Cobden Lagoon Walk

 

On Sunday we enjoyed a balmy Autumn day so we took Bug (my daughter's dog) out for a big walk to one of the local beaches in Greymouth - this nature was is dog friendly and circles around the Cobden Lagoon. So the photos below are a mix of the beach, the bush path, black swans, a fishing boat on it's way back to the wharf and the view across the water to town. This is largely a wetlands area.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday. 

Love is love

 

I spotted this little mural on the front of a Chorus utility box in the suburbs of Christchurch last time we were there just before Christmas. Unfortunately this one has had a bit of graffiti added to it but it shows a Kererū, a native New Zealand Wood Pigeon sitting on a branch.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

White Heron Tours

 

While we were driving to Franz Josef last week we walked around the main street in the small town of Whataroa. This is a tour group which takes people out to the nearby sanctuary which has White Heron birds, I imagine it would be popular with tourists.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Family Feast

 

Here's something cool I saw in Westport recently on the side of a utility box. Painted by artist Maureen Mayo it depicts Tui family feasting on flowers from the Harakeke (flax) plant. I'm loving the colours.

Linking up with Monday Murals.

Too early for Christmas

 

Lots of news this week from me. We have adopted this male Cockatiel as his elderly owner has gone into a care home. He didn't have a name so we have named him Hooligan. So far he's been pretty quiet but that's probably because he doesn't know us. Hopefully in time he will be a bit more talkative and noisy.

I was at one of our local stores, The Warehouse and noticed that their Christmas displays are up. Is it too early for this? Being November I think so. Mind you I am happy that there is no Christmas music being played just yet.

And this bunch of lettuce is what I harvested from my small vege garden. It's been so yummy putting bits and pieces into my lunch that I take to work. Speaking of work last week I handed in my notice to my manager. I've been doing supermarket retail for about 5 years now and working the hours of 12pm to 9pm has been pretty regular for me so I'm at the point where I'm a little bit over it. I am starting in a new job on New Year's day at our local RSA (returned services association like for veterans) doing barwork and admin duties which will make a nice welcome change and the hours are pretty good too.

You know how sometimes it's not what you know but who you know? Two people from the local RSA come into work regularly to buy meat packs for their raffles and a while back I got talking to 1 of them who said he was leaving. I mentioned that I was interested in working there and the next day he came back and asked me to go and see his manager which I did who then offered me a job there, so it's worked out quite well. I'm excited for a change.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Nature

We spotted a new bird in the garden this week - this is one we've never seen before. It's a Spur Winged Plover and they are widespread throughout New Zealand. Much like the Pukeko they like to wade through wetlands and grass looking for tasty morsels to eat. 

I popped into our local garden centre last week to look for new plants. I need to go back again this week and buy some more Lavender plants.

I ended up buying this insect/bee house which is now sitting tied to an old tree stump in the front garden but I may move it to the tree above the vegetable garden as I have herbs, different vegetables and flowers there. I believe in companion planting rather than using nasty pesticides and sprays.

EDITED TO ADD: I've been visiting blogs this morning and I've had trouble commenting on some, I will keep trying to get to you. And all of the comments I've received so far are going into the spam folder. Hopefully its only a brief glitch.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Kereru

Another visitor we've had in the Kowhai tree in my front garden is this rather fat Kereru (wood pigeon). I'm guessing it's a pregnant female possibly? You can't really see how colourful she is but on average these birds as adults are 51cm in length and weigh about 650g. Killing them is illegal and they were once hunted for their meat and feathers. She was kind to me by sitting in the tree for quite some time.

Linking up with Mosaic Monday and Blue Monday.

Kōkō

 

I'm very fortunate to have a Kōwhai tree in my front garden. Kōwhai is the Maori word for yellow and as you can see from the colour of the flowers they are very vibrant. Every Spring they attract these birds known as the Tui or the Kōkō in Maori language.

In Te Ao Maori this bird has a huge significance. They are thought of as messengers of Atua (God's) in heaven. They are associated with life fulfillment, confidence and spiritual harmony.

Native birds including the Tui but also the Kereru (wood pigeon) and Bellbird all love to feast on the flowers which are an important source of nectar food for them.

Linking up with Mosaic Monday and Blue Monday.

Pukeko

Time for another utility box mural - this one is in Cobden, a nearby suburb was painted by artist Stacey Dunnachie saying "The design depicts 2 pukeko birds looking out for each other". If you don't know much about these birds, they are very common in New Zealand - they mostly scout around ditches and wetlands looking for scraps of food. They are coloured mostly blue and black with an orange beak and live in groups rather than by themselves.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Hello Mr Petrel

 

 

Last week one night B and I arrived home from work when I noticed this guy sitting calmly on the road. At first glance we thought he was a duck but upon closer inspection we realized he was a very large bird. We had only just had a couple of days of rain so we googled what type of bird he was and it turns out he is a juvenile Westland Petrel who normally lives out at Punakaiki which is about maybe 30 minutes away. 

We phoned the DOC emergency helpline and they advised they would send someone out the next day to pick him up. In the meantime we wrapped him in a towel, put him in a box in a quiet spot in the garage so he could rest. When he was picked up the next day the DOC officer said he had probably gotten blown away from the coastline and had stopped to have a rest. 

Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

White Heron

This colourful mural is on the side of a building which houses a vegan cafe in Greymouth. Painted by artist Mark Haldane I think it shows a White Heron bird. 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Kiwi!

There are quite a few murals around Greymouth, this little one that has been painted onto a utility box features New Zealand's national bird the Kiwi. In case you didn't know Kiwi are flightless and are nocturnal so you may hear them in the countryside or small towns calling out to each other at night.

Linking up with Mural Monday

Tauranga Bay

Last week we were away for a short break at the West Coast of the South Island. On day 2 we travelled to Westport but stopped at many places along the way. This is one of them - Tauranga Bay a well known spot for both cyclists and tourists. The sign saying "Kawatiri" is a word meaning "deep and swift" also one of my ancestors was named Arthur Kawatiri Luff who lived in this region but I will share a post about his life later.

About an hour away on this particular walk is a seal colony but we chose not to do this as we had other places to see too.

After carefully climbing down some rocks we walked along the beach which was very very spanse. 

Lots of driftwood. In every beach we visit I try to get a different coloured or unusual rock to take home so that I have something from our travels.

 Lots of birds, mostly groups of different types of gulls and fairy terns which are endangered.

This little guy is a native Weka but they are not endangered. They are about the size of a chicken and flightless, we don't see many of them up in the North Island but we saw heaps of them yesterday.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's Signs.

Just for the birds

 Another one of our beach treks revealed this very family friendly coastline up in Karikari. Tokerau Beach is within the peninsula and is home to 2 Maraes consisting of Ngati Kahu hapu and Ngati Tara Ki Werowero.

Recently in mid January there was a shark scare there where a Bronze Whaler came right up into the shallows. One the day we were there we saw mostly lots of seagulls, see that big gull on the bottom right? He is a Southern Black Backed Gull also named Karoro but he is an adolescent bird rather than an adult. 

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.

Beware of Kiwis

In many New Zealand towns there are these signs that say "Kiwi Zone". At the entrance to Rainbow Falls is this one, because there is so much native bush where the birds live in their burrows under the ground. In fact in most Department of Conservation walks the sign at the entrance usually says "no dogs".

Dogs, cats and stoats are some of the Kiwis worst enemies. Many people unfortunately just don't care and don't understand the birds are a protected species, even taking a dog into these areas on a leash is illegal. 

There is the Kiwi Avoidance Training that owners can take their dogs to which teaches the animals  to steer clear of the birds. I don't know if I agree with the type of training which involves the use of electric collars but until someone comes up with a different method I guess this is it.

The trainers interestingly enough found that the breed of dog was found to influence the training with terrier and working breed dogs showing higher levels of avoidance from the training and non sporting dogs showing the lowest levels of avoidance.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, Through my lens and My Corner of the World.

Kiwi in Paihia

 My daughter and I spotted this mural in Paihia just before Christmas on the side of a phone cabinet, we have attempted to find out who painted it without luck. In case you're not familiar with Kiwi birds; they are noctural, mostly come out of the bush at night to hunt for food like worms, insects etc. They are flightless with long beaks and they are one of our protected birds. 

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Our native Piwakawaka

 See this little guy? This is a New Zealand Fantail - also known as Piwakawaka in the Maori language.  They are extremely curious and will follow people around flittering their wings and chirping. Usually in Maori mythology they are thought of as being death or news of a death from the Gods to the people.  We don't see alot of them in urban areas, they seem to prefer native forests. You can hear the chirps by the different types of Fantails here.