Fantail on my clothesline

This little fellow turned up after I'd been weeding - I'd been putting straw on the garden and disturbed a lot of little insects, so I think that's what he was after. We used to get a lot of these, but our pear tree got blown over i in a big storm and they stopped coming so often. they do flit round the grapes though, catching fruit flies.

this is a pied fantail as when it fans its tail it will have dark and light feathers, there is also a black kind, which is found mainly in the South Island, with a few in the North and none on the Chathams.

They are friendly birds and will come close to humans, but are so often on the move it's hard to get a photo of them.