While out in the wetland in early November I stumbled upon a hawks nest. I was clearing around the trees we had planted prior to our trip to Italy and was most surprised when a adult hawk burst out of the grass leaving a nest of 3 eggs. I took a few quick shots and carried on with my work. Shortly afterwards the adult returned. This was on the 11/11/11 and on the 3/12/11 I found 2 chicks and one egg. Since then I’ve monitored them every few days watching them slowly grow.  The adults have been surprisingly receptive and always returned after each visit. I was very concerned for there well being today as we have had so much rain and thought they might be flooded out but was pleasantly surprised that they were high and dry.

We were so relieved when we spotted our freshly fledged fantails in the garden this morning. What was more remarkable was that they had all survived considering the strong winds during the week. This fantail blog has taught us much about the life of these little birds in our environment here at Driftwood Ecotours. We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we have.

We had a wonderful day touring the Kaikoura Eastcoast, Ure Valley. This is the area that Will lived and farmed for twenty years.

We stopped of at the high country hut for a picnic lunch and were treated to the song of the shining cuckoo, a spectacular bird. Also bell bird chicks.

We were in search of the illusive blue duck or whio and had a lovely short walk at the Ure River, one of Marlborough’s most popular walking spots.

No sign of Blue Duck but we did enjoy the flora on display at the towering limestone bluffs. In particular heliohebe hulkeana, a native flower that has purple flower sprays that hang down in fragrant drifts.

We finished with a delicious meal of fresh scallops at the East Coast Inn. Great day in Marlborough!