One of the notable differences between city life and being here on the farm at Pataua North is the presence of so many kinds of fowl. Ducks, pukeko, turkey, chickens and my favourites... the geese.
The pukeko are of course iconic New Zealand birds and I enjoy the way their white bums flash when they walk and their clumsy flight, but lets face it they are kind of goofy looking. The wild turkeys are ugly though I have picked up some beautiful feathers I'm pretty sure are theirs. Ducks are ducks, though the ones with the white heads are nice looking. The chooks are lovely big black ones and their rooster is very fine, but he is starting to piss me off with his impersonation of an alarm clock stuck on snooze every bloody morning from 6-7, right outside the cowshed... because of course it is within cooee of the cock across the road (who roams with his hens among the most adorable looking kunikuni pigs).
The geese are definitely the most glamorous of the fowl around here. There's a flock of about 14 and they are a much more cohesive community than the other birds, always together with their classy white and grey curves bobbing along in the lush green meadows or parading up the driveway. They look very French to me, for some reason. They never let me get very close when I am out walking around, but sometimes they just appear right outside my backdoor like a surprise present.
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