On a flax flower spike

On my way home from work I stopped at Te Wai Orea for a walk around the edge of the lake. With my camera.

Despite the greyness of the light it was a pleasant and satisfying walk. And the rain waited until I had finished and was back on the way home. And getting even more aghast at the arrogant attitude of one of the newly appointed ministers in the new government.

There is a tree on a small almost island on the southern side of the lake which has long been the roosting place for shags. Little pied shag (Kawau paka) and Kawau tui (Little black shag) have long shared this tree. In recent years a colony of Kotuku ngutupapa (Royal spoonbills) has arrived and set up in lower trees.

One immature male Kotuku ngutupapa obviously was not happy to be in the lower branches, and after struggling with balance for a couple of minutes attempted to intimidate the Kawau tui. The latter was actually on a higher part of the uppermost branch. (see the extra)

My walk back to where I had parked the care took me past a flax bush. Where a Tui was gathering nectar. And in the process adopted a series of poses that delighted the camera. I chose today's blip from the pack, and added a second extra of the tui showing its ability to access nectar