Progress of a Wellington garden

21 Jan '07 6:29 am

Wellington Harbour from the deck .They built the deck around the tree fern .The NZ Parliament and the business area are on the distant shore .All the lights can't really be seen in the photo ,but a city at night is beautiful.
Dixie

21 Jan '07 12:01 pm

Hi, Dixie-

The pictures were great! Flynn is SO cute (but then I love all dogs!)! And I can just imagine seeing the sign about the penguins! But I didn't know there were blue ones. I thought all penguins were black; are they really BLUE blue?

Here, we have a frog crossing on the new freeway, so the frogs can migrate in spring to their mating marshes on the other side of the highway. There's an underpass so the critters can get safely across. Frogs are becoming endangered here and nobody yet knows why. Seems that most amphibians are in the same plight; some have blamed it on too much ultraviolet light getting through the ozone layer and affecting them, since they have no hair or feathers to protect them. Another problem could be introduced bullfrogs, which eat the other, native ones. But nobody really knows!

Keep posting the pictures!

-gordonf

21 Jan '07 1:55 pm

You are a very caring person Gordon ,to care about the creatures we share our world with .Very interesting about the frogs -they seem to be declining here too as the swamps are drained and built on .
There are several varieties of penguins .The little Blue ,or Fairy Penguin stands about 25 -30 cms tall .It has a creamy white chest and the blue back is more of a slate blue .It lives in burrows at night .
The yellow-eyed is an endangered species ,and we visited a protected colony while down in the South island .It is larger .
You can have a look at www.penguins .co.nz --in particular Oamaru penguins have a web cam inside a burrow which you can look at ,but I'm not sure if there are any chicks at present .Dixie

21 Jan '07 6:25 pm

Hi, Dixie-

Thanks very much for the pictures of the little penguins! They really ARE blue! Well, you see, you really DO learn something every day! I'm looking forward to going to the web page you suggested because now I'm interested in finding out how much else I didn't know about them!!

Now, I've always known about the Emperors of Antarctica, and I understand that southern regions of Australia and Argentina, I believe, have penguins as well. But are they also found in South Africa? Perhaps one of our friends from there will be able to tell me. Are they found anywhere else? I guess I'll have to do some searching around the net to find out.

Cheers!

-gordonf

21 Jan '07 11:41 pm

Dixie, thank you again for all the lovely representatives of all the three Kingdoms shown in your post : the Human-Animal-Plant Kingdoms !! We are living on such a beautiful planet!

22 Jan '07 8:44 am

Hi, again, Dixie-

I went to the penguin website that you told me about and passed a really pleasant half hour or so there! Boy, are they ever noisy little birds!! And it's great to hear about the success in raising the number of nesting pairs at the santuary (How DO you spell that word??).

Thanks again for all the information!

-gordonf

22 Jan '07 9:25 am

Your interest is heart warming ,Gordon.
I was somewhat bemused when people who live on the hills in the photos complain about the penguins burrowing under their houses ,and keeping them awake throughout the night with their scuffling and squabbbling noises . I never knew until recently that they burrowed .
Dixie

22 Jan '07 6:31 pm

What a gorgeous garden your daughter has, dixie, and such stunning views. Can you tell me where in Wellington it is so I can get my bearings?

22 Jan '07 7:25 pm

It is one of the first bays as you travel to Eastbourne from Petone - ,a lovely ,caring little community .Most families have a strong desire to care for the native bush and the tuis and wood pigeons that live there ,and gardens blend with the bush sympathetically .They bought the little bach cheaply by todays prices.
Dixie

24 Jan '07 6:27 pm

The mosaic that my granddaughter made is in place .
Dixie.

Progress of a Wellington garden

Wellington Harbour

Flynn

Penguins

Penguins

Still more delightful pictures!

Penguins

Noisy penguins

Wellington

finished