Birds

Early May Pictures

May 25, 2014 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

We’ve had Welcome Swallows around lately. They act and sound a lot like the barn swallows we had in Michigan—I love them!

This is what our milk refrigerator looked like one Saturday evening, after we were given about a dozen ducks, a turkey, and six geese, plus butchered a large lamb! We breasted most of the birds, or there would have been no room for all of them!

Boy # 4 (James) in disguise!

This hen laid her eggs 3 meters (10 feet) up in a pine tree in the hedge! Her eggs hatched while we were on our Timaru trip, and the morning of the day we got home the lady who was doing our chores saw the last one jump out of the tree!

Birds

April 26, 2014 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

One morning we saw this kingfisher right outside!

Esther saw this Yellowhead another day.

And this little fellow lives in the house! He was alone for a few days, until more hatched. Now he has three friends to live with him in the corner of the kitchen.

We were all glad when some more hatched to keep him company, because he would set up such a racket when he wanted attention. He loves to ride on shoulders, but only one person likes it. He leaves “calling cards” behind!

He calls this chick his peregrine falcon!

Shags

August 29, 2012 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

After our hike around the Kaikoura Peninsula Sunday, when we were waiting for Gayle to bring the van back around to pick us up, the children who were with me, and I, were quite amused by the sounds of the shags going to bed in the tree above us. A shag is a large bird that lives along the coast; I think they eat fish. They sleep in trees, and when each one comes in for the night they apparently have to discuss the day! The sounds they make are so funny that I tried to capture them in this video so you can enjoy it, too.