I’ve been enjoying my bird feeding station. 
The wax eyes have finally found the nectar feeder, so I was looking up recipes on the Forest and Bird website, even though they are famous killjoys. I found my recipe (one part sugar to eight parts water) but then I found this:
I was shocked, but on reflection, it makes sense. The sparrows are bullies, and are very wasteful eaters, throwing most of the seed onto the ground. Sure, when they’re hungry and desperate, they eat it off the ground, but then they leave an ugly bare patch of soil. Plus they get through an enormous amount of the stuff (am I made of money??) No, I’m afraid the time has come to be firm. You’ve got to be cruel to be kind. The seed feeder has to go.
Update: A tui flew up half an hour ago and landed on a nearby bush to check out my set up, but left with a sneer after a few minutes. These native birds are really hard to please.
further update:
I’m sorry, sparrows, but this is way cooler.
update: hang on – are these the same little bastards that eat my figs in Summer??