Baby Bellbird

It's been a day of newborns today, with one of my hens, Jemima, finally emerging from the undergrowth with a clutch of wee chicks - 9 to be exact! Although I'm not short of chickens, I was actually pleased to see the new additions after the sudden death yesterday of Anastasia (the punky looking hen from a previous blip) at the hands of our spaniel cross house guest Ruby. I can hardly blame Ruby as with her gun dog breedings she's got gathering fowl deep in her DNA. It's just sad that she managed to pick out one of my favourite bantams as prey...

Today's blip features one of the property's residents that isn't domesticated. Over the last day I've heard a near constant chirping from the ngaio opposite the backdoor that got me curious.As I wrote last week the bellbirds seem to be more prominent around the garden, so I was thrilled to see this baby bellbird sitting high in amongst the dense foliage of the tree. I think he hasn't got his flying wings yet, he seems to be content hopping around the ngaio top and the nearby flax getting sustenance from nectar and berries.

Going back to the fowls, now that Jemima has been relocated to the nursery (or to be more accurate, an old dog run that has been chicken wired within an inch of its life to prevent stoat predation) I hope to grab some more pictures of the clutch over the next few days. Stay tuned for fluffy cuteness once more...