Day 31 - Curious Kereru

ANZAC day today - a day usually acknowledged with a dawn parade, a service at the local cenotaph and a sombre rendition of 'The Last Post' by a solitary bugler.  The lockdown has served to ensure this wouldn't be the case today.  Instead, Kiwis were invited to stand at the end of their driveways, in their gardens or in their living rooms at 6.00am, tuned into National Radio to share a together-but-apart acknowledgement of this important day.  I stood on my deck, looking out across and up the street to neighbours who were also standing.  No-one spoke, the radios played and we all stood and remembered those whose lives were lost at war, fighting for the freedoms we enjoy today.  It was an unusual way to gather and acknowledge the day, but it was nevertheless, a very  meaningful tribute given the circumstances.  Certainly one I will remember.

And speaking of remembering, this visitor to my garden is one I will most definitely remember - a kereru.  They're our native wood pigeon; they're big, noisy fliers and clumsy in trees, but they are beautiful birds.  I was in the garden practising some macro photography when I heard the unmistakable flapping of him approaching.  A quick turn of my head in the direction of the noise, and I just glimpsed him aborting a landing attempt at the bird bath.  He flew up onto the garage roof where he stayed for a few minutes appearing to 'figure out' how to get to the water. He then swooped around and zeroed in on my garden shed where he landed.  He re calibrated his flight path which was now a direct line straight to the water in the birdbath and with just 2 or 3 noisy flaps of his wings he made it to his destination.  After a few slurps (see extra) he took off again and headed to a neighbours tree where he stayed for about 10 minutes.  What an amazing encounter!  Nature comes calling right here in Suburbia.  This lockdown is bringing all kind of pleasant surprises.

In COVID news, we have 5 more cases today and we lost another older citizen to the disease.  This brings our death toll to 18, far higher than I was thinking.....hoping....we would get to.  I'm sure lots of people were thinking at this morning's ANZAC 'stand' of the health workers who are soldiering on through the COVID [WWIII] war in order to keep us healthy and minimise the threat to our health.  Thank you all, from the very bottom of my heart.