Life as a Hobbit

Introducing a bird: Tadorna variegata, aka Paradise Shelduck or pūtangitangi which is also another word for harmonica in Te Reo.  I think they sound a bit more like a haunted kazoo, personally.  A tangi is a lamentation, to cry, mourn, weep over, a call out to the dead. These birds are everywhere.  They like big open parks, playing fields, and marshy lowlands (which is pretty much all of Christchurch).  I read Paradise Shelducks described as "duck software, goose hardware."  Or maybe it was the other way around, "goose software, duck hardware."  While I have no any idea what that means I do love the phrase and am fully behind perpetuating it.  These ducks usually hang out in a male/female pair among other waterfowl like mallards and Canadian Geese.  The white headed one perched on the the headstone is female, and the dark headed one in among the dappling shadows is male. They make terrible sounds, usually when taking off and flying overhead. ...