A real 'wow' day.

Set off around 9.00 this morning then remembered I had forgotten about a promise I made to someone who helped me and who lived in Levin......

About 18 months ago I coulnd't get a device I'd bought for my campervan set up and working.  No-one local could or would help but I found someone in Levin who did.  He ended up talking me through the set-up over the phone for half an hour or so........w-a-y beyond the call of duty.  I promised him that next time I was in Levin I'd buy him a beer by way of thanks so today I bought him a dozen and went round to see him.  He struggled to remember helping me although did have a vague recollection.  I told him that when I had said I'd buy him a beer next time I was in Levin he probably thought "Yea.....right"..........so the beers just had to be Tuis (Kiwis will understand this though others may think I'm talking gobbledegook!).

Arrived at Zealandia a little after 11.30 and met J who I haven't seen in y-e-a-r-s!  We worked at the same school for many years and both share a love of photography so it seemed like a good idea to catch up over a coffee and a photo walk, and what an amazing walk it turned out to be!  We think we saw 13 different species of birds (including blackbird, sparrows, quail and duck!) but for me, this chap stands out above the rest.  He's a leucistic tui.  A what?  Exactly what I said!  It turns out he's a bit of a rarity so I was all the more pleased to have seen him.  The picture isn't great (I was suffering a little gear envy when I saw J's images.....sooooooo much less ISO noise) but because he's such a unique sight I felt he deserved to be today's blip pic.  The other thing to note with him is that I think he's a young bird - are they gape flanges he's sporting??  And talking of young birds and gape flanges.......there's a couple of young (regular) tuis in extras.

What a day!  Loved it, loved it, loved it!  And to top it all off, I'm staying tonight at my favourite Wellington location - Owhiro Bay.  There's a bit of a wild wind out there tonight though so it may be a rough night in the van!