And for the Tui and Bellbirds....

We are trying to encourage the return of our lovely native songbirds, the Tui and Bellbird to the urban areas of Blenheim . One way of doing this is to plant shrubs and trees that attract these special birds and provide sustenance for them.
Our Council encourages landowners both in the rural areas and in town to get in behind a project called "Tui to Town". If the appropriate trees and shrubs can be planted in copses and along waterways we can provide "pathways" to bring the birds from the forested Richmond Range and into the town environs.
There are websites on the internet where folk living outside New Zealand can research our lovely song-birds. Some websites even provide audios of the birds' songs. Tui is the Maori name for the Parsonbird. It is pronounced Too-ee. There is no letter "s" in the Maori language so it is proper to describe a number of these birds in the singular.... a flock of Tui.
I was so pleased to find this flowering gum tree along the Taylor River tracks this morning. It and some other small trees have only just started to flower. This tree is less than two metres high and is doing well. I think the flowers are exquisite and I hope that the birds think likewise. I did hear a bellbird bursting into song nearby so maybe they too have discovered these lovely young trees.