A Visit from Ruru: owl inspiration

Ruru in my garden

A few weeks ago I heard a commotion in the garden - the blackbirds were complaining, it sounded like they were giving another bird a good telling off. I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. That's when I saw a ruru sitting on a branch having its daytime nap. The owl didn't seem at all bothered by the blackbirds and eventually they gave up and moved into another part of the garden. 

I've heard ruru or morepork at night - their distinctive call echoes in the gully nearby - but I never imagined they might be hunting in our garden. These owls hunt wētā, moths, cicadas, small birds such as silver eyes, rats and mice. They need large trees with holes or cavities for their nests. We have some large trees but I don't know if any would be large enough for them to nest in.

There's something about their large eyes and piercing stare that is slightly unnerving, even when they are sleepy like this one. Meeting this ruru inspired me to write a little haiku.

Kids Writing About Nature - and some tips for parents

Last year I ran some writing workshops with local children for Porirua Harbour Trust. I introduced the children to the idea of writing poems that could take on the shape of what they are writing about.
Here are some of their Raindrop poems:

From "The Current 2" Porirua Harbour Trust 2019

This kind of poetry is called Concrete Poetry.  It doesn't have to have a line around it, the words can be placed to make the shape, like this:

A concrete poem about a pied stilt