Plum blossom and the Invasion of the Tui

The plum tree by our front gate

Every year our ornamental cherries are attacked by noisy and boisterous Tui. In the town, if you see a pair of Tui, you consider it your lucky day; a few days ago we had 17 here in one tree, making a complete mess on the ground as they knocked off every little carmine coloured blossom. The poor tree is bare in no time as the young thugs get drunk on the nectar. That kind of abuse can only be topped by naughty children with chestnut trees during conker season!

Regrettably I had to take the photos on a 48 x zoom lens, and I don't have the steadiest of hands.

This evening we are going for the first time to a quiz night organised by the local community association and held in the Bowling club in our village. Our team mates are our neighbours - we are all originally from the UK, so expect our team will be the glorious losers if all the questions are NZ based. Fingers and toes crossed!