Wetlands
Bellbirds and Tuis
Tuis and bell birds can be heard most of the year round at Pateke as they are very happy feeding in the gum trees near the house. In particular they thrive on the bottle brush flowers of the Banksia trees. Both birds are highly territorial but the tui will fight for his patch to the bitter end and chase other tuis away. Lots of noisy fluttering and warning song.
Right now they are feeding on the nectar in the flax flowers and their heads are bright orange with the pollen. There is flax right alongside my office door and I can see them feeding very close by. Thanks to the good people at Mt Bruce National Wildlfie Centre (1 hour drive from Pateke) we have some very recent photos:
Tui feeding on flax nectar (phormium tenax)
Bellbird (makomako) perched on a puka branch.
Grey Warblers and Shining Cuckoos in December
These are plentiful at the moment. Grey Warblers (riroriro) reside at Pateke year round and their high pitched song is a joy to hear. Their song is much larger than their size would indicate for they are a tiny bird. All the harder for them then when the shining cuckoo arrives for she is three times the size and her egg is at least twice as large. The Maori name for the shining cuckoo is pipiwharauroa, meaning coming from the North West, an indicator of how early voyagers followed migratory birds to land. The call of the pipiwhararaoa is a long series of pee---pee pee pee peee cheeow cheeow with the latter sound falling rapidly from high to low. If you go to the Mt Bruce website in Links you can hear their sound.
Grey Warbler or riroriro returning to her nest.
