Watching over the entrance

This afternoon I went out to have a walk on a couple of the beaches on the northern edge of the Manukau Harbour; the other side of New Zealand. This is the west coast, whereas Snells Beach and the Hauraki Gulf are on the eastern coast. 

The tide was almost fully out, and only a few birds were out and about . And there were few people enjoying the sunshine. Like at Snells, low tide means nearly a half mile walk in various amounts of mud to get to where one might be able to swim.

Before getting there I had stopped at the Lower Nihotupu dam. It is a number of decades since I was last there. Little activity there either. What I did see was a Kahu. In the distance, and flying determinedly low above the edge of the bush. My photo of that, is too enlarged to be able to post as an extra. Then Kahu suddenly dropped onto a smaller bird it was flying over, and less than a minute later the Kahu gently circled down to the ground presumably to eat the result of its attack.

Shortly after getting back, I heard the wing beats of a Kereru, and this time saw it and got today's blip. Perched on a Kanuka branch above the drive.

SUNDAY: I decided to reduce markedly the degree of enlargement, and have now posted the Kahu as an extra. No detail but the bird can be seen almost a kilometre away from where I stood.