Singing in the rain

Now there's a song that's been sung by an awful lot of artists! I have no idea who first sang it - might have been Frank Sinatra?

Anyway, this decidedly wind ruffled bellbird (korimako)was singing in the rain. He sure did have a lot to say for himself.

With no nectar flowers blooming at my place I'm not sure why he was visiting but I certainly enjoyed it. When I heard him I headed out (into the rain) with my camera, really expecting him to be gone by the time I found him. He then hung around for quite a while, but typically kept ducking in and out of the tree so he wasn't easy to photograph.

I think he was rather young, and had possibly lost Mum as he wasn't really singing so much as shrieking.

Today's joy is definitely being back in my own bed after more than a week away. I've just come to the tail end of a month off - some time to try and come to terms with Blaze's death and to recuperate from the emotional exhaustion of the past year. I wouldn't say the time has actually achieved all I had hoped it would, but it was badly needed.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to being back at work tomorrow - not being there has been an uncomfortable feeling even though I'm well aware the place has been in excellent hands while I've been skiving off.