Got my eye on you!

Interesting day. We spent last night in the apartment so I could be easily on time for an appointment at the hospital. All went well, even though no more answers than I had made up for myself. Got back to the apartment to find the two lads with Granny. Mr H with a temperature and Young L wanting to catch up with the tsukens who had all gone off to play mini golf.

I took him and we all met up. The mini golf was indoors in an area vacated by the now defunct Borders bookstore. There were three rooms, each with six holes. The theme of the first was World War I (don't know why); the second room had dinosaurs; the third was NZ bush fauna and flora. The quirks of the holes were fun. Tsuken and his family made up a foursome (the maximum number for a group), so Young L and I went along as a twosome.

He started very well, and with pretty good concentration managed to sort out the best approaches and execute his shots pretty well. The last half, he paid more attention to his cousins, and made more mistakes. Still managed a reasonable score for a just six year old.

Back to the apartment for an hour or so, before we headed north again. The tide was nearly fully out so tsuken and I went bird hunting. Perhaps the wind was too discouraging (the aftermath of a tropical cyclone), because there were relatively few birds around.We did see an Australasian Gannet soaring, swooping and diving into the water of Kawau Bay. I managed one or two distant photos of it in the air, and managed to miss every attempt at getting it plunging into the water.

Headed home via the Highfield Garden Reserve, where I anticipated seeing a muscovy duck pair. This was the best photo of the photogenic couple.

The Muscovy duck doesn’t come from Moscow as the name implies, and is almost as much a goose as a duck. It originated in South America and is a distinct species. The name is a corruption of ‘Musk Duck,’ from a supposed musky odour emitted by the drake. It has also been known as the Brazilian duck.
    The Muscovy is a large bird; the drake is much bigger than the duck and almost twice the weight of drakes of the Mallard-derived breeds. It is powerfully built with long wings and tail, and it flies well.
   

Its feet are equipped with strong sharp toenails, and the fleshy red ‘caruncles’ which adorn the face – especially in the male – give it a misleadingly fierce appearance. In fact, the Muscovy is actually a quiet, easily-managed breed, and a prolific producer of excellent ducklings for eating. It ranges in colour from black, through shades of blue to pure white.