Kotuku in all its breeding finery

The skies were black as thunder and the heavens opened as blipmate and I got to Mapua, our designated spot for some photos. I dashed out to see if any Little Black Shags were swimming in the channel and spotted the kotuku flying in for it's daily feed of fish.

So we spent a good half hour or more under the shop verandah snapping away, We actually walked right round him. I have never been so close. He seems quite used to people.

The main photo is of him doing some preening before the fish arrives. It was too dark but raising the exposure was about all I had to do to it in the end.

He flew a couple of times and one extra is my fuzzy capture. His eye and beak might be sharp but little else. The other two extras are his left side and right side in case he has a best side.