Miraz Jordan Profile Photo

Miraz Jordan

I love simplicity and silence. I enjoy taking photos of birds. I also enjoy drinking tea — green, white, yellow, but not black. I live at Waikawa Beach in New Zealand, which I love, and strive to be an actively decent human being. In 2025 I expect to move to Ruakākā near Whangārei. Apparently the bizarre is normal now. Almost 70, I'm super happy to be getting old — it means I'm not dead yet! Proudly independent. 100% human (she / her). I joined the MB community on 05 January 2018. Follow me on Micro.Blog at https://micro.blog/miraz .

  • The corner of the deck railing is the super popular spot for birds this year. This Yellowhammer sang me a nice tune. 🐦

    Yellowhammer on wooder railing.

  • I think this is the same Dotterel chick I took a photo of a couple of days ago. Today I spotted its one or two siblings (they move so fast I just wasn't sure if it was 2 chicks or 3). 🐦

    Dotterel chick on sand.

  • Look at all that fluff! I think this Barbary Dove was just a youngster. 🐦

    Barbary dove with white and brown feathers and what looks like chick down.

  • Three of 5 well-grown Black swan cygnets on lake Puna o te Ora. 🐦

    3 large cygnets with brown feathers float on a small lake.

  • This littlie was hopping / fluttering along the beach. 🐦

    Small sparrow-like bird with spiky hairdo.

    Research and a bit of guessing led me to believe it is a Kairaka | Eurasian skylark:

    A small brown and creamy-buff bird with off-white underparts, streaked breast and throat, variegated brown upperparts, a sturdy horn-coloured bill that is yellow-brown at the base, and pink legs and feet with a long slightly curved hind toe. Adults have a faint mask of pale feathers around and behind the eye, and a small streaked crest on the hind crown that is raised when alert.

  • The Poaka | Pied Stilt babies can only be seen from quite far away. There are 3 here, between their parent and the log. 🐦

    Pied stilt chicks behind parent, just entering a pond.

    Here's a very cropped view.

    Stilt babies closer, as they enter the pond.

  • This Tūturiwhatu | New Zealand dotterel parent is keeping a very close eye on me. 🐦

    Dotterel adult.

    Why? because I was taking photos (at some distance) of its baby.

    Tiny dotterel chick.

  • Recently hatched Oystercatcher sticking close to mum. 🐦

    Baby Oystercatcher on the beach, close to an adult.

  • This little mite hopped away from our front door when I went out. Eventually it found a spot in a pile of shingle. Sparrow presumably. 🐦

    Baby sparrow.

  • Messages from a friend yesterday that I only spotted today 🐦 :


    Bad news, dotterel eggs are gone, good news, baby dotterel!
    At least 2
    Baby oyster catcher too
    3 pied stilts too

    I see a beach walk with camera in my near future. 😁

  • Not the best Tūī photos, but it's good to have this one hanging round the garden. 🐦

    Tui on a flax spear with blue sky behind.
    Tui in flight away from a flax spear, with blue sky behind.

  • The other day there was a hawk circling right by the house. 🐦

    Hawk flying towards the camera with wings spread.

  • This morning's beach walk brought new life 🐦 :

    • a duck and 6 ducklings on the lake
    • 3 Dotterel eggs in a nest
    • 3 Oystercatcher eggs in a nest
    Duck and 6 ducklings.
    Dotterel nest.
    Oystercatcher nest.

  • It was a couple of days ago I caught this shot of a Pied Stilt with captured food in its beak and a spray of water all around. 🐦

    Pied stilt in still water with a circle of riples around and with something in its beak.

  • The Pied Stilts must be nesting. Based on last year's experience, if you come within 50 to 100 metres of their nest they dive bomb you — they flight straight at you and swerve at the very last moment. 🐦


    Normal speed

    25% speed.

  • Maybe I shouldn't post this because there are goosenappers about …

    But there are so many Canada Geese around at the moment, it may be safe. 🐦

    Flock of 40 or more Canada geese in a nearby paddock.
    Flock of 40 or more Canada geese in a nearby paddock.

    Goose honking on lake Puna o te Ora.

  • There were several Caspian Terns on the beach this morning. This new burst of warm sunny weather is bringing the birds back at last. 🐦

    Caspian terns on sand with blue sea behind.

  • Today's Bird World adventure — the flue of our woodburner wears a 'sock' to keep birds out, so it was very surprising to see this sparrow head sticking out into the lounge in the gap between the flue itself and the plate on the ceiling.

    Wire mesh covers the top of the flue.
    Stuck sparrow.

    I extracted it enough so it darted off … straight into a window. After 5 minutes resting on the grass it recovered and flew off. Whew! 🐦

  • Volume up! This little Yellowhammer was singing right outside my open door. 🐦

    Yellowhammer on a flax stem.

  • A wonderful moment today as traffic stopped to allow a Paradise Duck mama to walk her half a dozen or more babies 50 metres along (and all over) the road to a new location. iPhone photos from the car. 🐦

    Paradise duck with babies behind as cars wait.
    Paradise duck on the road with babies and male behind.

  • A friend has roped off the Dotterel nest on the beach in an attempt to keep vehicles and pedestrians, horses and dogs away. He has also seen 3 eggs in the nest. 🐦

    Roped off dotterel nest on the flat part of the beach.
    Dotterel on nest beside a piece of driftwood.

    The nests of northern New Zealand dotterels are simple scrapes in the substrate … The main threats are loss of eggs and chicks to mammalian and avian predators, disturbance from human activities on beaches, loss of nests to big tides … Three eggs are laid … Incubation usually takes 28-30 days; the fledging period is variable, but averages about 6 weeks.

  • Reposted: Yellowhammer through the window. 🐦

    Small sparrow-like bird with yellow head on a flax spear.

  • This little Tūturiwhatu | New Zealand dotterel came within 2 metres to check me out. A friend has seen a 'nest' with 3 eggs at the beach. He thinks this dotterel and mate are responsible. 🐦

    Images may be slow to load.

    Red-breasted Dotterel standing erect and looking at the camera.
    Dotterel scuffing sand aside with its beak while hunting for food in the sand.

  • I was just browsing through photos in my album and came across these Warou | Welcome swallows on the railing from January 2015. 🐦

    Two swallows at opposite ends of a railing, facing away from one another as though in a huff.

  • The master of all he surveys. 🐦

    Pheasant on a hill.
    Peihana | Pheasant on a hill.
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