Sodden Bird.

Its raining. Has been for two days. And its getting heavier. ENOUGH ALREADY! I get stir crazy when I'm cooped up inside for too long. Of course I could have gone with Troy. He is supposed to be photographing sport for the paper but of course all the games will be cancelled so he'll be out shooting slips and surface flooding and stuff like that wishing he was home on his computer with the fire going and the roast cooking. But I couldn't be bothered going with him. I wandered aimlessly into the bedroom to discover a sodden little bird on the outside windowsill. A Greenfinch. Aha at least I can take some photos.He has an Elvis hairdo all slicked up in the wet and he is puffed out against the cold. Even my photos are dreary looking just like the weather. Time to turn the roast. (Yup - its chicken.)

Widdle birrrds

Along the Whakatane Riverbank between the yacht club and the skate bowl there is a short boardwalk to the frog pond. I have visited three mornings in a row and been rewarded with some nice shots of small birds, finches, sparrows and fantails feeding and collecting nesting material among the reeds and toi toi that grows there. Its lovely on a sunny day. Once the homeless degenerates that sleep under the boardwalk have cleared out its a nice place to sit and be serenaded by the frogs and trilling & cheeping finches.

This little guy is a male greenfinch singing his little heart out to impress a chick. It works and his girlfriend turns up but...typical female is very demanding and wants him to feed her. (I can relate to that.) Its all part of the courtship thing - she needs to know he will be a good provider for their chicks plus it supplies her with the extra nutrition needed to lay the eggs etc.

This male sparrow is collecting toi toi fibres for nesting material.

A pair of goldfinches land in the bullrushes and one targets the web from a nursery spiders nest. The finch collected a beakful, flew off to wherever its nest was, then returned twice til the web was all gone. It then found another web and repeated the excercise.

What a cutie! And finally, one of my favourites - a fantail catches bugs on the wing without fear of my long lens. At time he is too close to focus on! What a great start to the day.

a thrush, a waxeye and a greenfinch

I've been leaving seed and fruit out for the birds over the last two weeks and today was the first day I've really had the opportunity to photograph some of the visitors to my feed stations. I probably need to set up a hide to photograph some of the more shy diners but I got some nice pics of the waxeyes. They love the fruit, kiwis in particular. I sat out in the back yard with a book and my camera and alternated between Harry Potter and snapping the waxeyes who became quite used to my presence. I would really like to get photos of the finches that are coming to eat the wildbird seed; greenfinches, chaffinches and yellowhammers. I'll need to set up a hide for them though.

I got this photo of a thrush in the park. Sometimes the worms get away but not often! A worm this size must make a good meal for a bird like this.

I saw my friend Barbara in town on Friday, it was her place where I photographed the white tui. She said it was a regular visitor for about two weeks but has gone now. Shame, I planned to go back and get some more photos but have just been too busy. Planning is going well for our "Birds Aplenty" exhibition in October. We have decided to donate a percentage of our sales to Rosemary Tully of Whakatane Bird Rescue. She does such a good job.

My falcon sighting I reported to "Wingspan" in Rotorua (the raptor centre) and they sent me a complimentery copy of their magazine. It was a wonderful read, I was really stoked! I must join, only $30 per year and that gives you free entry. All in all its been a quiet week though. I haven't been to my favourite spot on the river since whitebait season started...too crowded now!

Finally, a picture I took during lunch in the rosegardens on Friday. A greenfinch, a charming little bird that stopped in for a quick bath. The male has more colour than this hen but they are both lovely.