Waikanae Beach photographer Roger Smith, was one of the winners in The Nature Conservancy’s 2024 Oceania Nature Photo Contest.
Nearly 400 entries came from New Zealand and 1220 from Australia for the competition, which highlights the unique biodiversity of Oceania. Papua New Guinea submitted 238 entries and 40 entries came from the Solomon Islands.
Mr Smith won the New Zealand People and Nature section with a shot of a rare dotterel nesting precariously close to a tyre track in the sand.
The photo was taken at the Waikanae river estuary before there was a complete ban on motor vehicles there.
Mr Smith says while photographing birds nesting there, he watched in horror as a white ute sped across the dunes directly towards where he knew there was a nesting banded dotterel.
“Fearing the worst, I sprinted after it, getting at the nest about a minute after the ute had passed close by.
“I was amazed to see that the parent bird had remained on the nest as the ute passed about half a metre away.
“My photo shows the bird on its nest under the driftwood twigs and the tracks of the ute.”
