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 β€” 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 .

  • I quite enjoyed reading the 5 books in Charlotte Dean Mysteries eBook Bundle by Phillipa Nefri Clark. 🐦

    You'd barely know the books are set in Australia, but the good characters are amenable, the bad characters rotten. Some things are a little too perfect, but the stories were a good easy read.

    Charlotte Dean Mysteries eBook Bundle covers.

    Titles (in Kingfisher Falls):

    • Christmas Crime
    • Bookclub Murder
    • Cold Case Murder
    • Plans for Murder
    • Festive Felony

  • Hah! Apple Photos just gave me a new 2023 Year in Review Memory. More than 95% of the photos are birds! Fantastic. 🐦

    This was useful: Export photos, videos, slideshows and memories in Photos on Mac - Apple Support (NZ).

    Some random annoying music is the soundtrack. Mute the video ….

  • Such a gorgeous summer morning with the dawn chorus, a hazy full moon setting in the west, Venus rising in the east behind pink-tinged cloud. 🐦

    Full moon sets behind a thin layer of hazy pink clouds.
    Venus high above shadowy mountains, hazy pink cloud streaks the sky.

  • The Matuku-hΕ«repo | Australasian Bittern is an extremely rare and endangered bird, but one sometimes turns up in these parts.

    Last night a large dark bird startled beside the road and flew off. In those few seconds I didn't see what it was, but believe it could have been that. Older photo below. 🐦

    Large dark bird crossing the road.

  • After 5 days sitting beside a hospital bed (still no op for Deb) I'm missing the beach and the bird babies. This afternoon I came home early. This little Oystercatcher chick was sticking close to mum. 🐦

    Oystercatcher adult with chick close by.

  • It's still dark so this photo is from a week ago. Fliss the Japanese quail turns 5 today. What a survivor. Her sister died a year ago. Fliss is still going strong! Occasionally she even lets me 'pat' her. 🐦

    Tiny stripey chick nestled in straw.
    Baby Fliss.
    Adult stripey Japanese Quail.
    Fliss, still going strong 5 years later.

  • Another Oystercatcher baby! 🐦

    Tiny baby Oystercatcher amongst sand and small driftwood.

  • So pleased (and relieved) to see a Ngutupapa | Royal Spoonbill in the estuary again (at last). I hope more turn up soon. 🐦

    Tall white bird with feather crest erect, wading in the water.

  • Today's success: 3 oystercatcher chicks and both parents. 🐦

    3 oystercatcher chicks and two parents among young beach grasses, driftwood and low dunes.

  • A couple of days ago this Tara | White-fronted Tern was hanging out with a pal at the beach. 🐦

    Gull-like bird on a piece of driftwood with sea behind. The tern has a black cap and bill, white neck and chest, and grey wings.

  • I just can't get enough of the tiny Oystercatcher chicks. 'Caught' one today. 🐦

    Dark speckled chick in sand by beach grasses.

  • Two months after requesting signs, finally they were installed today. Now the birds seem to have stopped nesting and are busy rearing their chicks in a slightly different spot …

    Anyway, maybe some people will see the signs and stay clear. 🐦

    Bilingual sign with photos of stilts and oystercatchers asking people to leave the birds alone.
    Erected sign in driftwood area with flat beach and sea beyond.

  • These Matuku moana | White-faced heron were down at the lake yesterday. 🐦

    Large grey wading bird on grass, with white face.
    Large dark grey bird with long neck and white face, standing on grass beside a lake.

    This post was originally scheduled, appeared in RSS and on the blog, but not on the timeline.

  • Previously I've been using Aperture Priority for my bird photos. Today I tried Shutter Speed priority.

    This morning I could see only 1 Oystercatcher chick β€” perhaps it was from a different pair … The slight blur is a tape between posts in front of the chick. Pretty pleased with this result. 🐦

    A tiny brownish grey chick covered in fluff, standing near driftwood.

  • There is a railing on the deck beside a large area of glass on the east side of our house. It's popular with birds. I feel sometimes like a zoo exhibit.

    Today I think an adult Warou | Welcome swallow was showing me to her baby. 🐦

    Adult swallow watches me carefully.
    Adult swallow watches me carefully.
    Still fluffy baby swallow looks away.
    Still fluffy baby swallow.

  • One of the Tōrea pango | Variable Oystercatcher pairs has managed to produce two chicks. Made my day to see them! 🐦

    Two Oystercatcher chicks near an adult amongst driftwood, sand and young grasses.

  • A month ago I had a blurry photo of two Warou | Welcome swallow eggs in a nest above the zendo door.

    Today's photos are of two Swallow babies in the nest. A bit hard to see but look closely. 🐦

    The location's so tight I just can't get photos from any other angle.

    Mud nest with a small bird head and the underside of a bird beak.
    Mud nest with a small bird head and the underside of a bird beak.

    Here's a couple of adults.

    Two swallows on a roof, as seen from above.

  • I've been so focused on other birds recently I've ignored the little Weweia | New Zealand dabchick. They're such cuties! 🐦

    Smallish bird on the water of a lake. The bird has a dark body, long russet neck and a small head with a beady eye.
    Smallish bird on the water of a lake. The bird has a dark body, long russet neck and a small head with a beady eye.

  • I think this little waxeye on the deck railing (and through the window) might have been a juvenile. 🐦

    Tiny bird with white breast and green head and wings, looking at the camera.

  • Those baby stilts weren't visible today, but I paced out where they were yesterday and it was 65 to 130 metres from my possie.

    Meanwhile today I concentrated on the adults divebombing me while I looked for their kids. Their fury is continuous! 🐦

    Pied Stilt flies right at me, with sky behind.
    Stilt at about my head height flies straight for me; it is only a few metres away.
    The stilt at head height is even closer.

  • In my quest for better photos of Pied Stilt chicks I was at the beach for a windless, cool dawn. Alas, I'm still not up to the task of good photos of teeny tiny sand coloured birds at a great distance. However, I really like this shot of an adult stilt with reflection and water spray. 🐦

    Adult stilt near 3 tiny chicks at the edge of water.
    Adult stilt with reflection and water spray.
  • Two tiny birds in a bit of water, at a distance.

    Well, we seem to have our first chicks of the season: a couple of tiny Poaka | Pied Stilt. Photos are a bit fuzzy, thanks to the heat haze, I'm afraid. 🐦

    Single chick in the water.
    Two chicks on the bank, with swallows swooping around.
    Two chicks on the bank, with swallows swooping around.

  • Those Glossy ibis photos I took during the week … These are the images I kept in the end. A sliver of late sunlight helped. 🐦

    Large wading bird with red throat and long curved bill.
    Large wading bird with red throat and long curved bill.
    Large wading bird with red throat and long curved bill. Beak open.
    Large wading bird with red throat and long curved bill.

  • Poaka | Pied Stilt are very aggressive when it comes to defending a nest, and they seem to have a 100 metre radius for action. 🐦

    Pied Stilts are streamlined rockets in flight. When they want to warn you off they fly straight at your head and swerve only at the last second.

    Pied stilt in flight.
    Pied stilt in flight.

  • Tonight the light was better and I got smarter with camera settings so the Glossy ibis photos actually worked out. 🐦

    Last night's photos were disappointing.

    Here's just one for the moment.

    Large wading bird with russet and shiny green colouring and a very long curved beak.
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