Gardening, Life at No.22, Snapshots of Tauranga

Snapshots of Tauranga #63 – The Visitor

Suzanne

The dawn chorus, as if serenading, always cheers me along as I reach for the door handle to be amongst it all. It’s a habit I am loath to break and one which drags me back to the here and now if I daydream too long.

One notable difference this week is the presence of a few blackbirds, and one in particular is a constant while I’m in the garden; instead of pitching in and helping, it just loves to sing, serenading me as I move about. While I perhaps are mimicking a flapping clump of cloth, trying to convince said companion that it’s next meal can’t include another worm from our patch of dirt.

Yes, I am inclined to converse with birds that visit while I garden; in return, they sing as we play a game of hop, flap, clap and a few colourful words thrown in for good measure. Still they sing.

Singing is something they love to do, especially in the rain; who knew that a blackbird loved to engage with the rain so musically? I didn’t.

Here are a few words, images from now and around the neighbourhood.

And the preparation of a summer garden begins – September 2026
Claiming a spot of garden
shining coat of jet black
in the morning light.
Above an early tumbling monarch
a beak of gold searching
never within reach.
Strutting along the soil
alert and bold.
A sudden stop, a head cocked low
digging his beak into the soil.
As if mimicking as I toil
I flap about to no avail.
Early riser always gets the worm.
Our resident a juvenile was too quick and I was too dirty to photograph him so here is another one on a moss covered branch taken during winter.

Cover image: The beautiful sacred Kōtare (Kingfisher), and yes, sometimes that is exactly how I feel when a cheeky blackbird visits me while I’m gardening.

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Published by Suzanne

I'm a lover of creativity and movement, expressed through photography, words, travel and sports. . . . . . .

21 thoughts on “Snapshots of Tauranga #63 – The Visitor”

    1. Tomorrow I will sort out some netting until the plants are big enough. Yes, this is a communal garden at the rear of our apartment building. One other person gardens for herself, and I grow herbs for everyone, flowers for the foyer, and vegetables for us.

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        1. Have planted Dahlia, and will today will plat gypsophila, zinnas, cosmos, and salvia. Other bee loving plants are already planted – borage, taller salvia and my favourite echinacea.

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          1. Sounds good. I can’t/won’t grow dahlias and zinnias even though I do like them as the S&S like the even more! And echinacea don’t survive my wet winter though I like them too! Borage self seeds every year – I end up pulling that out a lot and they have deep tap roots, salvias are hit and miss. What’s your soil like?

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            1. Currently, the soil is good with plenty of compost though as soon as we hit a month or two of hot weather it can dry out very fast. Drying to add pea straw into as well as on top of the soil to retain some moisture. During winter most of the garden doesn’t see the sun this area is where I’ve grown rhubarb. Definitely a spring to autumn garden as the south/westerly rips through the back during winter and not a pleasant place to be.
              Borage self seeds, easy to pull out if it annoys me. Echinacea didn’t survive our colder than normal winter so I brought a few more.

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  6. Cute visitor! I tend to talk to birds too Suzanne. And I have a constant one in my garden at the moment. Well, it’s not actually my garden, we’re house sitting on the beach and this resident kookaburra comes every day. Such a treat. Blackbirds too are a delight! Thanks for the smiles. x

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    1. Hi Miriam, I remembered that you were housesitting. It sort of feels like a personal garden when caring for it as well as pets. I enjoy the kookaburra, it’s beautiful looking, quirky with a distinct Aussie sound 😉 x

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  8. I am getting some long conversations between about five Tui currently enjoying the flowers starting to appear in the trees around us. Along with Blackbirds, Sparrows and a few others it makes for a noisy but pleasant environment when I am taking a cuppa break.

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