There's actual rain (and high winds) forecast for today. 🌧️
Through the window. A rather scruffy looking Starling. 🐦
Half a dozen Kōurarini | European goldfinches were outside my bedroom window this morning. 🐦
Not sure I've seen a dozen or more Poaka | Pied Stilt all together at our beach before. 🐦
Bird footprints on the beach. 🐦
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.
Because it's Leap Day I'm messing around with fonts in some apps — just to shake things up a bit.
Starting the day with a bit of a shaker — GeoNet: Quake - 2024p158594 〰️:
Magnitude: 4.7
Depth: 20 km
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. 🐦
I took this photo the other day of Kuaka | Godwits in breeding plumage. Do you like the halo? 🐦
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
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. 📚
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:
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.
I very much enjoyed watching The Marvels. It was fun.
We have a 20,000 litre rainwater tank that serves our house for drinking and other water. Since it was last filled by tanker at the start of November 2023 we've had only about 175 mm rain (6.9") adding ~11,000 litres. That's just not enough, so today the tanker delivered another 12,000 litres.
For those who just want the pretty pictures — 🐦
A juvenile Tarapirohe | Black-fronted Tern.
New Zealand status: Endemic
Conservation status: Nationally Endangered
Length: 28 cm; Weight: 95 g;
More at Juvenile Black-fronted Tern.
Juvenile Black-fronted Tern
At this time of year we see flocks of White-fronted Terns hanging out in the estuary near the sea, but on 22 February 2024 this bird was sitting apart from the flock. Looking closer, it was a bit different, but has been confirmed as a juvenile Tarapirohe | Black-fronted Tern. That's a new addition to the Waikawa Beach Big List of Birds. 🐦
New Zealand status: Endemic
Conservation status: Nationally Endangered
Length: 28 cm; Weight: 95 g;
A medium-small blue-grey tern with a forked tail, short orange legs and bright orange pointed decurved bill. Breeding adults have pale blue-grey body plumage contrasting with a black cap and narrow white cheek stripe; non-breeding adults have a mottled grey cap, a black patch around the eye and ear coverts, and a black-tipped bill.
It's so encouraging this summer to see the estuary full of birds from the land to the sea and north and south of the river. There's a very young new Oystercatcher chick running round too, bringing the total of Pied Stilt and Oystercatcher chicks that have survived to 6.
I'm certain that one reason the birds have been so abundant this summer is that the easy access for vehicles to the beach has been blocked off. People have still been sometimes illegally accessing the beach through a track from one nearby property, through council land and destroying several metres of recently planted spinifex.
Some locals also carved a vehicle track through a pedestrian-only Reserve, even using a chainsaw to cut down a post that was in their way. Council ended up installing three signs warning vehicles off, but these vehicle-addled locals just laugh as they drive through anyway. Witnesses have reported some to the Police and to the Council.
The overall effect of the official entrance being closed though has been to very much reduce disturbance of the wildlife by vehicles.