Tūī Takeover - tūī chicks growing up in the garden

I always enjoy spending the quiet of the Christmas - New Year break in Pukerua Bay. People leave the cities and suburbs for holiday spots, leaving us to enjoy a laid back week or so in our little suburban village. The bonus this year has been settled warm weather so I'm spending more time relaxing in our wild garden. On Christmas Eve while pottering around in the garden, I was startled by loud, insistent cheeping. Looking for the source, I found myself face to face with a tūī fledgling.

Tūī fledgling

The fledgling hopped around from plant to plant, making an occasional fluttering attempt, but as its wings weren't really developed it fluttered lower and lower until it was on the ground. I thought it wouldn't live through the night -  last year we lost two tūī chicks to neighbours' cats - but Cheepy (as she/he soon came to be called) was still there the next day and the next.

Matching Birds to their Beaks - activity for children

I've been reading 'Whose Beak is This?' and 'Whose Feet are These?' to audiences in schools and libraries. It's interesting to see which birds children already know well enough to guess it from its beak, or which animals are easy to guess from their feet. This has to be the easiest!


Beaks are amazing adaptations to the environment and the food birds eat. There are beaks for nectar sipping, beaks for shellfish digging, beaks for fishing and so on. If you pay close attention to the ones in the book, you could then guess what food is eaten by a bird with a similar shape beak. For example, bellbirds (korimako) have a similar curved beak to a tui and they are also nectar eaters.

Beak Matching Activity

Make a Kaka Mask - beaky fun

Kākā play a role in my book 'Whose Beak is This?' illustrated by Fraser Williamson. To celebrate its publication Fraser created a super kākā mask. Print it out on A3 paper to fit a child's face. See the instructions below.

These children added feathers to their masks
at Storylines in Dunedin in 2016

When it's Raining - Kiwi Book Corner Craft

While it's great to be outdoors with kids, on some rainy, wintery days it's good to be inside. Sometimes, too, it's fun to follow up outdoor observations with indoor activities. Here's a fun idea that I tried out recently at the Storylines Family Days in Dunedin and Christchurch.

Kiwi Book Corners
These cute origami kiwi hold the place in your book.

Kiwi book corners

Return to Blue Lake - More Blue Ducks

Last month I returned to Blue Lake. I'd visited the lake a year ago and blogged about it in Trouble In Paradise after witnessing an attempted attack on an endangered blue duck or whio by a rat. I'd told my tramping companions about the blue ducks we'd sighted last time, so we had high expectations of seeing some beautiful whio again - and we were hoping not to have a repeat of the rat incident!

Mountains and clouds reflected in Blue Lake