Bird Photography at Shakespear Regional Park

Join me for a morning bird photography walk at Okomorai Bay, Shakespear Regional Park, one of Auckland’s special locations for native birdlife.

Shakespear Open Sanctuary provides a protected habitat across native bush, wetlands, open grassland and coastal areas, making it a fantastic place to explore with a camera.

With summer just around the corner, we're hoping to see the pōhutukawa trees beginning to show off their beautiful red flowers, attracting tūī and other native birds feeding on nectar. This could provide some wonderful opportunities to photograph birds surrounded by the colours of early summer.

We'll begin our walk around 8:30 am, making the most of the brighter morning light and mid-tide conditions around the Okoromai Bay wetlands and boardwalk. With the tide partway out, we'll be looking for shorebirds feeding along the exposed tidal areas, as well as birds moving between the wetlands, coastal vegetation and surrounding trees.

We may encounter some of the more commonly seen wetland birds, including pūkeko, pūtangitangi/paradise shelduck, poaka/pied stilt and matuku-moana/white-faced heron, along with ducks and other native birdlife.

Shakespear is also home to some more elusive wetland residents, including moho pererū/banded rail, pūweto/spotless crake, pāteke/brown teal and mātātā/New Zealand fernbird, so we'll be keeping our eyes and ears open for whatever the morning brings.

This will be a relaxed, hands-on photowalk rather than a formal class. I'll provide guidance along the way on observing bird behaviour, finding good positions to photograph from, working with natural backgrounds and choosing camera settings for different lighting conditions.

We'll also explore opportunities to photograph birds in their natural environment, whether that's a tūī among the pōhutukawa flowers, a shorebird feeding along the water's edge or a bird in flight.

The walk is suitable for all experience levels, including anyone wanting to get started with bird photography. All camera brands are welcome.

There will also be a selection of Sony telephoto and super-telephoto lenses available to try, with focal lengths ranging from approximately 100mm through to 600mm.

Bird photography chat and image review

After this event you're welcome to join me for a relaxed coffee or early lunch catch-up at Cherry Café from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. Register Here

We'll continue our bird photography conversations, review some of the images from the morning and chat about bird behaviour, camera settings, long lenses and the gear we've been using. It's also a great opportunity to share ideas, ask questions and connect with fellow photographers.

• Finding and spotting birds in different habitats 
• Useful camera settings for bird photography 
• Working with longer focal lengths 
• Simple composition tips for bird photography 

• Camera with fully charged battery 
• Memory card 
• Telephoto or zoom lens if you have one 
• Comfortable walking shoes 
• Weather-appropriate clothing / rain jacket / camera protection
• Water