My favourite book from my childhood is The Wishing Chair Collection by Enid Blyton.
I often like to pull one of my rocking chairs out on to the deck, climb into it and try to see the world from a different perspective. Today was one of those days. With a book on one side and my camera on the other, it didn’t take long before I was distracted by something wonderful.
I leant back and stared up into the pohutukawa tree that overhangs our deck. Currently, it is covered in buds, so I’m hoping for a spectacular display of red flowers this Christmas. That’s when I saw the Eastern rosellas sitting on one of the branches. My heart sank a little. Every year they come along and nibble at the buds. This is destructive to say the least! However, on this occasion I found myself intrigued by a pair that were behaving rather oddly. One seemed to be bouncing up and down while stretching out its neck. The other was hunched down a little, staring up at the performance. At first, I thought it was a flirtatious dance, and then I realised that this was an adult and juvenile. The adult was going to a great deal of effort to raise the food from out of its crop. I found the entire scene quite lovely. Eastern rosellas are stunningly beautiful.
Within a short space of time, two kereru landed in the pohutukawa tree just a few branches lower than where the Eastern rosellas were. To my astonishment, this was also an adult and juvenile arrangement. You might recall in the November issue, I had a pair of kereru visiting daily, and how much I hoped to see their young. I am thrilled to confirm that I have. It’s the first time I have ever seen an adult kereru feeding its young. The performance is somewhat low key compared to the rosellas. The juvenile does a bit of wing flapping, while the adult lowers its head, and opens the beak wide so that the juvenile can get in there and help itself.
I’m so excited at the prospect of having more time to sit in one of my rocking chairs over the Christmas break. I’ve already placed a little tinsel outside for the birds to play around in.
I hope you all have a relaxing break, and remember – you don’t need to go anywhere to have an adventure. Just sit outside and allow yourself to be entertained. (HEIDI PADAIN)
To see some of Heidi’s other photographic work, go to www.flickr.com and type Heidi Padain into the search box, or, you can contact Heidi by email hidihi@xtra.co.nz, or look her up on Facebook... Heidi Padain Photography.
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11/2019