My Kowhai Tree - Jackie.

It was a beautiful day today so I decided to sit in my garden and sketch. The colour of the flowers in my Kowhai tree against the blue of the sky was spectacular. I tried an experiment and used only watercolour, (no pen), to capture it.

Here is the result:

The Kowhai is a native of New Zealand. It attracts our native bird the Tui who feed on the nectar of the flowers. I thought I had one Tui in this tree, but once I sat sketching it I realised I had two. There was only one in the tree at a time as they are very territorial, but were constantly changing and arguing over which one it would be.

Here is a photo of a Tui in my Mum's Kowhai tree I took some time ago:

Tui (Prothemadera novaeseelandiae).

Family: meliphagidae

Fully Protected. Native to New Zealand. Slightly bigger than a blackbird. Found throughout New Zealand up to 3500 feet. Primarily in Native Forests, but also in gardens.