Tui on kowhai

Late afternoon at Otari Native Botanic Garden in spring - pretty colourful given that the colours of NZ native plants are generally quite muted.  The textures and shapes of the grasses, shrubs and trees add interest too, here in a small corner looking beyond to Wilton's Bush and regenerating growth on the hills.

The golden kowhai flowers are profuse, and they attract a lot of agile and noisy tui hungry for the nectar.  Images of tui on kowhai in bloom are a bit of a cliche, but still an engaging sight.  This one was very active, but in a moment between drinks was still enough to display its bright eyes, white collar feathers and neck tuft, and the lovely blue green iridescent sheen of the otherwise black-looking feathers.

Then it was back to work, stretching its neck up to sip the nectar from the base of a kowhai flower...

What's this then?  Was it the click of the shutter, or other tui approaching - the tui was on alert again.

Seen from below the white neck tuft and collar feathers do suggest a clerical collar - early European settlers called it the Parson Bird.  But I think tui lack the seriousness which that name suggests - for me they are great entertainers even though they are just going about their lives. 

Eyes to the skies (still!) - spring weather watch

Spring is delivering its very changeable weather and the fierce equinoxial winds which are particularly tough on soft new plant growth.  People feel battered by the wind too, but at least we have a pleasurable way of trying to read the weather.  Looking to the sky we can see the drama of the ever-shifting clouds.

A long white lenticular cloud glowing over Wellington harbour tells us that there are fast winds in action.

And a golden halo hovers above a hill by Owhiro Bay on Wellington's south coast - a pink sunset and a promise of a fine day to come.  No matter how frustrating I find the weather at this time of year, I am energised quite simply by looking up to the spectacle of the sky.

After the storm - a different drama

The storm is over - the winds have settled and the sea is calm.  Last night, high cloud had not yet cleared.  And another drama unfolded.

Golden light as the sun sets behind the hills of the south coast, seen from Princess Bay and looking towards Island Bay in the distance.  Sunbeams like this are called crepuscular rays because they are typically seen at dawn or dusk (crepusculum is Latin for twilight) when the contrast between dark and light is most obvious.  I knew, when I saw the blanket of high cloud, that there would be more colour in the sky as the sun set further.  And there was...

A wider view, looking towards the South Island.  The silhouette of Taputeranga is in the middle distance, the South Island glimpsed in the distant haze.  A much more delightful drama than the storms.

Pink before the storm

Yesterday morning's soft spring sunrise - so pretty.  But close behind, a southerly storm...

Pastel colours over the hills behind Owhiro Bay on Wellington's south coast.  Down on the coast, the silhouetted South Island could be seen framed by the darker clouds and tints of the storm front, which brought gales and heavy rain a few hours later.  Pink morning skies often seem to fit the "red sky in the morning shepherds' warning" weather prediction.  Spring, changeable weather, dynamic skies - there is a lot of energy around!   

In the pink - despite the weather

Wind and rain do not deter the spring flowers - here the slightly crumpled soft pink blossom of the dwarf almond tree "Garden Prince" - a very early spring delight.

And here the much thicker petalled magnolia flowers, still elegant and sumptuous despite the elements.

Bruised petals squashed against a branch, a petal lost - but the weather damage allows us to glimpse inside the flower to see the jewel-like conical receptacle.  And the sky is blue again.

A glorious messy profusion - kowhai blooms

The curious looking brown buds are bursting out in glorious golden yellow - food for the tui and for the eyes of the winter-weary.  The tightly clustered flowers dangle in great profusion, lit from the side by the late afternoon light.

Kowhai come in different shapes and sizes - from small shrubs with divaricating branches to good-sized trees.  The flowers are also varied - long and elegant, short and stubby, golden or lemony-yellow, in large clusters or small groups, shaded by the compound leaves or on bare branches before leaves open. 

We don't have many native plants that put on such a bright display so they are particularly welcome.  It is barely early spring and their bright sunny appearance, harmonising with early narcissus (not native), is a lovely harbinger of golden days to come. 

These ones are growing in the grounds of our Parliament buildings.  Now, if only the politicians would sweeten and soothe themselves on the sight and nectar of this lovely plant - maybe some more grounded and sustainable decisions would be made!

Furry brown buds - kowhai, not kiwi fruit

More often pictured in glorious golden flower - kowhai is the Maori word for yellow - this kowhai tree bore tangles of soft brown buds, framed by emerging leaves. 

They are seen at an unusual angle - I looked up into the tree and saw the late afternoon sun lighting up this curious sight.  I, and the tui, look forward to these buds bursting.

From earthquakes to volcano territory - pahoehoe - "ropy" lava

Here I am in Auckland for a brief visit.  Coming in from the airport along a leisurely scenic route to enjoy aspects of the Manukau Harbour we passed what used to be oxidation ponds (500 hectares!) used for treating sewage - now being rehabilitated, with extensive native plantings on the affected shoreline (13km!) already looking great.  I had no idea they had been so extensive.  The Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant now uses land-based technology (reactor clarifiers and ultraviolet filtration) which takes only 13 hours to process the wastewater.  That is a great development for all kinds of environmental and cultural reasons.

Further along the shoreline, on Kiwi esplanade near the Mangere bridge, there was another surprise.

The still waters of the Manukau - it is a sheltered harbour, with fine mud rather than sand along the shore - but the bright and contrasty noon light revealed some ridges, fissures and lumps.

It doesn't take long to be reminded that New Zealand is a geologically active place.  These dark rocks and ridges are volcanic rock - lava flows from nearby Mangere mountain.  There is a Hawaiian term describing a type of lava flow with a surface that has a ropy appearance - it develops where very fluid lava has continued to flow beneath a flexible crust, which twists and wrinkles into ridged shapes.

It is called pahoehoe.  It is slightly obscured by the mud, but I can still imagine the dark lava flow buckling and ridging - like the images of active Hawaiian lava fields that are so dark and dramatic.

And these dark rocks are scoria.  I am more accustomed to seeing scoria in Auckland - which is, after all, built on a dormant volcanic field of monogenetic (they erupt only once) volcanoes.  Scoria has a vesicular appearance from gas bubbles, whereas the smoother lava rock which you can see in the background was not gas-charged.  Glasswort, which I have described in other posts, is growing on this not-very hospitable base. 

Leaving the shakes behind, I am reminded of other aspects of the awesome activity of this earth.

Rain, shine, and repeat

Changeable weather means lots of interesting skies.  A rainbow had just faded last night and the golden pink glow seemed to light the heavy clouds over Island Bay.

But the colours quickly paled to soft pinky greys over the calm waters of the bay.

Today more showers, then sun, then rain - and another rainbow.

A midafternoon break in the weather, but the clouds suggest more rain to come.  Rainbows are often welcomed as a sign that the rain is breaking.  But when I think of the dry period in summer I realise that the rainbow message is welcome both ways - that rain has happened and that the sun will shine.

Chaenomeles - pink harbingers of spring

Glowing in the soft light of late afternoon, flowers that were very popular in Victorian gardens...

No longer fashionable but pretty and tough - Chaenomeles, still sometimes called "japonicas".  It is officially only late winter, but already flowers are clustered along the slender bare branches.  The shrubs generally have a rather tangled appearance, even when they leaf out.  In autumn they have large fruits that look a bit like quinces - so another name for these plants has been "Japanese quince".  Plants grown in gardens are generally hybrids, and the species are not only from Japan, despite the popular names. 

The clear pink of these pretty flowers is a foretaste of the bright light colours of spring.

The days are longer, the sunlight seems stronger.  Spring is definitely in the air - more happy days ahead!