Tūī drinking nectar

Yesterday, I was watching huge bumblebees on sage plants in one of the vegetable beds in the garden — the mauvey-blue flowers really do bring bees into the garden — and I noticed one of the flower heads of a nearby flax plant was starting to open. I thought, won’t be long before I have bumblebees and tūī  in close proximity. And, just like that …

The tūī in my garden are going nuts, drinking nectar by the beak-full, diving through the garden at speed as they chase each other from tree to tree and showing off tumbling acrobatic skills. This morning at daybreak, I watched a tūī scratching around the ground. That’s odd because I rarely see them on the ground. Then it flew off with a beak crammed with straw and twigs I presume for a nest. Whoa! A nest full of baby tūī to look forward to. That’s pretty exciting. They are extraordinarily beautiful birds. Watch the videos below.