Saturday 15 February 2014

Pukawa's Quail.

It has been a disastrous breeding season for the quail as the early part of season had frequent showers of rain, probably the biggest killer of young chicks. There have been some quite big clutches hatched but even walking across wet grass is enough to kill them, once wet they become cold and quickly die. A stoat was seen in the settlement chasing behind young chicks before grabbing one. If only we knew how to catch stoats but they seem so hard to target. Nature can be so unkind.

Changing Seasons.

We seemed to wait a long time for really nice Summer days and as usual it happened after the schools went back. The temperatures have not reached anything like last Summer with some quite cool nights, 6 &7 degrees. Perhaps this explains while there are signs of Autumn now, Autumn flowering crocus and naked lady lillies in bud. The biggest shock is to see Autumn cloured leaves on the Liquid Amber trees in the car park at Turangi. Some camellias are budding up too so we need to make the most of every sunny day.