Woohoo! I heard my first Stewart Island kiwi call at 5.20am on 4 February 2011 - what a buzz! It was a male, maybe 300m away at a guess and no idea what direction it was from. It was very dark outside and I went back to sleep with a big smile on my face. I've spent many hours sitting in the cold and dark and have yet to hear a kiwi calling on Mt Taranaki and here I am, in the comfort of my own bed, listening to that wonderful sound.
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| unidentified weevil |
I've also had visits from neighbours; firstly a huhu beetle who tried hard to get inside one night, he/she made quite a clatter banging against the ranchslider. Then a weevil (pictured) so far unidentified and a male miromiro (tomtit) who entertained me with his 'dancing' between the incinerator and deck. Last night I had a confused frog climb the ranchslider - I had a great close-up view of his belly and footpads!
A 'scientific experiment' proved that bumblebees like the colour blue - probably the reason they keep coming inside when I have windows open. Will definitely choose a different colour when I repaint. I tried putting a shower curtain up in the woodshed to keep the rain off - the curtain is clear plastic with a map of the world on with countries in different colours. As soon as I hung it up, the bees made a beeline (haha) for all the blue blocks - amazing. I think I'll try a green tarpaulin instead!
See my next post for house pics...
