Another slightly lacklustre day.
Perhaps the recent rain had made the flow over the Hutt River weir more spectacular. When I got there, I decided I had missed the best, because the road down to the riverbed had been seriously undercut by recent water flow. There is now a big step down from the sealed ramp to the actual river shingle. Nevertheless the water was flowing fast and dark.
I decided to scramble up the dry portion of the weir … a strip less than a metre wide near the river bank, and to look for a shot along the top part of the weir. While I was making this thirty-second exposure, before my very eyes, I saw a good-sized trout slither up the slope. Its back and dorsal spines were well clear of the water and its tail was threshing like an outboard motor. Sadly, the length of this exposure means it left no trace on the image.
Out at Plimmerton, those rascally shore plovers were lined up perfectly still, lurking behind a ridge. There are normally six so I hope we haven’t lost one. I took this shot from the car window. Eventually they began to scurry about again, but I decided not to push my luck or add further stress.
I took the road home on the southern side of the inlet, and spotted this military formation of Little Black Shags . I am intrigued to know what the social purpose is of such a formation. I know that they gather fish as a community, but this disciplined gathering is very interesting.
That’s all for now.