Banded Dot

In the interests of taking it slightly more easy - and spurred on by an email from a friend who works as hard as I do at this time of year, who has just fallen and broken a hip due to exhaustion - Bean and I had a wonderful two hour walk at Bortons Pond today. 

At one point the track takes us within cooee of the Waitaki River, so we had a detour for Bean to splash about and for me to sit on the shingle and soak in the calming sound of running water. 

As we walked back up to the Pond a banded dotterel appeared at the top of the shingle bank, clearly protecting a nest site. The bird popped up and down several times and I managed to get a few shots. 

It was one of those moments when I rued my reluctance (all financial) to get a 'real' camera. My phone captured the moment for sure, but I would love to have got a much higher resolution shot. Still, you get the idea. 

The extras are other photos from the walk. 

Yesterday's cold southerly change which brought rain to my place dumped snow on the local mountain tops, which is an unusual sight in January. You can just make it out in the first extra: my favourite view again.

Cauliflower and blue cheese soup made. Chowchow started. 2.5kg blackcurrants picked.