Monarch butterflies congregating on just a few selected trees on the banks of the Whanganui River on a cold day in July!

A native wood pigeon in a plum tree on our drive.  Every year around Christmas to the end of January we are visited by many wood pigeons gorging themselves on the many plum trees in the area.

A pair of native pigeons have been visiting us quite regularly during winter.  Here they are resting in our oak tree.

A thrush feeds its young with a crab apple on a mound of soil in our garden.  This brood of young birds was very sociable, and often approached within a metre when eating at our garden table or working in the garden.

On several walks around Virginia Lake, Laurie and I noticed this little Blackbird friend following us.  He was there and followed us again on successive walks over several weeks.

This is one of many birds that I have photographed at Virginia Lake.  I think that this might be a young thrush, but with the beak being somewhat like that of a blackbird, suspect that it could be a young blackbird.  Whatever it is, it was quite friendly.

Many of the birds at Virginia Lake in Wanganui are friendly, but this young thrush was particularly so.  As with the blackbird, we spotted him on many occasions, following us around his "patch".

This is one of the breeding swans at Virginia Lake in Wanganui.

Virginia Lake has a large population of coots (an Australian native) in residence.

This little fellow was photographed on a hedge at the back of the Cafe at Kekerengu on the Kaikoura coast.  He was quite cheeky, using all his charm to get a feed from our table.

We got this photo of a kea at Arthur's Pass.  He was a very persistent and entertaining visitor looking for a hand-out.

A waxeye on a Pohutukawa branch on the bank of the Whanganui River near the city centre.  Quality was affected by being hand-held (the bird wouldn't stay still!) and it had to be taken with a lot of zoom, from a distance.

A tui at "The Pines" on the Queen Charlotte Track, Marlborough Sounds.

A spider in our garden.  It was every bit as big as it looks!

A cheeky possum in our garden.  One evening, I went out our front door with the outside light on, and there was this cheeky fellow, munching acorns, seated on our picnic table.

The quality of this shot is poor, as it was taken hand-held, with a lot of zoom in poor light on a longish exposure.  It is the subject of the neighbour's cat eying up our goldfish in our pond that makes it special to me.

A horse on the hill across the river from the Wanganui city centre.  I was struck by the solitary figure and took this shot using full zoom.  The quality is a little compromised by the fact that I did not have my tripod, and the camera was hand-held, causing some movement at that distance.  (30x zoom.)

Cattle north of Wanganui, November 2004.  I spotted these while driving home one day and just couldn't resist pulling over to take their photo!

A rather spiky, rugged matagouri in a harsh but incredibly beautiful setting – Mavora Lakes in the South Island.

I have always been fascinated by the delicate structures of flowers.  These were just two of a beautiful display of tulips at Basun Gardens, Wanganui, in 2005.

I love the subtle shades and restful atmosphere that seems to accompany water lilies.  These were in an English character garden in Hamilton Gardens.

Various flowers in our garden.