u/EmmaOtautahi

Hey queer Christchurch, let’s go watch birds, again!

When: Saturday 10/10 10am

Where: Archery Lawn, Botanical Gardens

This time we will be meeting near the fountain on the Archery Lawn in the Botanical gardens.

So get your binoculars and cameras ready, because we will be trying to find the elusive Kārearea that has been calling the gardens home for a while now.

And as a little bonus, I hope you can help me find a little Tauhou with a very long beak that I saw yesterday.

Unfortunately I’m sometimes a little forgetful and forgot to put the SD card back in my camera so I didn’t get any photos, but here is a little article about a similar sighting a few years back:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/132731677/silvereye-with-unusually-long-beak-spotted-at-syrup-feeder

Everyone is welcome to join us, just keep in mind this is a queer event, so don’t be a dick.

Here are a few shots from our last meeting:

https://preview.redd.it/in5lbfsqp4th1.jpg?width=3888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5096208bb6b426208df4485022a66bf3be003da

https://preview.redd.it/copmlisqp4th1.jpg?width=5184&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e881d12590fd57d92806dc7babee31df7cad0f4

https://preview.redd.it/q3gghfsqp4th1.jpg?width=3888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5bbc8ed80e4f6d67e686a0c91e385ec6fd865349

https://preview.redd.it/vmix2isqp4th1.jpg?width=3888&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=85d548ea1dbfc6a295d4029b1e53a6cb9c6c4ba3

Hey queer Christchurch let’s go watch birds together!

When: Saturday 19/9 9am

Where: McCormacks Bay, Mt Pleasant near the public toilets and sports fields

I thought McCormacks Bay might be a good place as it has lots of sea birds but also a bit of bush for other birds. The area is also rather big so we can split up into smaller groups without running into each other constantly.

It can also be reached by bus and there is a cafe and a market on Saturdays for afterwards.

I’m however completely new to birding myself so if my suggested place or time makes no real sense, please feel free to comment or recommend other places.

And on a related note, I have an older camera(Panasonic FZ50, 12x zoom) I’m happy to lend out, you would just need to bring your own SD card. PM me if you're interested.

Also, just as a reminder, this is a queer event. You can of course bring allies and queerness will not be policed, just don’t be a dick.

• Budget: 250 NZD
• Country: New Zealand
• Condition: Used
• Type of Camera: point and shoot
• Intended use: Photography
• End use: small prints, social media, personal use
• If photography; what style: EDC, street, flowers/plants
• What features do you absolutely need: Tilting screen, macro mode, good jpegs (I like Olympus colours and don’t do post processing), SD or CF card
• Portability: Jacket pocket / small handbag
• Cameras you're considering: Olympus XZ-2
• Cameras you already have: Olympus E-1 and E-M1.2 (too large as an EDC)
• Notes: In general, I’m a pretty big Olympus fan but unfortunately finding an XZ-2 in NZ is pretty hard. I’m just wondering if there are any alternatives?
• I’ve had a Ricoh GR before and while I liked the size, I really missed the tilting screen. I also tried a Canon G1X but it was a bit too big for my taste.
• I often like to take photos of small plants at low angles and I prefer a tilting screen over a fully rotating one.
• I don’t care too much about age or megapixels(my E-1 with 5MP is one of my faves) but the screen shouldn’t be tiny

I grow bonsai and want to create some root over rock trees this spring, but I'm not too sure where to find some cool rocks. I'm talking cool shapes and colours. Where would be good spots for a rock hunt?

Thanks