Long-tailed bat the weight of a AAA battery believed to be NZ's oldest | RNZ News:

A bat of at least 26 years is officially New Zealand's oldest known long-tailed bat/pekapeka.

Before people arrived in Aotearoa, nearly 1,000 years ago, bats were the only land mammals.

Such a good read! Gone to Darkness (Sydney Rose Parnell Book 4) by Barbara Nickless was perhaps even more intense than the previous three in the series. I hope there will be more books with Sydney. 📚

She's coming into her own as a rookie police detective.

Book cover: Gone to Darkness.

There's actual rain (and high winds) forecast for today. 🌧️

33.6 mm rain forecast and winds up to 67 kph.
33.6 mm (1.3") rain forecast and winds up to 67 kph (41.6 mph).

Through the window. A rather scruffy looking Starling. 🐦

Starling on a flax spear.

Half a dozen Kōurarini | European goldfinches were outside my bedroom window this morning. 🐦

Small colourful bird on a fence rail.

Not sure I've seen a dozen or more Poaka | Pied Stilt all together at our beach before. 🐦

Pied Stilt flock.

Bird footprints on the beach. 🐦

A line of bird footprints.
A zig zag line of bird footprints.

Sydney is growing into civilian life, but the past still haunts her. Another good read. Ambush (Sydney Rose Parnell Book 3) by Barbara Nickless 📚 :

From the dark alleys of Mexico City to the mean streets of Denver, Sydney and her K9 partner, Clyde, use their wits and determination to chase down the ruthless killer.

Book cover: Ambush.

Because it's Leap Day I'm messing around with fonts in some apps — just to shake things up a bit.

Line of CSS styles sheet showing font-family.

Starting the day with a bit of a shaker — GeoNet: Quake - 2024p158594 〰️:

Magnitude: 4.7
Depth: 20 km

Quake details: date, location, magnitude etc.

Happy Leap Day folks. Enjoy the gamboling and capering. 😁 💃💃

This 8 minute video is particularly interesting and useful — Your freezer is messing with your food:

Freezing is an awesome way to preserve food - but it isn’t perfect.

Find out what actually happens when food freezes and tips for improving frozen food. Ice daggers!

There is a small group of Warou | Welcome swallows who spend a proportion of their days perched on the deck railing, about 3 metres away, watching Miraz TV. Sometimes they also air their opinions on the failings of the plot or characterisation. 🐦

A small bird on a railing, looking at me.

I took this photo the other day of Kuaka | Godwits in breeding plumage. Do you like the halo? 🐦

Kuaka godwits with orange chests. One appears to have a halo above its head - in fact it was a water droplet glowing.

Today's bird, on Lake Te Puna a te Ora: Kuruwhengi | Australasian shoveler. 🐦

New Zealand status: Native; Conservation status: Not Threatened

Shovelers are specialist filter-feeding waterfowl with a large spoon-shaped or shovel-shaped bill that is almost twice as broad at its tip than at its base

Duck like bird with big bill floating on a lake.

The Girl Who Found Joy (The Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller Series Book 6) by Amy Vansant.

A somewhat complicated plot. Since the reader has more info than the detectives do, I suspected the outcome by maybe 2/3 through. Still a very engaging read. 📚

Book cover: The Girl Who Found Joy.

Some of my Micro.Blog pals might be interested in reading this Waikawa News blog post: Who are all those birds in the Estuary? 🐦

See photos of the 21 birds that commonly use our estuary — excludes common birds like ducks, magpies etc.

Sample bird:

Large white birds behind or beside a large piece of driftwood.
Kōtuku Ngutupapa | Royal Spoonbills.

Jana DeLeon has created another engaging and fun story in the Miss Fortune series with Swamp Spies. 📚

This book opens with an undercover spy mission to rescue Carter before yet another Sinful resident turns up dead in suspicious circumstances.

Fortune, Gertie and Ida Belle sort things out.

Book cover: Swamp Spies.

I very much enjoyed watching The Marvels. It was fun.