A couple of things have happened in the last few years. The first is the pukeko invading the Waimanu Lagoons where a year or two ago there were none in the lagoons – just a few on the northern side of the river

Would you believe it but we had a mature royal spoonbill – a wading bird – get stuck in the mud. This bird was in the backwater by the weir as the tide was coming in and it was flapping its wing in a desperate attempt to lift off before the tide
became too deep!

My mum thinks I am lovely.
So does my dad.
what do you think?

This is the shag tree on the upper
Waimanu lagoon. See if you can
count how many pied shags are
either nesting or roosting in this
tree.

Bruce’s photos is of an aggressive cob
exerting his authority over a pesky puke.

It was in the 1950s when I first came across a spur -winged plover. The bird had a nest on the river bank amongst the boulders.

This is a story like no other! with a grey teal taking over being a father figure to a brood of mallard ducklings. Chasing away the mallard drake and any other ducks that came near. I might be little but don’t mess with me

The kingfisher had a nest in a hole in the tree trunk and was feeding three young. This kingfisher was a good hunter and had caught one of those very large worms that love wet soil.

We used be a happy family and woe betide anyone who interfered to or became too close, especially the other estuary inhabits. Look at us now, three months on and almost ready to fly away.

Our “Lost Cows of Kapiti” book has reached France!
I hope India our little French lady can read English. However if she can’t it doesn’t matter as she can follow the story through the lovely illustrations by Susan Wildblood.