Profile: Martin Barwood, bird photographer

Before retiring, Martin Barwood filled his garage with lathes, planers and bandsaws thinking he would turn his hand to woodworking with this newfound time. Surprisingly, a close up of a waxeye in the garden changed his trajectory altogether.

Based in Queenstown, Martin Barwood is never happier than when he has a bird in the viewfinder. Martin was the winner of the Otago Museum Photographer of the Year award for 2022 and has won numerous awards since. We caught up with him to hear the stories behind some of his favourite photos, and what it’s like to encounter rare and reclusive bird species up close.

How did you start photographing birds?

Photography has always been a hobby and when Adam, our son, was ski racing, I bought a 300mm lens to photograph him. After I retired from work, I started doing macro photography of flowers and insects.

I was in the garden one afternoon watching the silvereyes feeding on some white berries and took a few photos. Seeing these beautiful little creatures up close in the viewfinder seriously changed my world. I just couldn't get over it, these scrawny little legs, how do these things survive? They're like big spiders. I just love it.

What’s so special about New Zealand birds?

In New Zealand I photograph birds because that’s what we have and they are so accessible. I enjoy photographing wild animals, but nothing in captivity. There are a lot of good places to go, but unfortunately there's nowhere near the number of birds that New Zealand used to have. There would have once been so much song in the beech forest around the Routeburn, for example, and around the lakes but now it's just so quiet.

What birds do you like to photograph locally?

I live near Lake Hayes, and saw signs up mentioning the Australasian crested grebes. So I read up on them and saw pictures of parents carrying their young on their backs and this became a goal. I had seen the birds on the lake but too far away to photograph. So I bought a kayak to get a bit closer. I started by paddling around the lake and stopping to slowly drift down towards the birds. After a while they became so used to me, I could get quite close.

My first sighting of the grebes was early spring. During this time the birds have well-choreographed moves with their partners. Next thing I started photographing grebes with chicks on their backs, feeding, sorting out territorial disputes and so on. I never get tired of watching them but for me it's also about getting the photo and not upsetting the birds.

Very little is known about the elusive marsh crake. How did you get this incredible shot?

One morning I was at the town end of Lake Hayes and saw a quick flash of movement in the greenery. I wasn't sure what I was seeing so stayed away from the bank and a marsh crake came wandering out into the open. These are such secretive little birds and not seen very often so it was very exciting.

The next day I tied up next to a bullrush, not far from the same spot, and just waited. After 20 or 30 minutes, this little bird came out into the open and with his head down feeding worked his way towards me. At this stage I was using a 600mm lens so didn’t need to get too close to get reasonable photos.

The focusing distance on this lens needs to be around 5m from what I am photographing and this wee bird just kept making his way towards me, and got so close I couldn't focus. I just held my breath and this beautiful little bird walked around the end of the kayak. He was so busy feeding that he either didn't see me or wasn't concerned by my presence.

The kea must be a lot of fun to photograph. They are so clever and cheeky!

If you asked me my favourite bird, it would probably be the kea, to be quite honest. On one occasion my wife and I were driving the RV up the West Coast, on our way to visit Abel Tasman National Park. We stopped for one night in Okarito and when we arrived at the camping ground, we spotted two kea doing the deed at the top of a cabbage tree in the park. It turned out there were 11 kea staying close to the park so that’s where we stayed for the next four days. It was another two years before we finally got to the Abel Tasman!

I love watching them. They’re just so gentle with each other, even when they look like they’re fighting viciously. There’s no real harm intended. Then they’ll sit politely in a group waiting for their turn to feed on a plant. 

This photo is a great one to illustrate how the kea feeds on flowers, with the top of the beak over the flower and their tongue pushing down to access the nectar. The young ones can go hell for leather on a flax flower, basically destroying it to get at the nectar! But as they mature they become very gentle, and just take the nectar, leaving the flowers for next time.

And you're lucky enough to have some beautiful birds in your backyard too?

I usually only feed birds during the winter months to help them survive the tough times. A couple of winters ago with large snowflakes coming down, three tūī started having a dispute over who had the right to be there and I managed to get a reasonable shot of two of the birds.

After that squabble ended they worked out a kind of feeding program, so one would be at the feeder drinking and the other two would wait in a fruit tree about a metre back until it was their turn.

On another occasion in midsummer a group of 30 or 40 Californian quail were walking past the kitchen window and I photographed a chick walking towards me. Taking photos through glass is not really recommended but this was an opportunity not to be missed.

 Silvereyes can be fun to photograph as they often feed in groups and will chase away other members of the same group which creates a lot of photo opportunities.

What's next for you?

I still haven't photographed the Australasian gannet, which will probably happen at Cape Kidnappers or Muriwai at some stage. Anne and I have a trip planned to visit Churchill (Manitoba) to photograph polar bears, arctic foxes and of course bald eagles in Alaska. This is a biggie for me and has been a goal for some time.

And more photos of New Zealand birds, too. If I can produce a photograph and it generates attention towards saving these little creatures then I’m here to help.

Any tips for those just starting with bird photography?