Almost on cue, the local kowhai trees have started flowering in the first week of September, marking the official arrival of spring. Flocks of tui can now be seen around our neighbourhood, enjoying the nectar from the bright yellow kowhai flowers.
Our two kowhai trees are still budding, so they are probably a couple of weeks away from being ready for the tui. Today, I decided it was time to go on a tui hunt.
Of course, I dragged my husband along too. We drove around our neighbourhood looking for a kowhai tree with a good number of tui feeding in it.
Finding the Tui
We eventually found a flowering kowhai tree across the road from the local high school. Fortunately, it was Sunday, so there wasn’t much traffic to disturb the birds.
This meant I was able to get reasonably close to the tui while they were busy feeding on the kowhai nectar. They were completely focused on the flowers and seemed happy to ignore me.
At one point, however, I took one step too close.
One tui squawked an alarm, and suddenly the whole flock took flight. They moved to another nearby tree, leaving me in no doubt that I had crossed their invisible boundary.
Giving the Tui Some Space
I backed off and waited.
Almost immediately, the tui flew back to the kowhai and continued feeding. They didn’t seem particularly bothered by my presence, but there was clearly a limit to how close I could get.
From that point onwards, I respected their space and stayed at a comfortable distance. In return, the tui allowed me to watch them feeding and gave me the opportunity to capture some photographs.
It was a lovely way to welcome the beginning of spring. The flowering kowhai, the sound of tui calls and the sight of these beautiful native birds feeding on the nectar are all wonderful reminders that the seasons are changing.
And while our own kowhai trees aren’t quite ready yet, I’ll be keeping an eye on them. Hopefully, it won’t be long before the tui discover them too.
All the images in this post were taken using my Lumix G9II using my Leica 100-400mm lens. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact me through my website, or follow along on Facebook or Instagram.