“That Old Puriri Tree” -
           April 2005

That old puriri tree still stands at Awaawaroa Bay Eco-Village with quite a bit of green growth and some ripe berries.

One day I spotted for a very brief time six kereru roosting in “That Old Puriri Tree” having a “pigeon conference”.  I wonder what they were talking about?   It was quite a sight watching those six big birds go swooping off to the next tree in quick succession.

At the end of the summer a gang of seven magpies turned up in our little gully.  They enjoyed going backwards and forwards from one garden to the next calling to each other at all hours of the day.  I was quite determined that they weren’t going to take up permanent residence in our gully and so started daily setting the magpie trap that had been so successful the year before.  I tried all kinds of bait and managed to get one very curious in some cat food but haven’t managed to catch a single one.  The baby rails grew up over the summer and were often seen hanging around the pond.  Over a series of three days I managed to catch each one of these young ones in the magpie trap.  I assume that they learned their lesson and it wasn’t the same one being caught 3 times.  A few weeks later I was surprised to find the mother and one of her young ones in the one end of the trap which means they both walked in to try the cat food simultaneously!  Anyway after catching a few hedgehogs I decided to give up on the magpie trapping until the weather gets cooler and they get hungrier.  They still love to hang around and often wake us with their raucous calls very early in the morning.

A pair of mynas successfully nested in the Old Puriri again this summer.  Their hole is way too high up in the rotting branches for me to be able to get to it and block it up.  I was amazed one day to watch the mynas successfully chase off the white faced heron who had decided to come and roost momentarily in the tree even though they are a fraction of his size.

The pukekos are moving back in to the garden and orchard as the weather gets cooler.  All the tomatos, melons, and corn are netted because they have shown to have a taste for all of these in years gone by.  They still manage to rip holes in the bird netting and clamber in and feast on the late season tomatos.  They didn’t get any of our melons though!  In a display of their territorial aggression I observed a pair of “pukes” scare off a peacock who dared to stroll through heir territory on the hillside opposite.

The white faced heron has returned the last 2 or 3 days.  I am not sure what he is eating (frogs, tadpoles, mice, snails?)  But he gracefully swoops up into the Old Puriri tree when ever we come by and disturb him.  A roosting heron is quite a sight.  The Rails are around but are as allusive as ever.  There is also a good sized family of brown quail and plenty of pheasants.  The wax eyes have left the neighbours grapes since they have been picked and are now going for our figs!  A pair of grey ducks have returned to swim on the pond.

Large numbers of some small birds congregate each night in our hedge of taratas.  If you walk by or brush the tree by mistake there is quite a commotion of noise as the flutter around to a safer spot.  It is quite a surprise if you aren’t used to it.  It is almost impossible to see what they are as they disappear when you try.

“That Old Puriri Tree” -  August 2005

“That Old Puriri Tree” has survived another winter though I think it has lost one old dead limb since I last wrote.

Spring is definitely in the air and the bird life is changing into their spring behaviour patterns.  The fantails have been flocking together in and above the firewood trees, the pair of grey ducks are back on the pond, the king fishers are back hunting in the garden area, blackbirds have paired up and are scratching in the mulch, the family of brown quail have split up and can be heard making plantiff calls back and forth across the orchard, the pipits are back in the middles of the roads, the sky larks are back singing high in the sky, the grey warblers are back singing secretly hidden in the bushes, the stralings are back getting their nests ready in “that old Puriri Tree”.  No signs of the Banded Rails as yet but hopefully they will return.

We have been visited daily by the most unusual looking
“tail less” fantail.  I have no idea if this is a common occurrence, perhaps some kind of molting or the transition from juvenile to adult,  but it has certainly fascinated me.  This little fantail seems perfectly happy in this state and though his flying ability is seriously impeded he still manages to do the necessary aerobatics required to catch flying insects.  It seems to land more frequently than other fantails but is obviously still catching bugs because it is still alive!.  Since I first wrote this item it now appears that the fantail is indeed growing back his tail feathers

Another spring oddity has been the male grey/mallard mix duck who is surviving with only one foot (web).  The leg is all there but the complete web is missed perhaps bitten off or chopped off in a trap or crushed under something.  The poor fellow crash lands on the hard ground but does okay landing and taking off from water.  He takes off from hard ground with great difficulty balancing on one leg and proping himslf up with the other web less one.  He can swim around on the pond perfectly well and doesn’t seem to go round in circles as one might expect.  I watched him scratching his head the other day - his leg was going flat out and his head got all fluffed up but without the “foot” there wasn’t actually anything doing the scratching.  He didn’t seem to notice and continued enjoying a scratchless scratch!  Once again I am not quite sure how he is surviving and how he has managed to keep a mate but he looks perfectly healthy and happy.