About a reptile, a rodent and a range of birds

Troy and I had Friday off and we spent the day at home catching up on jobs. It was lovely and sunny and the skink was back in the carport. Troy got this great shot of him. He really likes hanging out in our shoes!


















I was hanging out the washing when I saw Billy the wonderdog sniffing around in the garden. All of a sudden he went into "hunt" mode, his tail stuck straight up and his body was stiff. He was staring into the greenery behind the carport. I thought he may have sniffed out a mouse so I told him to "get dat mouse boy!" All of a sudden he lunged in and came up with a HUGE rat in his mouth!!! Aaaargghhh!!!! He shook it and the rat turned and sunk its teeth into Bills cheek. The poor dog spat out the rat but it was still hanging off his face. The rat was squealing, I was squealing.....After violently shaking his head a number of times the rat let go and tried to make its escape. Bill jumped on it again and finally killed it. I made a fuss of him and gave him two big bones as a reward. He was bleeding a little from a bite mark on his muzzle but he soon forgot his injury after he got his bones! So check out these nasty teeth.










I have been waiting for the return of the Kotuku at the Apanui saltmarsh recently and I thought I had spotted him there last week. But I only saw him flying over into the reeds and when I later checked the photos I wasn't convinced it was the white heron. Instead I think it was the egret whom I have seen feeding at the Awatapu lagoon lately. But I did take some shots of the spoonbills. A pair was circling over head, spooked into the air by a harrier, and I took this photo as they began their descent. They very suddenly half fold in their wings and almost tumble to the ground in a spectacular fashion before regaining composure just before landing. Goofy birds but very interesting to watch.

On Sunday I went for a walk along Thornton beach. There was some spectacular breakers rolling in from way out in the ocean. There was a divine golden sunset and I photographed a couple of stilts in the orange light.

Today Troy had to work late so I was lucky enough to watch the sun set over my favourite spot on the river. It was a still evening and the starlings were flying in large flocks over the saltmarsh before retiring to their roosts. I can't help but think how lucky I am to live in such a wonderful place!

Gothic Arch, Skink and Little Blue Penguins.

My painting "Gothic Arch" is currently being exhibited in Harrisons Gallery, 15th Ave Tauranga. This is part of my Requiem series and is a large painting on shaped hardboard.





























The other day I was surprised to see a little skink on the floor of the carport. He ran under the back steps as I was taking some washing to the line. Later I quietly poked my head out the laundry door to see if he was back, without moving my eyes scanned the area I'd seen him and after a while I observed him observing ME from inside Troys sneaker! (Lousy taste in real estate.)




After re-locating the lame little blue penguin from the Whakatane river boat ramp, I though that would be the last I saw of penguins for a while. So I was surprised to see TWO more penguins fishing around the wharf by the information centre over Easter. One looked as if it had been injured or sick as it was missing patches of feathers but the other one looked in prime condition and has been there for the last two weeks. I have watched it catching fish from between the boats being launched, from between swimming children and dogs and from around the baits of fishermen! He appears healthy and quite happy with his new home so I'm going to let him be and make the most of the photo opportunity he is presenting me with. I expect he will move on sooner or later and head back to the open ocean but in the meantime he is providing the locals with some entertainment, myself included. I just love watching him zooming through the water just beneath the surface with such ease. Magic!