Bellbird and candle

Ok, no candle. And no actual bell, nor the book you were probably expecting (how does a Unitarian child even absorb religious phrases like ‘bell book and candle‘? Well, it turns out to have been a movie, and other things, so not so surprising).

The bellbird – pictured here by prolific utility box muralist Paul X Walsh – is a New Zealand native, with a wonderfully loud call. I’ve never seen one, but their vocal cousins the tuis all over and a great part of what makes life here just that little bit different.