Day 33, Level 1: Auckland stint, Time, Tui and Bellbirds/Korimako

This is my 232nd post - one a day since just prior to lockdown. I still haven't missed a day!

I'm missing being at Omaha - I've now done 14 days straight in Auckland (since ! I'm unlikely to get back up to the beach until the 18th - which will mean 22 days in the city. I've had something on every day - work, function, meeting, etc - that has kept me here. I could have gone up for a night or two here at one point but it just wasn't worth it - or the weather was just too bad. Oh well, I'll enjoy it when I get up there again! Meanwhile, putting my Auckland stint to good use ... it's definitely easier to do some of the grunty editing and writing work that I've been doing over the past week on my desktop at home rather than laptop. So that's a bonus of being here.

I spent much of the day editing articles for the Omaha Summer Newsletter - so that kept me in touch with Omaha from my office! There are so many things going on in the area and it just goes from strength to strength. The committee is a very dedicated team of people doing really good things and getting traction and action on everything from new cycleways and paths to enhancing nature and protecting the environment, as well as ensuring security and services. 

I suspect one day they'll try to twist my arm to join them - no more committees! I've been on a committee or Board or whatever for virtually all my adult life. In 2010 I said "no more, ever". I was spent and vowed that I would never go on another committee ever again. In 2011 I was on one - and am now Co-President of it! And of course I'm on other too ... I like to contribute and aim to make a difference. 

Some committee members are active, vocal and valuable. Some love to be controversial but end up wasting time and energy, some do it for personal kudos and a gong. Others come along for the ride, say nothing and do even less! Why!?!?

Tonight I chaired a Zoom meeting and it was efficient and productive. As I've said before, I much prefer Zoom meetings - business done, no travel, good engagement. It was a good job today too that we didn't have to congregate in a meeting room - a massive thunder storm started just before the meeting. Zoom was peppered with the sound of thunder and heavy rain, depending who was talking or off mute. A huge lightning flash flicked across the black sky just as I opened the meeting. By the end of the meeting, and hour and a half later, the storm had passed. 

Dinner was leftover Toad in the Hole from last night - and some more veges - including mushy peas with some sriracha sauce and olive oil. It was even better than last night. I do love a good battery Yorkshire pud! The sausages were honey, rosemary, lamb. A little trip down the English memory lane ... Toad in the Hole dates back to the 18th century. 

It got really quite cold tonight - resorted to putting the heating on for a short time!

And after that mini-tempest that passed through earlier - it's as calm as anything as midnight approaches!

When tidying my office the other day I came across a note I'd written some time ago - about time. I've reworked it a little as it was a bit clunky ...

TIME
Sometimes a minute drags on like an hour, and an hour flies by in a minute.
Waiting for tomorrow today can seem interminable, but the next day will pass all too quickly.
Next year can seem so very far away, yet in a jiffy it's New Year's Eve.
In youth, with a whole life ahead, time seems irrelevant.
But as the decades disappear, time is to be savoured.
Every moment matters and every day counts.
Right now is the youngest you'll ever be. Make the most of it.

As we get older, time seems to fly even faster than ever. I heard an interesting concept the other day - when you're young, you have less years and less context to map. 

If you're 12, then one year is 1/12th of your life.

When you're older, say 60, the fraction is 1/60th - which makes a year so much more miniscule in comparison, in the great scheme of things. 

It's all relative to the length of time we've been on this planet.

As an analogy ... one centimetre is a reasonable chunk of one metre. But that same measure disappears into insignificance when compared with 10 metres. And even less when part of 100m.

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Tui and Bellbird/Korimako ...

Beautiful birds - and there are more than around than ever, thanks to lockdown and the more gentle pace of life that has followed it, especially the Tui.

Today when I was hanging out some washing, a Tui was hopping along the spouting above the washing line (which sits under the eaves). He was leaning right over me and I could see his throat tuft wobbling just above me. He was intent on looking at the hedge beyond me, neck stretched out and eyes alert. He didn't seem to notice I was there (I was very still, observing it like a good ornithologist!) otherwise he would have flown away. He wasn't singing as his focus was on something else, food perhaps, but my heart was singing, to see one up so very close. I wish I'd had my phone on me to take a quick pic - but I don't take my phone with me to hang out washing! Even though I was expecting a phone call - which invariably does come through when I'm hanging out washing! It didn't today.

Tuis swoop around the trees here in Auckland, but rarely do they come that close that you could touch them and certainly not for as long as I observed my little friend. 

At Omaha the trees are packed with Tui and on a walk to the beach you can see many of them. They flit through the trees and make a bit of a racket. They're not very friendly and will fly off if you get too close. It's not easy to take a photo of them.

Indi likes to eye them up as they are a frenetic sort of bird and interesting to watch. I haven't seen her catch one - she daren't!! 

The Tui and Bellbird (aka Korimako) are of the honeyeater family. Both songbirds.

Tui have a complex variety of songs and calls and can be trained to replicate complex speech, much like parrots. They have a noisy and unusual call that often contains clicks and cackles and wheezing. This is on account of their sound-producing organ, the syrinx. The throat tuft throbs when they make sound - and even when they're not. Their frenetic movement of observation and alertness makes that little tuft wobble uncontrollably!

Apparently they sing at night, especially around the Full Moon. I'm not sure I've heard one but I'll listen out now that I know this (upon doing a bit of tui research for writing this!)

The other thing I love about the tui is its colour - look at the iridescent turquoise in the wings and green in the head. And the neck feathers looked etched on by an artist! A bird of beauty, that's for sure. Especially up close.

Here is the most wonderful photo of a tui - this will be appearing in the Omaha Newsletter. Taken by the committee treasurer's wife. Stunning. 

Tui

Here's a photo of a Tui I found online that shows the tuft a bit better. This one looks a little perturbed and hunched, whereas the one above looks alert and poised. Both have the gorgeous iridescent feathers that I love so much.

 

And then there is the Korimako - more common in the South Island but also across the North. What a sweet sound they make - extraordinary forest song. They're a honeyeater like the Tui, but also feed on fruits and insects. I remember the Bellbird song from my childhood, especially in Wellington when staying with my Nana in Lower Hutt and visiting her friends up in the hills. No one called it Korimako in those days - it's only recently that native birds are being called by their native names, I love it. They also have a "Bird of the Year" public vote - it's a great way to profile our native birds - and their Maori names.

Hearing these birds sing is pure joy and reminds me of those days in the Hutt hills.

Bellbird/Korimako (this one also taken by the treasurer's wife)

This one from the internet - they're a lovely olive green/ochre colour - a small and sweet native songbird that is a joy to listen to

Here's a link to a short video of a chorus of Korimako singing their hearts out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7iwTJf4jBc

And here's a close-up clip of a very vocal Tui  - much more animated and varied.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueqTb88fdgw