An unusual visitor …..

….. ….. ….. to the Wakatipu Basin area; a Caspian tern.

The tern flew back and forwards, swooping and calling, over Missy & me as we were walking along the north side of Lake Hayes this morning. With the help of Blipper ‘flying’ I realised that it’s probably nesting and wanted us out of the way! It was an amazing sight. I’ve only ever seen these birds at the beaches near Christchurch, and hadn’t realised that they nest on our inland rivers and lakes.

I was wishing that ‘flying’s’ and my dear friend Maureen, mpp26, was still here, so I could chat to her about it. Terns were her favourite birds. Almost immediately a Red Admiral butterfly appeared and flew all around me. That’s exactly what happened when ‘flying’ and I were on our way up to Glenorchy a little over a year ago. We’d been talking about Maureen, she’d not long before died so tragically, and a Red Admiral butterfly flew around us and landed on us.

Strange but wonderful. There’s a photo of today’s Red Admiral in Extras.