Miraz Jordan Profile Photo

Miraz Jordan

I love simplicity and silence. I enjoy taking photos of birds, and strive to be an actively decent human being. In late August 2025 I moved from Waikawa Beach to Ruakākā near Whangārei in Aotearoa. 100% human (she / her). Now 70, I'm super happy to be getting old — it means I'm not dead yet! I believe all beings have the right to clean water, nutritious food and adequate shelter, and that humans are simply one small part of the amazing life on this planet that supports us all: humans, animals, plants. I joined the MB community on 05 January 2018. Follow me on Micro.Blog at https://micro.blog/miraz .

  • Our white-faced heron neighbours have finally hatched one or more chicks! These photos are with a 100-400 zoom on a Fuji X-T5, then heavily cropped. 🐦

    White-faced heron chick in a nest with two adults very close nearby.
    White-faced heron chick in a nest with two adults very close nearby.
    White-faced heron chick in a nest with two adults very close nearby.

  • Baby Magpie is becoming more visible. 🐦

    Baby magpie standing on a nest amongst tree branches.

  • We enjoyed a few minutes walking by the Whangārei marina, spotting this tree covered in butterflies.

    Tree with large artificial butterflies made of paper and other materials.

    We also saw a Spotted dove 🐦 :

    A native of south and south-east Asia, the spotted dove was introduced to New Zealand in the 1920s, when some were released from captivity in Mt Eden, Auckland. …

    The spotted dove is a medium-sized, somewhat long-tailed dove with a greyish head, pink-grey underparts, and speckled greyish brown upperparts. Its distinguishing feature is a large white-spotted black half-collar around the back and sides of the neck.

    Spotted dove on grass.

  • This strawberry is pretty much the first fruit of our food forest. Yum.

    I'm really surprised "our" magpie hasn't scoffed it. Too busy chasing off "our" white-faced heron I guess. 🐦

    Red strawberry attached to a plant and lying on pale mulch.
    Magpie sitting on a fence rail and looking at the camera.

  • I've been monitoring a magpie nest high in a nearby tree for a while now and I believe there are new chicks up there. I saw 2 adults leave the nest, but there was still movement. I'm pretty sure I could see a chick's head. 🐦

    I've outlined the nest and head.
    Nest and head outlined.
    Nest high in a tree, with bird's head just visible.
    Nest, with bird's head just visible.

  • Mallard ducks on the Dune Lake. 🐦

    Two ducks on a lake, with reeds in the foreground.

  • A flash of very vivid blue caught my eye across the river — it turned out to be a Kōtare | Sacred Kingfisher. It's barely visible in the two photos below, flying at centre right. 🐦

    Meanwhile a Matuku moana | White-faced heron took flight.

    Heron and kingfisher in flight with trees behind.
    Heron and kingfisher in flight with trees behind.

  • On our train ride up by Kawakawa the other day we spotted this Kawaupaka | Little shag in trees by the line: 🐦

    the little shag’s diagnostic short-billed and long-tailed silhouette, along with its small size and stubby yellow bill. Shape alone is sufficient to identify a little shag.

    At least, I think that's what this bird is. It was quite little and has a stubby yellow bill.

    Little shag on a tree branch.

  • On yesterday's vintage train ride out of Kawakawa we had to stop for a few minutes for staff to open huge gates that blocked access to a bridge.

    Two women open large gates so the train can pass through to the curved wooden bridge.

    I was interested by the sign cautioning people, especially cyclists on this part of the Twin Coast Cycle Trail, to watch out during nesting season for swooping magpies. 🐦

    Swooping magpies sign.

    Warning Swooping Magpies (nesting season)
    Dismount & walk.
    Move quickly through the area - Don't run.
    Protect your head & face.
    Wear sunglasses.

  • Several flights of Kuaka | Godwits flew north while I was hanging out at the Dune Lake. One lot flew right over me, and so low I could hear the whirring of their wings. It was magical. 🐦

    Photos from a different group.

    A flock of birds bunched up as they fly.
    Close up of a bunched up group of kuaka.

  • Paradise Ducks would be a great alarm system — they spot you from miles away and don't stop squawking till you leave.

    These were down at the river mouth yesterday. 🐦

  • Today we drove south slightly to look at Langs Beach, about 3 Km south of Waipū Cove.

    A stretch of golden sand seaward of grass, with hills in the background.

    Then we drove a tad further to Mangawhai Heads and Mangawhai, all rather built up.

    Panorama of a hillside looking over beach, sea and a sandspit.
    The Mangawhai sandspit

    The sandspit is home to the extremely endangered Tara iti | Fairy tern. 🐦

    The relict population of fewer than a dozen pairs survives between Whangarei in the north and Auckland to the south. The tiny population is gravely threatened by introduced predators and disturbance or encroachment by humans. They are intensively managed during the breeding season.

  • This pukeko was hurrying by with a tasty morsel. 🐦

    Brown bare earth with green grass behind. A pukeko at the edge of the two has a large item in its beak.

  • Magpie yodelled at me from the corner of the fence this morning. 🐦

    Black and white magpie on the end of a wooden fence, with trees behind.

  • Black swans and mallard ducks on the nearby Dune Lake. 🐦

    Swans and ducks on a small lake with rushes behind..

  • The 8x optical zoom on the iPhone 17 Pro is quite something. 🐦

    A 1x view through a window, across a patio and green grass to tall trees about 100 metres away.
    A 1x view through a window, across a patio and green grass through pouring rain to tall trees about 100 metres away.
    An 8x closeup on a tree. In the middle of the picture is a white-faced heron sitting on a nest on a tree branch.
    An 8x closeup on a tree. In the middle of the picture is a white-faced heron sitting on a nest on a tree branch.

  • You can tell it’s spring. A pukeko family of 2 adults and 3 chicks on the grass not far from our house, and a pair of white-faced herons nesting in the tree closest to us. 🐦

    Pukeko family.
    Large nest in a tree. Two white-faced herons are on the nest.

  • Kiwis, or folks who know NZ Birds, give Birdle NZ a try. 🐦

    Birdle 🇳🇿 15/09/2025

    🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    https://birdle.nz

    Voting for Bird of the Year closes on 28 September 2025.

    Bird of the Year ‹ Forest & Bird

  • Today's visitor, moments after it started to rain heavily. 🐦

    Pukeko crosses the lawn.
    Pukeko crosses the lawn (through the window).

  • I want to thank Microblogger Patrick Taillon for putting me on to this 2 hour long video — LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching which I watched over several sessions. 🐦

    Partly documentary, partly mockumentary, it was a great look into the birds of North America and the folks who dedicate themselves to seeing / hearing them and adding them to personal lists.

    I laughed a lot.

    Two brothers learn about competitive birdwatching by becoming birdwatchers—spending a year living in a used minivan, traveling the country to compete in a ‘Big Year'.

  • First there was one, then two, Matuku moana | White-faced heron. 🐦

    Heron stands on a wooden structure.
    Two herons, facing opposite ways, stand on a wooden structure.

  • You never get too old to rescue puffins: it's part of who we are.

    Summer Puffling Patrols: Saving thousands of baby puffins from light pollution 🐦:

    In this 13-minute Wild Hope video from Nature on PBS, biologists Erpur Snaer Hansen and Lucas Canas document the Atlantic puffins that breed on Iceland’s Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), where roughly 400 puffins exist for every human resident.

  • Meanwhile, it turns out we have our very own White-faced Heron outside the back door. 🐦

    White-faced heron walking on grass.

  • A dawn walk at the beach took me to the sandspit on the north side of the Ruakākā River mouth, a wildlife refuge, where birds nest. 🐦

    Satellite view on map shows the river mouth.

    There were quite a few NZ Dotterels and Variable Oystercatchers, along with black-backed gulls, a shag and possibly a duck.

    NZ Dotterel on sand with a blue background. The bird has a red chest.

  • No photos yet, but so far the birds I've spotted around here are:

    • Mynah (they don't live as far south as Waikawa Beach)
    • Sparrows
    • Gulls
    • Magpies
    • White-faced heron

    I may also have heard spur-winged plovers.

    I've located my bird feeder, but haven't yet found the food … 🐦

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