The Secret Life of Birds

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  Waitati, South Island, New Zealand
Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The birds here are pretty amazing. A couple days ago, while I was down at Doctor's Point along the beach, I watched clever seagulls problem solve. They would collect shellfish and snails, fly high into the air and drop them, cracking them open on the ground. Another example was the other day, while I was walking up to Mt. Cargill, two fantails followed me along the trail, swooping down and snacking on any sandflies that were swarming for my blood.

There is a bird called the kereru, which is a type of pigeon. It is a fat bird, yet it always seeks out the thinnest, most flexible branches to perch on. They always get thrown around in the wind, yet they remain on their small, weak landing. They also are very loud when flying, just like the tui. The air seems to zip through their feathers, making a loud flapping noises.

Speaking of the tui, there are a lot of bell birds here, which have a chaotic call similar to the tui. They are also the only other nectar feeding bird besides the tui in NZ.

I'm still at Volco, doing odd jobs. I built some possum proof cages to go oer Jamie's garden so he wouldn't lost his harvest. It was a royal pain to work with limited, imperfect materials and gnarly chicken wire, but I got them done, and he was appreciative. Today I did more firewood moving, stacking, splitting - all between periods of rain. It is intensely windy, which I like, but some wet weather is being blown in.

I've only got a day or two left here and them I will head back to Ten Anau to meet up with Dad and Logan. I am really excited to see them and it is coming up soon! I'm hoping to stay here through Friday, leaving Saturday, but I'll have to see if they have work for me to do, otherwise I will leave Friday. Always moving, always changing.

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