I had seen advertising for blue lotus seeds, whilst also reading that blue colour does not exist in the sacred lotus, Nelumbo nucifera*. I thought about it for a while, and decided that the only way to know if the "blue" seeds were genuine was to buy some and see what happened. I germinated some in 2024 and this is the first flower. It's a small variety called a bowl lotus and is a nice compact plant that looks great in the collection, but as you can see, the flower is a normal lotus pink, not blue.

*There is a blue-flowered water lily that is commonly called Egyptian blue lotus. It is Nymphaea caerulea and is a totally unrelated plant. The similarity of the common names seems to cause a lot of confusion but I was clear about what I bought. It is Nelumbo and the seeds came with a promise that the flower would be blue.

I found this common Gisborne cockroach (Drymaplaneta semivitta) under a planter in the garden. It had obviously just shed its old exoskeleton and was hiding while waiting for its new soft "skin" to harden up. After a couple of hours it was showing some colour, and by the next day was back to normal and happy to be released back to the garden.

Simba loves polystyrene. I thought that this packaging "bowl" was more Rani-sized, but Simba got there first.

The next book in the New Zealand bird views series is complete. It covers Australian coots, banded rails, pukeko and weka and is now available for purchase. 
     The pukeko and its cousins / Raewyn Adams.
     New Zealand bird views series
     ISBN :  978-0-473-76754-9
     Available from Lulu at this link.

I had intended that it be made available through "global distribution" the same as the previous books, but the rules have changed and it wasn't eligible so is only available via the Lulu link above. The problem is the combination of quality paper to enhance the photos and paperback binding to keep the price down.

Rani was poking about in the back yard and found a plant pot exactly the right size.

This one is the first flower from a seed I grew in 2021. It's a nice bright pink but was supposed to be white.

Adult at right, juvenile at left. The young bird was searching for its own food to an extent but was still expecting the parent to feed it (Gymnorhina tibicen).

These are mallards crossbred with domestic ducks (all Anas platyrhynchos). 

This is low tide at the reef that had all the swells over it on the 17th. It's about 900m from the beach

It's a lined sea hare (Stylocheilus striatus) in a rock pool.

The pied shags (Phalacrocorax varius) take advantage of the ready supply of fish that patrol near the rocks.

Sparrow being fed by its parent (Passer domesticus).

Heading for the fence post for his turn at sentry duty (Callipepla californica).

Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus).

One of several species of similar nudibranchs. This one is Alloiodoris lanuginata.

Grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) school in the breaking waves.