photo while at Whangamata in the weekend. The waves were amazing on Saturday, made even better by the wind adding blow back.