Whau and Rangiora

takahe enjoying early sunshine

It was my day to do kaka nestbox checking, and a beautiful day it was.

tree overhanging  far side of lower lake looking the worse for wear

 I checked the shag roosting spot on the other side of the lake as I headed up. Through my binoculars I could see black shags and pied shags on their nests. If conditions are right they will nest all year round. I saw a pied shag fly in with nest material in its bill. The roosting tree is looking worse for wear, its leaves guano streaked under each nest. They will kill it eventually.
On the side of the path was a mallard not all ready to get up and go even though it was 10 am in the morning. It opened an eye as I photographed it but made no attempt to shift.

sleepy mallard

I chose to wander by the takahe, who then chose to wander by me. As I photographed a whau. Puffin decided to join me and had a poke round to see why I had stopped at this particular spot. The whau is one of the lightest woods in the world, lighter than balsa wood. The Maori used it for fishing floats. It has spikey seed pods and large lush leaves.

Me and the takahe check out a whau

I then stopped to photograph a Rangiora, or Bushmans Comfort . It is one of the more obvious shrubs of the New Zealand bush with its large soft leaves that are silvery on the underside. The settlers found them a great toilet paper substitute, hence the name they chose for them!

Rangiora or Bushmans Comfort

The young ladies of that era also found a novel use for them. As people from Britain spread across the world it was fashionable to send postcards showing their travels and where they had settled. The rangiora leaf proved to be an interesting and novel form of postcard as the underside of the leaf could be written on, and with a stamp applied could be sent to friends and relatives left on the other side of the world. The 'email' or 'twitter' of the Victorian era. The Post Office was not happy about it but usually obliged. We are lucky to have in our family a rangiora leaf postcard sent to my great aunty from Stewart Island by a friend. It is now in Te Puke Ariki Museum in Taranaki. They think it was sent in 1905 and most of the contents are still legible. The leaf is a South Island variety of rangiora and or more thick and compact than its North Island cousin.

My great -aunt's novel postcard

I hurried on to check my nest boxes but was distracted again by a family of Californian Quail. They are such busy attractive little birds, bubbling away to their babies as they bustle about full of importance. They are poor parents despite their concern. Often they start with over ten babes, but quickly have only to or three left. I wonder what happens to the chicks? Who makes off with them? Or do they just lose them through carelessness? They try ever so hard but seem a bit dim and not sure what to do when I approach - panic sets in easily and they scatter in front of me.

Californian Quail - baby with Mum at lower right

The kaka nest boxes are looking a little worse for wear now at the end of the season with visible signs of damage. Kakas can be tenants from hell as they shred the outsides of their house for no particular reason. This year damage proof boxes in pale blue plastic were provided as well as the old solid wood ones. They kaka have mainly preferred the tried and true wooden ones which they can trash to their hearts content. The art deco ones still look in good condition but I think the kaka don't consider them much fun.

art deco nest box

wooden nest box looking chewed and trashed.

I then went and observed at the feeding station but it was at the heat of the day and the kaka were keeping quiet or had dispersed for the day throughout Wellington so I continued on home.

Kaka feeding station with no kaka to be seen