Well, I’ve been writing a good many blog posts in my head, but haven’t managed to get any onto digital paper yet. Perhaps this one will make it there—we’ll see!
Life has been full. Full and wonderful.
My job working with a disabled girl finished at the beginning of November, and aside from a few trips, I’ve been home ever since. Three people in our family have had medical emergencies in that time, one requiring a three-night stay in the hospital (!), so my time home certainly hasn’t been dull! But there have been some beautiful moments, too.
And one I’d like to share with you today is…the tuis!
Two years ago, the New Zealand native flax bush just outside our dining room window bloomed. We had a profusion of birds come through that year to suck the nectar—tui, bellbird, wax eye, sparrow, starling, just to name a few. It lasted for about a month, and it was the most lovely experience to have the birds feeding within a few feet of where we stand at the windows!
A year ago, I was disappointed that the flax bushes didn’t bloom (still don’t know why; do they have a biannual schedule or something?).
But this year, they are blooming again! And for the most part, the tui have been harvesting them. We have seen the occasional starling, sparrow, or bellbird come through, but the tui have been far and away the most common. Sometimes, we’ll get up to three at once out there, but generally only one. If there are two fairly close together, one or both end up fluffing their feathers out and giving the other a good scolding, which in turn generally sends one or the other away in a hurry!
Notice the orange increasing on their heads as the season progressed? That’s when the flowers opened up more, and the pollen was released.
And then I was able to get a couple pictures of a bellbird!
Here’s a picture of two of them fighting about who gets to stay to eat (even their fighting language is musical, though).
It’s been a lovely experience the past month to get to watch these beautiful birds so close-up. This is one time I’m thankful we have great big bushes fairly close to the house!
Hey Esther,
Great photos 🙂 Tuis are magnificent aren’t they?
One reason your flax might not have flowered last year could be due to winter damage… Any dead and diseased leaves should be chopped out. Another reason could be that they just need to be fed, give them some good ol’ cow pats and mulch, or whatever flax likes…
I don’t know whether it has anything to do with flowering or not, it looks like your flax leaves might have a bit of rust, unless they’re meant to be spotty like that. I don’t know exactly how to treat rust/fungus in flax, but you could try chopping out some middle leaves or reducing the size of the plant to make sure all the leaves are getting good sunshine and air exposure 🙂
Great ideas, thanks. I hadn’t thought about them being damaged in the winter. We’ll see if I get around to doing anything–there are plenty of other things to attend to in the garden that seem more urgent!