Seeing the same stuff with fresh eyes
And some lovely things from New Zealand
I’ve recently returned from three weeks on the other side of the world, where I spent pretty much every second outside looking for New! Exciting! Things!
And I found many. I became obsessed with the fantails (pīwakawaka) in New Zealand (Aotearoa), and the huddle of juvenile silvereye (tauhou) and learning the Māori names for everything (and then forgetting both the Māori and English names for everything). I crouched over mossy stumps up mountains and apologised to my friends when they had to wait for me because I’d been staring really hard at a leaf I didn’t recognise.
It was pretty great. But what I wasn’t accounting for was returning home and looking at the things I know really well with New! Fresh! Eyes!
Every time I catch a bird moving in my peripheral vision I turn quickly in case it’s a rifleman (tītipounamu) or a bellbird (korimako) or a shining cuckoo (Pīpīwharauroa) - all apparently common birds I failed to spot - but of course it’s not a bloody rifleman, because I’m in Kent, not New Zealand.
This does mean, however, that I’ve been noticing the birds that might otherwise pass me by. And many of them remind me of my friends from the Southern Hemisphere. Long-tailed tits remind me of those charming little fantails, with their fancy tails and their somewhat erratic but curious nature. Starlings remind me of tūīs, with their robotic voices and inconspicuous beauty.
I’ve been appreciating the wildlife I’m used to seeing in a whole new way. The day after we got back, we were treated to a lovely sunny, frosty day, so we went for a walk in our local orchards. My newfound birdwatching reflexes led to a lovely redwing sighting and a one-sided conversation with a robin I may not otherwise have had. I’ve concluded that I should take my binoculars out more. They’re for everyday life, not just for Christmas in New Zealand.
Your task:
Since it’s a New Year, I’m out of practice, and there’s lots of new people here, I’m going to go back to basics this week. Your task is simply to notice what you notice. What catches your eye? Tune in, get curious, take notice.
Don’t forget to share in the comments - I’d love to know what you’ve been noticing!
Sorry for the lack of Nature Noticeboard last week, work has been non-stop since I got back and you almost didn’t get a newsletter this week either! If this one is full of typos, I can only apologise, I’m in a bit of a rush! As way of apology, here’s some nice mossy, licheny, planty stuff from up a mountain in New Zealand… and some flying foxes from the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.
Normal service will (I hope) resume soon…
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Your photos of mosses, lichens and other plants are beautiful. I can totally relate to what you say about how your attitude to our native wildlife changed when you came back from NZ. i spent two years in Malawi, where the birdlife is amazing, but when I came back to the UK, I found the birdlife here more amazing than I ever had before.