Wire Sculptures

Raining this morning.  A friend rang to see if I'd like to accompany her down south a bit to a place that has the wire sculptures.  Incredible workmanship, incredible price tags too.  This lady is so talented as she has also painted the mural behind the elephant.  She has many animals, people, Alice in Wonderland, birds, fairies...big and small.  I've put another one that appealed to me of the old chap sitting on a seat in a shelter waiting for some mode of transport.
I have managed to put a selection of white herons (kotuku) and their chicks in Flickr  - This is the only place in NZ that they breed, and we were told that around eighty breeding pairs are in the colony.  My photos  are nothing spectacular, the bright sunshine made photography very challenging. Here is a little bit about the area and colony....
The White Herons only use the area for breeding so are seen in the reserve over the spring and summer months, usually mid-September until early March. Over the autumn and winter they disperse widely throughout New Zealand and are generally seen as a solitary bird. The population of White Heron in New Zealand is around 150, to see one of these birds is a rare and special sight. To visit their only New Zealand breeding ground is truly unique.
As the White Herons return to the breeding ground in spring (September) from their various wintering spots, they transform into their spectacular breeding plumage. Long, lacy, elegant plumes are grown from their back which they display like peacocks. The beak changes colour from yellow to black and around the eyes a bright emerald/turquoise blue colour develops. Male and female birds look the same, both having plumage. White Herons do not mate for life.
Once a mate is found a loose platform of sticks and twigs is built as a nest.  An average of three eggs is laid and incubation is shared by both parents over a 28 day period. Usually one or two chicks are raised. 
The success of each nesting season can be quite variable depending on the weather and food supply, these factors can vary greatly from year to year. Fish is the main food source e.g. Whitebait, Yellow Eyed Mullet, Flounder, frogs and small eels. Adults take turns at foraging for food, semi-digesting it and regurgitating to the young. Chicks normally fledge the nest at around 8 to 10 weeks of age and from then on have to look after themselves. The young mature at three years of age and that’s when they will return to the nesting site to begin breeding. They will then return every year for an average of 10 years. It is believed they live for an average of 15 years. 

Rainie