It was almost a year ago to the week that I was inspired by a keen volunteer at the Shorebird Centre to take an interest and look closer at these wonderful shore birds.Yesterday I headed to Pakiri in search of the seriously endangered fairy tern and was distracted by dotterel chicks, well who wouldn't be?
However one chick had not survived and I photographed the adult bird carrying its dead offspring. A rather sad sight. The other chicks looked well and active following the parent birds across the sands.
Meeting a very dedicated DoC person who after comparing notes allowed me to use her scope which she had trained on a pair of possibly nesting fairy terns. This helped me focus on the fragility of the survival of this species. There are only 40 fairy terns left. The fairy terns were too far away to successfully photograph on this day.
It's always motivating for me to meet people who show such passion for their interests. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and good luck for success with this nesting season. I look forward to returning and hopefully to see fairy tern chicks soon.