Piwakawaka (Fantail)

After school today Kiwilizzie and I took a group of students up to Lake Rotoiti to take part in a Leadership Youth Jam. We drove down to the Source of the Buller River, where she leaves the lake. My intention had been to photograph the birth of this great river - but instead I was distracted by the fantails who were darting about catching sandflies. I wish they had caught more of them because by the time I'd got back in the vehicle I was covered in sandfly bites. Ouch!

The fantail is a bird that we refer to as native to New Zealand (they are not technically but let's not go there). They are only about half a handful of fluff with their delightful fan tails that open as they fly. Unfortunately all my captures of them in flight with their feathers spread were disapointing so you just get to see the body - half a blob with a pointy beak and the dantiest legs and feet imaginable.