These are South Island Pied Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus), in Wood Bay (map). When the tide comes in, they are pushed from the mudflats of the Manukau Harbour to the shore — where a photographer might be expecting them. We had a lot of rain recently, but yesterday’s long fine intervals gave this opportunity.
Don’t even think about red-eye correction!
Lovely shot. We also saw some Pied Oystercatchers on the Otago Peninsula but they were not pied at the time – only black. These are most handsome.