Their rock

Saturday. Holiday weekend. All the Auckland based family with us at the beach house. So of course it was totally overcast and raining most of the morning. No Saturday sunrise to be seen. That it became daylight showed that the sun was above the horizon. Holiday weekend broke the drought, of course. And what better way to have a relaxing weekend than have two small boys cooped up inside.

Yesterday I had told the boys we would go bird watching, if the tide was right, and the weather allowed it. By mid afternoon, both the tide and the weather were right, and the three of us headed down to the beach. We walked out, and out, and out, until we could see the birds in the shallow water. Through lots of mudflat, weed covered sand, and pools of water. Great fun for three two boys.

Got close enough to get some photos of ducks and heron. Then squelched our way back to the rocks at the point separating Snell Beach from "our beach". There I spotted these three tara (White-fronted Terns; Sterna striata). I have often seen three and occasionally four sitting on this rock. Normally, they fly before I get very close. Today, they stayed while we approached, while I took some pictures (this one the best), and still stayed as we left. They were still there when last I looked.

Best seen large .

Mr H was keen to take some photos of birds. Anxious about the camera dropping in the water, I waited until we were on rocks, near where a heron was feeding. He took a few pictures. I have put on blipfolio a picture of the two boys and the heron Mr H had just taken a picture of.

We then went on to our beach where Young L took the camera, and got a number of interestingly angled pictures of rocks, a dog and its people, and some oyster catchers.

A bit further along we came across a channel through rocks down which water was flowing from a pool left behind by the retreating tide. Mr H decided to dam the flow. The next half hour was spent in great concentration and happiness making and strengthening two dams of rocks and sand. The boys were able to observe the way that they could create a storage area in one place with their dam, and in the other make the flow divert off to the side down a different channel.

Then the rain returned and we retreated back to the beach house.