Tap, tap, tap! That's the noise I heard last Monday night around 8.45pm; the tv was on and with double-glazed windows I'm surprised I heard it at all. The last time there were noises from the deck it was a possum and with that in mind, I grabbed the torch and headed outside. A quick sweep revealed not one, but two kiwi - one down the bottom of the deck and the other about 5m away probing in the mossy ground. Magic! I quickly turned the torch off, thanked them for visiting and headed back inside, grinning like a Cheshire cat. The kiwi by the deck must have tapped on the decking to let me know they were out there. I am so lucky to be living here!
Maybe the kiwi were admiring my new deck feature that I completed on Sunday. After scrubbing the deck on Saturday, I spent the following day stapling netting to the steps and revamping the ramp at the bottom. The handrail needs finishing off but I need to bolt the post in first.
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| Netting down, now to attack the rickety ramp |
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| The site supervisor inspecting my work |
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| Hmm, any worms here? |
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| The site supervisor checking me out! |
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| The finished job |
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| Looking from the top - see the ngirungiru on the post |
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| A nice sturdy ramp and handrail post makes for an easier climb |
Not a lot of progress on the tyre wall. My expert came round at the weekend and gave me some advice, along with this plan...
My four day weekend started today but so did the rain. I managed to get some digging in before it got too heavy and managed to snap this photo of Mr & Mrs Ngirungiru (male on right, female on left)...
...and this large porina moth caterpillar which was very active, about 70mm in length and due to pupate very soon. The adult moth will emerge from the soil around October-November, mate immediately and lay up to 3000 eggs on pasture during its short life (about 4 days).
