It's Raining Again ..... Oh no ......

12 comments

After two blazing hot early summer days last week, three days ago the rain returned …. at least this time without the very strong winds we had been experiencing. The garden is looking wet, drab & miserable …. but on a brighter note, I haven’t had to water it for three days. My lovely Hayley Westenra rose produced two glorious blooms, which after one day were sadly battered down by the rain. I have an agapanthus very close to blooming … a white one, which is a nice surprise, as I have so many blue ones in the garden. So thought I would put up some photos of the birds which have been visiting our garden since early spring.

This is the NZ native Fantail. It’s a very friendly little bird which will literally flit & dance around the garden … & even just above the head of a cat. Maori think it is very bad luck if one flies into the house. They love getting insects off native bottlebrush, & visit our lemon tree too.

Our beautiful native Tui is a NZ icon … it even has a very popular beer named after it. The Tui is a nectar-sipping bird & in early spring it was a frequent visitor to the big kowhai tree at the end of our neighbour’s garden, which hangs over our back fence. Always loves the flowers on many of the native flaxes.

We have been lucky enough to see our native Bellbird in our garden twice, but have heard its beautiful singing more often.

This little guy is a Chaffinch & visits our next door neighbour’s garden more often than ours, but we have seen it popping in & out when we are indoors.

The Goldfinch below visits infrequently.

The Yellow Hammer is a frequent visitor & the sparrows don’t seem to mind it at all. They will chase other small visitors away, but will happily feed alongside this one.

Occasionally we are lucky enough to see a Silvereye (aka Waxeye) visiting us …. the other day I looked out from the dining room window & saw one on the flowering knipfolia. Sadly, it never stays for long.

My husband was very excited to spot a pair of these native bush pigeons in a big tree overhanging our back fence. He rushed off to get the camera, & took a video of them. They don’t often visit town gardens. Also known by the Maori name of Kereru pink feet.

House sparrows feeding beneath the birdhouse.

We get a lot of Blackbirds visiting us & they will come right up to the back door.

Lots of song thrushes visiting too.

Sometimes a cheeky Starling will pop in for a visit. As a child I remember seeing lots of these in the garden, but I hardly ever see them now.

6 Dec, 2011
9 likes

Comments

Sheilar

Excellent - some brilliant shots there

6 Dec, 2011

Paulsgarden

What a wonderful blog - great bird photos!!!!!! Lovely garden too.

6 Dec, 2011

Dwyllis

I must confess that I did not take all of these photos .... some of these birds are incredibly shy & will fly off at the slightest movement, & all I end up with is a blur lol. So some of these pics are representations of the birds which visit, but none have copyright & are in the public domain. Paul ... thankyou. That part of the garden has only just started to be worked on, & we now have some nice native planting put in, with the hope of attracting a lot more of our lovely native birdlife .... many of the more beautiful bushbirds will come into private gardens with flowering flaxes & native trees, so that is what we are planting in some areas, amongst the 'prettier' normal flowers & shrubs.

6 Dec, 2011

Paulsgarden

love gold finches very much

6 Dec, 2011

Steragram

What amazing birds - really enjoyed looking.

6 Dec, 2011

Ojibway93

Really enjoyed seeing these lovely birds.

6 Dec, 2011

Annella

Lovely photos Dwyllis, I think I have all your missing Starlings.

7 Dec, 2011

Alextb

Lovely photos. I recognised a few birds that we get in the UK as well.

7 Dec, 2011

Dwyllis

Alex, I imagine that little birds such as the Goldfinch may have been bought over on sailing ships when NZ was first settled by the English in mid-19th century. Other birds, such as the Tui, Fantail, Keruru, Silvereye & Bellbird are native to NZ & may not be found elsewhere in the world .... certainly the Tui would only be found here. We have a Green Finch also, but haven't seen it in our garden yet. That is probably also found in UK & elsewhere.

7 Dec, 2011

Dwyllis

LOL Annella. Is that where they have all gone? I think I might have all the sparrows, as I understand that they are now quite scarce in parts of England?

7 Dec, 2011

Alextb

The ones featured in your blog that we get are; chaffinches, goldfinches, house sparrows, blacjbirds, song thrushes and starlings.

I believe we do also get greenfinches.

Your pigeons are a lit more to look at than our dull ones.

You certainly get your fair share of birds which is very nice to see.

8 Dec, 2011