Spur Winged Plover

We had a fantastic thunderstorm during the night - the thunder alone woke us up several times during the early hours of the morning, let alone the rain that was palting down on the roof. The power went off twice during the morning milking, which means that all the cups come off the cows teats, so they have to be picked up, and put back on. Not fun when it happened a second time.

The rain subsided during the morning, and the sun came out later this afternoon, and it reached 20 degrees C - fantastic grass growing weather. The bad news is that we are in for a repeat of all this weather again during tonight, with more thunder and lightning and heavy rain. Oh fun! It is my turn to milk in the morning, so I hope all off you living in NZ think of me in the rain, while you are zzzzzzzz in bed.

I took my camera with me while on the farm today, and took many photo's that I could have blipped, however the family consensus was this photo of the Spur Winged Plover. This Plover had a mate with him/her, and they were getting very aggravated with me. The noise they generate can be rather deafening, and at one stage while flying, I thought they were going to nose dive me.

You will note the spur on the wing - it has one on the other wing as well. These spurs are used for fighting. I love the yellow 'cape' looking flaps on its head, as well as its knobbly knees.

Hope you all have a great weekend!