There have been a few days lately that have felt somewhat 'spring-like', probably because it is almost spring-time. Recent weather has been relatively mild, which isn't to say we won't get another wintry blast sometime soon. As has been stated elsewhere, New Zealand weather, and especially that in these parts, is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get!

Anyway it's nice to see a few daffodils in bloom, as in the above picture (well, actually just two in that one). And the photo below shows a tui I passed on my recent Saturday morning walk. The song of tui in the trees when one goes walking in Tawa is not at all uncommon, though not always quite so easy to spot them in thick foliage. Their sound is quite distinctive, not necessarily the most musical, but special nevertheless as they're a bird 'peculiar' to New Zealand - and more frequent in Tawa than they were just a few years ago. - Malcolm Sparrow