Tongue of the tui

I have made myself a sort of 'hide' to get closer to the tui tea set up. Down between the garden shed and the broad beans I can place the tripod with the camera poking though the bean foliage. I can sit and read while waiting which is what I planned but the tuis came in about every 7 or 8 minutes. Spent 2 or 3 minutes then off. Took quite a while to get settings right and got a couple of hundred photos. Chose this one to show the coat of many colours and the tip of its long tongue. The Native Bird Recovery Richmond team have put together a photo book and it tells us that the tongue is spongy to soak up the nectar.
Next goal is to catch that tongue staying out a bit longer.