I spent last Sunday at Lee's home with a magnificent view overlooking Deep Bay, and had some close encounters with the kaka that come to her bird table. The cheeky birds tap on her window to get her attention and they certainly weren't scared of me getting in close for photos.
Their colours are more vivid at this time of year. I tried many times (without success) to capture their red 'underwings' as they swooped in to land on the bird table; one of these days I'll fluke it!
It was a rather wet Sunday but there was a break in the weather late afternoon which made light-coloured patches on the water. Here's a couple of Deep Bay views from Lee's lounge windows.
It's fun to go orchid-spotting; we found 4 types of orchid on Ulva Island earlier this month and one of them was flowering. They are exquisite in their structure and I can't wait for the greenhoods and sun orchids to start flowering too. The Corybas below was less than 10cm tall so easy to miss if you walk too fast!
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| Spider orchid, Māikaika, Corybas rivularis |
Fungi, too, are more common as temperatures increase - I love how the edges of this orange fungi are covered in hairs.
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| Orange fungi on stump |
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| Close up of above |
I planted more vege seedlings this afternoon in bright sunshine. An hour later a heavy hailstorm swept through dropping the temperature from 18°C to 8°C and leaving a carpet of white behind. Just as well my babies were snug under their plastic cloches!
