Between fieldwork, finding and moving into a new flat, and all the other bits and pieces of life, I have very little time to write at the moment. I have a few long blogs in the works, but for a while I’ll just be posting one-photo updates! Here’s one from December…

The pōhutukawa bloom. A red stamen rain falls on the undergrowth, coating the ground, peppering the understory plants. It’s December, southern hemisphere summer and Christmas. The plants celebrate vibrantly. Pōhutukawa is our “New Zealand Christmas tree”. It froths with scarlet blooms and paints the canopy in streaks of festive colour. Tūī and korimako flock to the nectar, and knock the stamens to the ground to become a rich red carpet. The season of warmth and abundance. As long as the stamens don’t fall into your water supply – they leach a pretty gross taste!