Riroriro are tiny birds, they weigh about 6 grams. They have a voice larger than their size, and their tuneful melodies are everywhere. Seen far less often than they're heard, and even harder to photograph as they seem to be programmed to move every few seconds.
I'd been stalking them for some time, had them in my viewfinder a few times and as I was about to press the shutter release they were gone. My lens is long and heavy, and the focus isn't super fast. Also, at 600mm depth of field is awfully tight, so each time the bird moved it took some time to find anything at all to focus on, the bird is easily missed if focus is off by a short distance.
The day I photographed the pīpīwharauroa was also the day I succeeded with riroriro. Walking out along Koru track, I heard the familiar tune, stopped with lens held up and crossed my fingers. A singing wee bird turned up on a branch just above me for 10 seconds or so, then moved to another branch and did the same. All up, he spent about five minutes within sight. Up the hill a short distance another male was singing the same territorial song, I'm guessing that may have been the reason for my bird hanging around in the same place for as long as it did.
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