Yesterday, I was walking in front of the Miramar Christian School (across the road from Weta Cave) when I heard a bird warble that sounded like a tui, one of our native birds. I looked up into the branches of a pohutakawa tree (our national tree) and, sure enough, there was a beautiful tui bird. They are a dark shiny blue/black colour with a white tuft at the throat. At a quick glance, they could be mistaken for a common and garden blackbird. You don't often see or hear them in the city.
My cup runneth over because not only was I looking up at a tui but the pohutakawa tree was in bloom.
In bloom? At the beginning of October?
Legend has it that if the tree flowers before Christmas then New Zealand is going to have a great summer. In Wellington, we sort of do cartwheels if the pohutakawa tree flowers in early December. And here it was flowering already! I was thrilled.
Sorry, the sun was shining through the tree, it didn't make for a very good picture. I went back today to look at the tree, and two tuis were there.
No comments:
Post a Comment