New fish in the pond

Yesterday we introduced ten gold fish into our pond.

Now that the water lilies are established, the water in the pond is less murky and the fish have a good chance of living happily and multiplying.

I hope that their red and bright orange colors will not attract the attentions of some fishing birds that I have seen around the pond in the past.

I always thought that since we live so close to the harbor, the birds will not pay much attention to our pond, but I did see them nest and play in the trees around our pond.

I read this article that assured me: "There are many species of fish-eating birds around the world. Many are not normally found fishing in small bodies of water, or are found only in oceanic or polar areas. Many predatory birds do not fish in smaller ponds, possibly either due to there not being enough fish of the right size in the pond to attract them, or not enough physical space to do their normal fishing maneuvers, or their not being "wired" to recognize small ponds as a place to fish, or their not normally being found around small bodies of water, or other possible reasons. For example, it could be that birds that skim water surface (skimmers, some terns, etc.) possibly do not frequent small ponds near beaches because the water surface is not large enough for them to work, or the airways around pond are obstructed by trees, etc."

We also planted some colorful flowers and blueberries in the flower bed next to our house.

Jules walked up and down the long staircase with large bags filled with sand, top soil and mulch for a garden project he is working on.

We both slept very deep at night, tired and a bit achy.

The days are getting warmer but we do not enjoy much sun.

It seems like our last week in NZ may be a grey one.