Birds on a nature walk and a bird nest.

The birds are very busy at the moment here in New Zealand. It feels like I am surrounded by birds all the time. I am lucky to have a wetland walk just around the corner from where I live. On one walk the other day I got lots of new great pictures and even saw 2 new bird species.

Black Swan. They feel very exotic since I am used to the white ones. So cute to watch the small chicks.

Tui. These were difficult to get any decent photo of as they prefer to sit behind branches. I have to wait for the Flaxseed to bloom so that they will come out in the open to feed on the nectar.

Great Teal. This was the first time I saw this small duck. Easy to recognise with those red eyes. When they fly they have a teal coloured part on their wing, just like the mallard.

Sacred Kingfisher. I see a Kingfisher almost every time I take this route, so there must be a pair living by this pond/river.

Great Teals and a Pied stilt.

Fantail. These are almost totally impossible to photograph. They move around so fast and they never sit still for more than half a second... They are super cute though, and totally unafraid. They actually seem to like humans, as we stir up insects while walking. They will fly around you and up to you, and this one almost landed on my photo lens!

Australian coot. I saw no coots with chicks yet, but many that seemed to gather building material, so I'm guessing that the chicks are coming soon...

Silvereye/Waxeye. Not the best photo of this bird, but it looked so nice feeding on insects amongst the cherry blossom.

Australasian shoveler. Another new bird species for me. He was quite far away so the photo is a little blurry. But good enough for me to identify the bird.

New Zealand dabchick. It has a very angry bird look on its face...

Then we come to some exciting news. The blackbird I told you about last time that was building a nest somewhere nearby? Well, today I saw Mr blackbird bring some worms to his lady and I paid close attention to where he went. And there it was, behind the rose bush in my garden.

4 eggs. They are so used to me by now that I will be able to go and take a photo once a week without spooking them too much. I will keep you updated with the progress!