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 .

  • So handsome! 🐦

    Male pheasant in splendid colours, in grass near a tree trunk.
    Male pheasant in splendid colours, in grass near a tree trunk.

  • Folks interested in Waikawa Beach and its birds … take a look at this morning's Waikawa News blog post: Wrybills vs Dotterels. 🐦

    Wrybills and two kinds of Dotterels are tiny, cute, and starting to show up for the season.

    Small pale bird with a band of black feathers and a crooked beak.
    Small pale bird with a band of black feathers and a crooked beak.

  • We still have gales, very high tides and swells. This gull was having a hard time flying when I visited the track where vehicles enter the beach. In the video, at about 13 seconds, you can see it was blown backwards. 🐦

    The brown sea / river water is likely from churned up sand.

    Gull with wings spread over fast-moving brown water.
    Gull with wings spread over fast-moving brown water.
    Gull with wings spread over fast-moving brown water.

  • Male pheasants are colourful and bold. The females stay more hidden. Last night though one all but knocked on our front door. Today she was poking around the neighbour's driveway. 🐦

    First photo: her head's hidden but it shows her colouring really well.

    Pheasant hen - brown with speckles.
    Pheasant hen with beak open, looking at the camera.
    Pheasant hen with head lowered and beak open.

  • With spring the birds are starting to show up again. Down at the lakes I spotted a black swan pair with half-grown cygnet, Pāpango | New Zealand scaup, Australian coot, and some ducks. 🐦

    Black swan on the lake.
    Black swan on the lake.
    Cygnet on the lake.
    Cygnet on the lake.
    Australian Coot.
    Australian Coot.
    NZ Scaup.
    NZ Scaup.
  • Ring necked doves.
    Ring necked doves.

    Photo from today, but these Barbary Doves are so tame they just hang around. Yesterday when I drove down the lane I had to stop because they didn't move. In the end I had to get out and scare them off so I wouldn't drive over them. 🐦

  • Little Fliss the Japanese Quail hatched on 26 December 2018. Yesterday she laid the first egg for this season.

    4.5 years old and going strong! Also regular. Exactly 1 year ago she laid the first egg for last season. 🐦

    Fliss laid two eggs starting 19 September 2023.
    Fliss laid two eggs starting 19 September 2023.
    Stripey quail on straw, head turned away from the camera.
    Stripey quail on straw, head turned towards the camera.

  • I feared 'our' pair of black swans had disappeared from the small lake Puna o te Ora at the end of the road, but this morning I spotted them with a half-grown cygnet. Hooray! They must have been hanging out elsewhere. 🐦

    Black swans with partly grown cygnet on a lake, with a couple of other small water birds nearby.

  • That classic looking over the shoulder pose. Kōtare | Sacred Kingfisher (Through a window.) 🐦

    A bright blue Kingfisher with its back to the camera but head turned to look at the camera.

  • It's Warou | Welcome swallow time of year. We have to be careful about leaving the garage door open or they start building nests of mud in there. 🐦

    Here they are on the roof of the zendo. Such bright orange and shiny black!

    Two swallows on a roof, as seen from above.

  • Kāhu | Hawk in flight. 🐦

    Hawk soaring, with the top of a hill just visible at bottom right.

  • In August 2022 I spotted a Kererū at Waikawa Beach for the first time. This year there are two! I only managed a photo of one. 🐦

    Kereru on a tree branch.
    Kereru on a tree branch.

  • There are quite a few Red-vented Bulbul around the resort. They behave like sparrows, popping into the dining fale to check for crumbs. 🐦 🇼🇸

    Medium size bird, dark in colour, with a crest and a red patch of feathers below its tail.

  • These birds seem common around the resort. I believe this is a Miti Tai | Polynesian Triller. 🐦 🇼🇸

    A rather long-tailed and long-winged bird with a short stubby head … black crown, eye-stripe, back, and tail with a prominent white eyebrow, wide white wingbar, and white underside often barred brown or gray. Female is similar, but rusty-brown

    Small bird with pale chest, brownish wings and a stripe across its head at eye level.

  • This little Ve'a | Buff-banded Rail potters around on the grass at our Resort. It seems like a smaller version of a NZ Weka. 🐦

    The gardens here are lush and I've seen other birds flying around. Making the most of a post-breakfast laze though. 🇼🇸

    Buff banded Rail on grass.

  • Last year the Blackbird couldn’t figure out how to get at the feeder. This year’s another story. 🐦

    Blackbird at the feeder, looking straight at the camera and rather angry.
    Blackbird at the feeder, side on to the camera.

  • The birds queue up to let me know it’s dinner time! 🐦

    Sparrows lining up for dinner on a flax spear.

    There is also some grumpiness about the throng at the feeder.

    Sparrow with its beak open looking grumpy.

    Others, like this Waxeye, wait patiently.

    Waxeyes near the feeder.

  • This morning Tiu | House Sparrows are enjoying hanging out on the dead panicles of the Tī kōuka | Cabbage tree only a couple of metres from my bedroom window. 🐦

    Sparrows in the cabbage tree.

  • Apparently when a Kōtare | Sacred Kingfisher hangs around I am compelled to take photos of it. 🐦

    Their beaks fascinate me.

    Kōtare on a flax spear.

  • We have several Barbary doves that hang around our place. This one by our gate was calling to another in a tree across the lane. 🐦

  • Blackbird. 🐦

    Blackbird on the railing.

  • I’ve been promising Fliss, the Japanese Quail, for ages that I’d clean out her run. Today was finally the day. I popped her in the glass recycling bin while I did the work. 🐦

    Before: old stale straw, pine shavings.

    Old straw and brown branches in the quail run.

    After: deep, clean fresh straw, pine shavings and fresh branches for cover.

    Clean fresh straw and shavings.
    Fliss in the straw.

  • It pays to look up. Kōtare | Sacred Kingfisher in a neighbour’s tree. 🐦

    Kingfisher on asmall branch.

  • On today's beach walk I saw a large mussel shell and a couple of oystercatchers. 🐦

    Large open mussel shell on sand.
    A pair of oystercatchers on the beach: one sitting on the sand, one standing on one leg.
    A pair of oystercatchers on the beach, both standing on one leg.

  • This is a very heartening good news story. Take a moment to read this non-fiction comic by Toby Morris : The Side Eye: Anahera, our neighbour. 🐦

    Note: Kiwi is a Māori word. There are very few specific plural forms in Māori, and definitely no plural ’s'.

    Image from the comic by Toby Morris.

    Image from the comic by Toby Morris.
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