Illegal Tegel

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.... Bit damp here at present in the Valley, the rain pit-pattering on the zincalume roof seems to be well set in.

Earlier in the day, it may have been nice weather for ducks, but these Kereru didn't seem too keen on the liquid sunshine as they huddled in this Ribbonwood in the garden.

They'd been flapping around the property quite a bit prior to this shot, raiding the almond trees again and having a good go at their sweet leaves. I'm just glad their beaks aren't up to hazelnuts otherwise what's left on our trees (and on the windfall) would have gone the same way as many of our stonefruit this year. These pigeons and our resident bellbirds have been somewhat of a nemesis through the dry summer.

Still, whilst they may not be horticulturally friendly, they do provide us with plenty of entertainment with their marvellous swooping acrobatic displays or the impressive dusk flypast (sometimes with up to 20 birds) into the pine plantation next door. We also love their amazing propensity to sow ngaio trees around the property -thanks to the big ngaio just over our boundary, whose berries provide some favourite tucker- which have in turn given places for silvereyes, bellbirds and grey warblers to nest and bring up their young.

In short, we love these guys.

PS. Thanks to Mario for introducing me to the phrase 'illegal tegel'. For those outside of NZ, Tegel is a local chicken brand and Kereru are a protected species, although they once were a noted delicacy prior to this status being conferred on them.