Koru by the first bridge

A weekend walk with S along the Te Whau Esplanade. Saw lots of birds, and enjoyed walking beside the edge of the Mahurangi Harbour at full tide looking over the mangroves. A cyclist headed off along the path before us, and on our return we met one runner, a woman with a puppy, and a mother and her son. Minimal human contact, for which we wore our masks.

Tui have become almost ubiquitous in and around Snells Beach, and they were loud and high and fast this afternoon. I heard a cock pheasant but could not locate it from single calls with a long gap between. Heard and saw some Eastern Rosellas. The extra today is of a male chaffinch which hopped about feeding on the path in front of us, seemingly unperturbed by human presence.

The beautiful shape and colours of the koru (the emerging frond of a Ponga - tree fern) is today's blip