The lyrics of this well-known song date back to the 1940s for the film adaptation of “Pinocchio” and begin…….
”When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you”
By Ned Washington, Leigh Harline.
Here are the emerging, delicate white star flowers on the garlic chives. They look good enough to make a wish on.
My wishes for more native birds appearing in my garden have continued to come true this week. Another slight thud on a window heralded the sight of another (or the same) Shining Cuckoo that I blogged about here.
This time the wee bird was ready to fly away very quickly. These Cuckoos migrate in autumn to various Pacific Islands such as New Caledonia and the Solomon’s. The navigation skills they possess to achieve that journey are impressive. Their ability to avoid window panes in New Zealand is not so good.
Earlier today I heard a bird noise that sounded foreign to me. It was a high pitched squeaking sound that was rather persistent. Then late this afternoon the sound was much closer and I discovered a mature Tui and its very newly fledged youngster in the Tulip Magnolia near the sugar water feeder.
By the time I came outside with the camera the birds had flown. However the insistent squeaking noise was not far away and I found the fledgling again in the Mahoe tree in the tall tree area of our garden.
It is a splash of light near the throat of this young bird not its wattles.
The parent bird flew off as I crept closer but my eye was caught by another fledgling bumbling about in the variegated Griselinia.
It would seem that the adult birds have bought their twins to my garden to feast on the Mahoe berries and with the sugar feeder not far away. Or better still they have nested here and raised these young.
It is almost impossible to gain clear images as the wee birds wisely remain amongst the thick foliage up high in the trees. Neither of these fledglings have wattles and their yellow edged beaks were still visible to my eye as they moved about the branches. Their agility has yet to develop and some of their feathers had a downy look still. They are very newly out of the nest.
And in further exciting bird news please link here to Toya’s blog where she has posted about her amazing successes at Zealandia over the past two days. Her photos of the Stitchbirds and today the Eastern Rosella feeding its four hungry babies are simply stunning and very informative and special.
ordinarygoodness 
Beautiful starry chive flower, and how exciting to have the fledgling tuis. Maybe the bees are missing but you are not lacking in bird life. 🙂
We’ve had some good soaking rain so perhaps the chive flower will fully emerge now. It is very pretty and quite different to the pink balls on the ordinary chives.
You are correct about the abundance of bird life in the garden. I saw a small wax eye last evening. They have been” on holiday” for ages but perhaps as autumn creeps a little closer they will be back too in numbers.
Yes, the garlic chive flower is very different from the normal chive. It is probably just as tasty in a salad though.
It does have a subtle garlic flavour which is nice. Do you grow garlic chives?
I haven’t done. I haven’t even got regular chives this year. 😦
🙂
You have me very curious now as to where all these shining cuckoos are. I might have to come visit them with my camera! Thanks for the link to my site 🙂
We live near the Quarterdeck Lookout in Whitby. In our 25 years here I have heard the shining cuckoos but these two birds on the ground having bumped into our house windows are my first sighting. I had noted grey warblers in the garden for the past two years and wonder if they have nested here. I’ll message you on your FB page with our exact address. It would be lovely to meet you and share bird tails…no tales:-)
There had been discussion recently about brightly coloured birds at the top of Adventure Drive so I plan a reccie up that way. They may be Eastern Rosellas or perhaps Kakariki…Mana Island is not so far away as the parrot flies.
How wonderful that your garden has become a tui nursery!
Thanks Ruth. It was thrilling to see them but I think they were just visiting as there has been no squeaking noises today. Perhaps we are known as a child-friendly pit-stop!!! I hope they are taking shelter from this blustery southerly today. I suspect they will visit the feeder in a week or so but I doubt I will be able to recognise them:-(
I have just heard the squeaking Ruth so perhaps they do live here in the garden…..it is exciting!
I can imagine your ears will be alert, tuned for that squeaking.
Yes, happily on high alert and I could find one fledgling in the Mahoe tree and a parent has visited while I was outside. Fingers crossed the other fledgling is either nearby or out with the other parent bird.
Lovely shot of the shining cuckoo, and it sounds as if a tui nest must be nearby.
Thank you. It was a real treat to actually see this lovely songster. I hope no more shining cuckoos fly into our windows and the parent Tui has nearly hit a window this afternoon. Perhaps the strong wind is causing it some bother as it leaves the tree after feeding the young one.
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Reblogged this on Tuis in my garden and commented:
Feb 2014