Stewart Island kiwi night

Last trip of the stretch. I flew across the world for a lot of reasons but one of them was the chance to see a wild kiwi, which on Stewart Island is possible because they come out on certain beaches at night to forage.

Our guide walked us down a quiet beach about thirty minutes after dark with red torches only. We stopped at a long pebble bar where she said we had a decent chance. We waited. Fifty minutes later: a Southern Brown Kiwi — a big female by the guide’s assessment — pushed through the kelp line onto the pebbles and began probing. I had the camera on the tripod pre-focused and took five frames at a very high ISO before she moved off. She was oblivious to us.

The point is the encounter, not the photograph, and I’m glad. But one of the frames is passable and I’ll keep it.

Before the kiwi: a distant Morepork called from the bush behind us. White-faced Herons on the tidal flat. A Yellow-eyed Penguin climbed out of the surf at dusk, which is its own unforgettable thing, and we kept well back as instructed.

Back at the lodge I ate soup and went to bed early for once. The journal entry that night is short and possibly misspelled. Good night.