Day Nineteen; Piwakawaka among the leaves

Welcome rain overnight persisted intermittently during the rest of the day. Rather than get wet before sunrise, I chose to defer my daily exercise and finally went for another walk in the Arch Hill Reserve. Today I was able to hear tui, almost from the first steps on the path through the reserve. Unlike a couple of days ago, they remained mostly hidden (seeming to mock my interest in finding them, instead of just listening to their melodious calls, and their screeches).

Likewise the small darting birds, which flew across the path ahead of me, only to disappear into the foliage of the trees bordering the path. Perhaps I may have seen more on the multiple bike trails looping above and occasionally below the walking path. 

Nearing the end of the trees around the path a bike trail of very low difficulty goes off to the left on more or less flat ground. That called to me, and deep into the trees and scrub around this trail I was welcomed by three of perhaps four Piwakawaka (fantails). They tend to be highly mobile, but this one remained on the leaves beside the trail in front of me for enough time for a number of photos, of which the one here blipped is the best.

On Day 19 of the Covid-19 lockdown, we have been told that new cases were much the same as yesterday; 19 instead of 18. Put into graphic form, the best fit line continues to look very positive for controlling the virus, if not actually eliminating it. The latter outcome is not likely just yet.

Nevertheless, we have been well served by our scientists and politicians, who left opinions outside the planning chambers, and worked with what was known and implemented an effective strategy. During a pandemic, science and knowledge and evidence are so much more effective than opinion and wishful thinking ever can be.