Miraz Jordan

Cropped and auto-enhanced, but these two quail photos are from the NatureWatch Camera I just set up, using a Raspberry Pi Zero. Very happy with these results. Now to work on placement. I’d like to get wildlife rather than just the quail. This may be Fliss.

Excited that @brentsimmons has put up an early version of the NetNewsWire 5 RSS reader. It’s been a long time since I last used it but it feels great to have it back on my Mac. Congratulations Brent!

This selfie isn’t up to much but it was one of the first (handheld in low light) shots with my new Raspberry Pi Zero W and 5MP camera. The gear arrived today. The instructions were flawless. Tomorrow I aim to install it in a plastic enclosure and set it up by the quail.

And so they should!

British newspaper The Guardian announced a style guide change. From now on, they will prioritise terms such as ‘climate crisis or breakdown’ and ‘global heating’ over the more common ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’.

Source

About 1,000 years ago the only land mammals in New Zealand were bats. Then Māori arrived, maybe around 1200AD and brought with them kurī (Polynesian dogs) and kiore (Polynesian rats). Europeans started arriving from around 1642 (Abel Tasman) and since then exotic flora and fauna have flooded in, at enormous cost to native species.

One example is the stoat (or weasel) that killed 3 of my quail this week:

Stoats belong to the same mustelid family of animals as weasels and ferrets. They’re bigger than weasels and smaller than ferrets. Stoats were introduced to New Zealand in the 1884 to control rabbits and hares. Scientists and bird-lovers warned that they would be a danger to our native birds, but their warnings were ignored.

So, for 400 years now all kinds of insects, animals and birds have been wreaking havoc on New Zealand's native species (not to mention the effects of people). Predator Free 2050 aims to restore New Zealand’s natural taonga, economy and primary sector.

Rats, stoats, and possums kill approximately 25 million native birds every year. They are the most damaging mammalian predators that threaten New Zealand’s natural taonga, economy and primary sector.

Unfortunately, the one I caught got away. But I've baited my GoodNature trap and hope I can get the killer that cut my quail flock in half.

In 2016 I made a video of one of my original quail crowing. Unlike California Quail who seem to say Chicago, Chicago! the Japanese Quail say Look at me! Look at me! Volume up.

A couple of minutes in to Brooklyn Nine-Nine S01E01 I thought I’d hate the show, but so many people said such good things about it I stuck with it. It quickly became one of my favourites, with so many excellent laughs! Glad it’s been renewed for a seventh season.

The stoat, or maybe weasel, that killed 3 quail was very angry when I trapped it between a bucket and the side of the cage. See for yourself, in this one-handed video. Turn up the volume to hear its angry chittering. I was pretty scared of it.

After @crossingthethreshold posted a photo of a road it made me think of this favourite zebra crossing I saw in ⁨Redondela⁩, ⁨Galicia⁩, ⁨Spain⁩.

This thing is a stoat. An angry stoat, trapped in a plastic bucket behind wire. Unfortunately, as I was on my own, it escaped. This morning it killed 2 more quail. The survivors are now in max security cages. (One-handed snapshot while holding a bucket tight against wire.)

GLAAD: Movies Are Getting Better For Lesbian and Gay Characters, Staying Terrible for Trans and LGBTQ Kids’ Characters

20 LGBTQ-inclusive films were released in 2018.

45 LGBTQ characters made it into mainstream movies in 2018.

Zero trans characters were counted in 2018.

I’ve really enjoyed watching Seal Team and am glad to see it’s been renewed for a third season. I like that they explore the relationships of team members with others such as family, and how folks grow and develop.

When I checked the quail today one was dead — Felicia, the great mother who hatched the babies this year. Judging by the mutilated corpse this wasn’t pecking by the others, but presumably a rat or stoat that slid into the run and out again. I buried her and set about to move the rest to a new spot. While doing that, Glee escaped. I hunted her with success and then another white one escaped and hid really well in some scrub. I hunted for ages, gave up, and had one last try. Success! Not my best day for quail!

While I was hunting for an escaped quail an Eastern Rosella made a brief appearance to laugh at me then flew off. Still hunting the escapee. 😱

Someone requested a page listing Kiwis on Micro.Blog. Tada!

@billbennettnz @dejus @herself @JacksonOfTrades @Jax @tones @yorrike

Let me know if you think I should change anything. Check your own entry — it’s taken from your profile.

How would we make a webring?

Green tea at the Levin Mall cafe was mediocre. The teapot & cup combo was rather charming though.

My favourite sci-fi author’s Kickstarter has already reached 500+% of its goal with 8 days left to go and the stretch goal rewards are amazing.

The Diving Universe A large new novel and other projects in the Diving Universe by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Wellington is notorious for its steep hills. Many of those hills have paths, stairs and steps, which is apparently a niche interest for some who travel far and wide: outdoor stairs. My friend Alana has created a wonderful site Wellington Steps for connoisseurs. Alana’s Photo

Oshi and Sasha are all freshly groomed. 🐶

Shaggy dogs on their way to be groomed. Oshi and Sasha are ready for a trim. 🐶