Miraz Jordan

Cuties from the deck this evening. Baby rabbits from a burrow in the paddock next door. Welcome Swallow, Warou, on the Zendo roof. 🐦 🐇

You have to watch out for the swallows: they build mud nests over doorways and light fittings, and in the garage if you leave the door open.

I only recently discovered the free Merlin Bird ID app and it works well (for photos, not so much sounds) even here in NZ. 🐦

users answer a few simple questions or, snap a picture and then [see] a short list of possibilities tailored to location and date.

I like it!

I already wrote a little about the Royal Albatross Centre, but wrapping up our recent holiday, here’s more. We viewed the birds from a hide, through glass. Several adults swooped right past the window and huge chicks were just outside. Older chicks weigh more than adults. 🐦

My two Japanese quail are clearly independent thinkers, having produced these first eggs of the season. Thing is, we have 10.5 hours of daylight today and they “shouldn’t” start laying till we have 12 hours daylight per day — ie late September. 🐦 🥚 Clever girls!

For the final adventure of our holiday we visited the Royal Albatross Centre on Otago Peninsula. 🐦

the only mainland breeding colony of Northern Royal Albatross (toroa) in the world.

The birds have a 3-metre wingspan. Chicks weigh ~10 Kg before they fly.

A big storm is forecast for this weekend — gales and loads of rain. Plus it’s midwinter and we’ve had some solid frosts and we’re going away soon for a holiday. Today I moved my two quail into the garage, using the dog crate to hold them. They’ll be warm, dry, out of the wind. 🐦

The little silvereyes sure do love the birdfood! 🐦

Well, all the smart birds were snugged up in their little beds while I was trying to watch for them today. Wind, rain, cold are not conducive to bird activity. I did see 1 hawk, 3 magpies and a black-backed gull. A group of 5 birds rocketed by so fast I couldn’t identify them. 🐦

We have some splendid Kāhu Swamp harrier around us. They soar past our lounge window, wings spread and sometimes sit on fence posts. Today I glanced out and saw one on a nearby post. I grabbed a couple of photos through the window, but when I opened the door it flew away. 😒 🐦

I’ve been meaning to clean up the quail run a bit. Today I scraped out some of the poop and old straw etc and added some fresh straw. I need to buy another bale of straw too. Last week I added plastic over the open part of the roof for winter rain protection. 🐦

I visited the international Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in Palmerston North. Amazing photos. Such dedication to the art (hours waiting for the perfect shot) and planning. Here are 2 favourites: Pallas’s cats and a spoon-billed sandpiper. 🐈 🐦

While driving past the lake at the end of our road today I was surprised to see our local black swan pair have 6 moderately large cygnets. That’s the first I knew about them having babies this year. Zoomed iPhone photo. 🐦

Glee the Japanese Quail decided to sit on eggs a couple of weeks ago. Her sister Fliss helps occasionally. I thought they’d pretty much stopped laying so left them to it, but now there are a good dozen toasty eggs in the nest. There’s no male, so nothing will come of it… 🐦

For the longest time I thought we had Banded dotterels at Waikawa Beach but after close investigation I now think they are the very similar Wrybills. I’m pretty sure that beak has a curve to the right.

Length: 20 cm; Weight: 55 grams.

🐦

I should have taken some photos of the Pukeko chicks at the nearby lake a couple of weeks ago when they were fluffier. Look at these ridiculous gangly legs. And when the chicks run their legs look like cartwheels, like Roadrunner in the cartoons. Photos: chick; adult. 🐦

I haven’t posted any photos of my two remaining Japanese quail for a bit, so here are Fliss and Glee. 🐦

I’ve been hearing a bird with a call that sounds like a piercing ‘pee you, pee you’. It’s taken me a while to track it down, but apparently it’s a European goldfinch 🐦:

Voice: a liquid, tinkly calling, often given by flocks in flight. Also a shrill, clear pee-yu.

I was down at the lake taking photos of the Royal Spoonbills when this Matuku, White-faced heron, arrived. 🐦

Yesterday I visited the Wildbase Recovery in Palmerston North and saw this Kākā. The facility is amazing, helping wild birds recover and recuperate until they can be released. 🐦

These ducklings in the gardens in Palmerston North were very bold. 🐦

Neck bending competition this way! 🐦 Pied shags by the river.

Variable oystercatcher / tōrea pango — bird and egg. Eggs bigger than a hen’s egg; birds smaller than a hen. (Bird weight 720 grams — 25.4 ounces.) 🐦

Some birds reach 30+ years of age.

highly aggressive towards people close to nests or chicks … undertake distraction displays

I spent $10 on a 1 metre arm extender aka selfie stick and climbed the ladder. I was able to take a photo along the gutter and determine that it is not in fact full of bird party supplies. Perhaps we’ve been imagining the noises? Or perhaps they cleaned up before I came along? 🐦

While looking for something else I found this pigeon photo from May 2004. 🐦

Clockwork quail. In 2018 and 2019 my Coturnix quail laid their first egg for the season on 21 September. Today, 21 September 2020, they kept the trend going.

They require 12 hours of daylight to lay, which we achieved yesterday with equilux. Clever girls! 🐦