Low-tide is a wonderful moment along the coast. When the waters recede from Golden Bay, over a mile of beach is exposed, with rocky tidepools and little rivelets reaching out as far as you can see. Clams and crabs are everywhere. In the tidepools, strange barnacles reach out tentacled faces towards bits of flotsam. Tiny nudibranchs, the hillarious-looking sea slugs, slither along the rocks. As we wandered out to sea, we caught the attention of a big bull seal, but he was more interested in fish then in us. In the distance we could see the flocks of black Australian Swans, lazing in the afternoon sun.
Then we saw the Spotted Shags. They're wonderful birds, from their brilliant yellow feet to their stripy faces. To photograph them, we would need to move with stealth and near infinite patience. It took us an hour to sneak up on the Shags, and we did it by shamelessly manipulating the herd mentality.
We approached with a young bird nearest us- one newly fledged, and obviously unsure of himself. He watched us coming, but with his elders dozing in the sun behind him didn't know what to do. Sound the alarm and risk being the boy who cried wolf? Each step we took made him waver indecisively but he kept quiet. The adults meanwhile trusted the bird on the edge to sound the alarm. In the end we'd made it so close we could have reached out and grabbed one. I've never been so close to a Cormorant before- it was absolutely amazing.
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