Wet weather take off

After a really lovely warm and sunny early summer day, spring resumed this morning. Too much cloud to observe the rising of the sun, segued into almost non stop drizzly rain. Still quite warm. I left the small camera behind in Auckland, and I didn't want to get the Pentax wet so I took the second of today's extras and hoped that the rain would stop this afternoon, and I could look for another photo. 

Then I recalled that I had brought the water-resistant pocket for the Pentax, and the rain was minimal. So off I went. Greeted as I got to the mudflats at the bottom of the steps, by three yippy yappy little dogs and an embarrassed owner who excused them on the basis that they hadn't seen me coming?

Out onto the mudflats, and I quite quickly saw some tuturiwhatu (New Zealand dotterells). Only three this time. There was a bigger wader with them which left before I could identify it. Later sightings of the kuaka (godwits) means it was likely one of that moderately big (and very dispersed) group. I had initially wondered if it was a large sand dotterell. The other extra is of a tuturiwhatu whose feeding appears to have been successful.

The kuaka were easily disturbed, and it was hard to get close enough with them being in the right "pose". This one elected to depart as I approached, and shows good form.