Life in New Zealand with a Stroke

by David G. Ray

Last month I wrote about The Kiwi, national bird of New Zealand. This month I am going to mention some other birds that we have or used to have in this country. Many, many years ago, New Zealand was home to a number of very large birds all of which are now extinct. One of the largest was a type of eagle. Another was the Moa which was flightless and stood over the high of a man. Although extinct a few years ago a man who lived near Arthur's Pass in the South Island reckoned that he had seen a Moa and got a number of people excited. It was a hoax of course but there is a model of a Moa is on display outside the hotel that he owns.

My wife and I are woken up by the call of Tui, a black bird with a white tuft of feathers just under its beak. It is sometimes call the Parson Bird because of this. It delivers a grating noise at first but this soon changes to a melodious call. Tuis are especially busy in the spring when they get their nourishment from eating the nectar of the Kowhai tree flowers Kea is a cheeky parrot that lives mainly in the mountains. It is well known for its habit of ripping off the rubber trim around the windows and doors of vehicles. Many motorists has parked their cars, gone for a walk in the high bush, and returned to find the Keas have been at work. I can recall chasing Keas off the top of my car thus stopping them from pecking at the cars trim. They have beautiful orange feathers, which you can be seen only when they flap their wings.

Another flightless native bird is the Weka found mainly in the South Island. This a cheeky bird which is often seen coming out of the bush when you park your car. They are looking for a meal. These birds seem to have no fear and I have had one trying to undo my shoelaces while just standing on a bush track. Other interesting birds are the Fantail, which flits around just in front of you at eye level when walking in bushclad tracks although we have had them in our pear tree when the fruit are ripening. Another native bird, which we see almost every day, is the Pukeko, often seen on country roads near waterways. Although it seems to be flightless it is able to fly short distances. There are many other interesting native birds and since the arrival of Europeans another population has made their home in New Zealand, some useful others such as the magpie and Myna, very unwelcome.

The point about writing about these native birds is that stroke survivors even if they are unable to move very far can get a lot of joy out of watching, examining the habits of, feeding or just reading about birds that frequent your neighbourhood. You can buy, borrow from your local library or just acquire books on the local wildlife. I have found such an activity to be very useful and personally rewarding and of course gets me, as far as possible out of the house and into the garden or onto the beach. I have found that feeding the seagulls on the beach near our house very relaxing.

Another relaxing time was spent at the Lower Hutt Stroke Club's half yearly lunch at a Chinese restaurant. We had a very enjoyable couple of hours of relaxing chat with each other. Two weeks before we had an hour of general knowledge questions between teams of four stroke survivors. As we found out at the end of the competition there was no prize for the winning team but it was a lot of fun and stimulated our brains.

The Stroke Network, Inc.

P.O. Box 492 Abingdon, Maryland 21009