Follow the fence and listen for the birds?

I know you people must get tired of me banging on about getting home to the peace and quiet of the country, but on evenings like this it just feels so good to be here.

Another stroll out with the dogs down the hill to the see the neighbour's alpacas (they were hiding, again) in the golden evening light was a real treat. Although my arthritic knee was playing up on the way back, the bird calls kept me blissed out, as did the views like this. I love the way these fences criss-cross the green paddocks of the valley, and especially the long shadows they cast in the evening glow.

The shining cuckoos are back in the valley - a real sound of spring if ever there was one - joining the bellbirds, kingfishers and grey warblers as the most distinctive sounding denizens in our neighbourhood. The presence of the dogs also startled a protective paradise duck in the next door paddock, setting him off honking for his hidden mate (no doubt with some fluffy bundles of joy, just like in this blip).

I'm still keeping my ears open for the elusive Banks Peninsula tui. I heard one's very distinctive raspy chimes further up the hill one afternoon last year; bobbing around in a thicket of native bush I was barely able to make out its distinctive silhouette. I have yet to hear one since, despite revisiting the same spot on various occasions. Since the release of a small population in Akaroa a couple of years Tui back have been spotted in several places across the peninsula, so here's hoping their population takes off (please excuse the pun).