Fruitless search.

I have been asked to supply a photo of a tui feeding on totara fruit for an author writing a book about the totara tree. The tui is the main method of seed dispersion for the totara tree (I just learned that) and the fruit appear in March so today I set off to get the required shot. I know lots about birds but not really about trees which is why I wasted half the morning photographing tuis feeding on kahikatea fruit.

The fruit look similar but I got the tree wrong - I knew it shouldn't have been that easy. So then I went looking for totara trees. I found some near the Awatapu lagoon - no fruit. There were some at the rose gardens - no fruit. A totara in the neighbours section - no fruit. Mum suggested the cemetary so after lunch thats where we went.

Cemetaries are strange places, plastic flowers and little angels. A magpie wandered amongst the graves. Lots of people hate magpies. I don't really mind them, I especially like their black and white markings.

  Mum wandered around looking at headstones seeing people she once knew, saying "oh here's so and so", and "oh look, there's poor old such and such." And I pretended I remembered who they were and just wandered around feeling gloomy. After watching the Christchurch earthquake on tv for the last week or so its hard not to feel glum at best.

I found some totara, one even had a fruit on it. ONE fruit between all those trees! Bizarre looking thing it was too. End on it looked like an alien so I added a mouth to it to cheer myself up.

Double click to enlarge, it looks kinda cute.

Oh I forgot, I got a new computer! My first ever brand new one. Its whizzy fast. I gotta make sure I keep the new keyboard free from crumbs.

Content may disturb.

I spotted this black billed gull on Friday morning in a distressed state. I tried to catch it but it could still fly. I am pretty sure this bird has tried to eat some bait whilst the fisherman was still holding his fishing rod. Rather than risk a mild pecking the fisherman has taken the easy way out and simply cut his (or her) line. Because of this persons cowardly action the gull has been handed a long slow death sentence. I suspect it will have died by now. It was suffering a raging infection with the hook having pierced the side of its face and the barb protruding. Its really not pretty to look at but I have no hesitation about posting this image. Hopefully it will help prevent these all too common mishaps with fishing tackle. Nylon line on its own can do untold damage even without the hook.

After posting such a hideous pic I am adding the following photo of a welcome swallow cause I think its pretty cute. This is a favourite perch for this family of swallows and this time of year they are looking lovely with their orange faces.

And finally a pic to make you smile. Not exactly nature or art but I couldn't resist snapping it out the car window travelling through Rotorua a couple of weeks ago.

Frogs n tadpoles

I have always been fascinated by frogs and tadpoles. As a kid I would spurn any dollies or any kind of girly stuff in favour of my trusty frog net and head out every spring to catch myself some little croakers. It used to drive my sister crazy because their croaking would keep her awake at night. Internationally frogs are in decline. Frog Species the world over are becoming extinct at an alarming rate.

Visiting family in Auckland last weekend I was delighted to spot some fat green frogs in a flax bush on the edge of a swamp. They have such lovely skin and were a beautiful shade of green. These are a species introduced from Australia, they are called Bell Frogs. All our native species lack external ears, those round discs seen on the side of these guys heads behind the eye.

Two days later I was back in Whakatane photographing the heron at the dyers pool. Its not often they will venture into this space as the human foot traffic is heavy past the spot. I watched this one having a good feed and it took me a while to see what it was eating...tadpoles!
And some big tadpoles at that. I decided if it was good enough for the heron it was good enough for me so the next day I dug out my frog net.

It didn't take me long before had five little taddies in my jar so I took them back to Mums where I found a round glass bowl. I was draining a little of the dirty water out of my jam jar when one decided to make a bid for freedom and before I could stop it he had zoomed over the lip of the jar and down the plughole. Oh No! Seems like I was contributing to the declining frog population.

Fortunately the other four are well and happy and getting bigger every day. Amazing to think something that breathes water and looks like this can turn into something that breathes air and looks like a frog....is a frog...you know what I mean. Just brilliant!

www.nzfrogs.org

www.savethefrogs.com

Valentines Day

Yesterday was Valentines Day and Troy gave me a georgous present. It was a Bush Giant Dragonfly that he had found dead on a friends driveway. When he gave it to me it was still freshly dead so I could straighten its bent legs to make it look alive and quite ready to lift up and fly off. I understand that to some people it may seem strange to give a dead bug to say "I love You" but......well....ok so maybe it is a little weird. The important thing was that I really like it and it will take pride of place in my dead bug collection. I have always loved dragonflies and they are especially fascinating to study close up.

Below is my latest painting. It is a reasonably small study of a shag and kina in a rather curious composition. It is called "Kina Moon."

On a sad note, my computer has died : ( I can't complain because it is about ten years old! Fortunately I did a back-up relatively recently but I have lost some stuff. Troy thinks he can revive it long enough to get the missing stuff off it. After that I'm going to have a funeral and bury it with full honours...actually thats not good for the ecology is it? Best wait for the next E-day rubbish collection.

R.I.P. computer. Just as well it wasn't my camera or I'd be inconsolable.

something fishy

I wanted a small fish to include in a painting I am planning so yesterday I thought I'd go catch myself a herring or more correctly named a yellow eyed mullet. I raided Dads tackle box for some tiny hooks, rummaged around in Mums freezer for a pilchard bait and climbed the back fence to the river. After only a couple of minutes I brought in a shiny silver fish, the perfect painting subject. I thought "Hell that was easy!" so I decided to keep trying for more. My friend Rosemary runs a bird rescue and is always wanting fish to feed herons, shags, penguins and the numerous seabirds she nurses back to health. So I filled a bucket with river water and popped the herring into it. The fish promptly leapt out again and landed with a splash back into the river!I had a sinking feeling that the next one was going to be more difficult to catch and sure enough 30 mins later I was still waiting for a bite. Finally I caught my second so without wasting time I took it back to the house to photograph. On my way back I passed my Dad who had decided to have a go too and before I had finished taking pictures he came back with a big fat kahawai!