We’re in this together now Like last year, we are presented with a stark set of choices: survive, grow, or die.

Like last year, we are presented with a stark set of choices: survive, grow, or die.

Yay! Flappy reading! 🐦

Cover of the Bird of the Year book by Ellen Rykers. The pale blue cover is illustrated with five framed bird illustrations: top-left, a female and male tītipounamu rifleman; top-right a kōkako; middle-left, a fierce ruru; bottom-left, a gleaming yellow mohua; and bottom left: a kea displaying its colourful underwing. Text in red in the bottom right reads: ‘Twenty years of ruffled feathers: A celebration of the birds of Aotearoa’.

After voting ngutu-pare wrybill in #BOTY2025 this week, I was delighted to pick up a copy of Bird of the Year today! @ellenrykers.com

How to use regenerative agriculture in your own garden Growing anything, anywhere – from raised beds to pots – comes down to the soil. Look after yours better with these regenerative agriculture tips....

How to use regenerative agriculture in your own garden

Chasing ice For a fleeting spell each winter, ponds and dams across Central Otago freeze—and the chase for wild ice begins.

You start flying,” says Aqua Reekie. “There’s the sound of the ice popping beneath you, and beyond that, silence.” Alexandra’s obsession with wild ice skating, documented by Becki Moss and @ellenrykers.com

Two years in the soil: Lessons from real-life regenerative agriculture trials A soil health experiment in Gisborne has yielded salad greens, sweetcorn and hopeful signs for a sustainable farming future....

Two years in the soil: Lessons from real-life regenerative agriculture trials

Lake Ida YouTube video by zl3uxb

And here's a video of ice skaters gathering on Canterbury's Lake Ida circa 1950

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCzV...

Here's a charming video of the 1946 ice carnival on Manorburn Dam near Alexandra

teara.govt.nz/en/video/409...

Chasing ice For a fleeting spell each winter, ponds and dams across Central Otago freeze—and the chase for wild ice begins.

Every winter, thrill-seeking skaters chase ice that naturally forms on dams & lakes around the South Island.

Photographer Becki Moss & I documented this adventurous subculture – at risk of fading away as the climate warms...

@nzgeo.bsky.social

www.nzgeo.com/stories/chas...

Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending August 30 Revealed: Wellington loves birds way more than Auckland does....

The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending August 30

Graphic with text "new this week" and 9 book covers including NZ titles, "Hooked on the one that got away" by Catherine Robertson, "Bird of the Year" by Ellen Rykers, and "The Venetian Blind Poems" by Paula Green.

New books day!
Fill yer boots (or your holds list) with new fiction, new non-fiction and just ordered titles.
#pukapuka #pukapukahou
my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/new-titles/ ^MT

Bird of the Year A richly illustrated, affectionate celebration of Aotearoa's native birds, and the efforts we all make to protect them.

My love for Tīeke is now historical fact thanks to @ellenrykers.com.

Go buy this book: www.penguin.com.au/books/bird-o...

🐞🐞🐞

Voice of the Sea Ice: More life! Do penguins and seals share nicely in Antarctica?

Really grateful to Dr. Claire Concannon for covering our research on Voices of the Sea Ice
🧪🌍🦑🦉🦊

www.rnz.co.nz/news/ourchan...

a close-up of a southern elephant seal with its mouth open in a shocked expression

southern elephant seals when they learn about climate change

Dinosaur Dolphins Survived In New Zealand Long After Extinction Elsewhere Icthyosaurs, marine reptiles that looked like dolphins, largely went extinct 100 million years ago. Canterbury Museum Senior Curator Natural History Dr Paul Scofield & University of Canterbury master’...

Framed like that in press release: www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC25...

Not framed like that in The Conversation piece though: theconversation.com/the-discover...

I see online dictionaries say biff means "to strike or whack" but I'd often use it to mean "throw" e.g. "just biff it in the rubbish bin"

There's also another noun form down under – biffo, meaning a fistfight e.g. "the rugby match ended with a bit of biffo"

Kererū (NZ pigeon) and tūī

A kererū - a chonky pigeon with purple, green and white plumage, a red bill and red eye rings, looking face on to camera with a small orange fruit in its beak. It is sitting among green coniferous needles in a tree

A tūī - a dark iridescent bird with a scraggly white poi peeks out from behind green needle foliage. It has its curved beak open and is swallowing a small orange fruit

A kererū - a chunky purple, green and white pigeon with a red bill and red eye rings sits among needle foliage. Its beak is open as it is swallowing a small orange berry.

the birds are enjoying this fruiting tōtara in the garden #birds 🪶

Inside New Zealand’s radical plan to save its native birds It’s been called “the most ambitious conservation project attempted anywhere in the world”— will it actually work?

Some incredible photography from New Zealand photojournalist Robin Hammond in this story.

I wish National Geographic had spelled the Māori words correctly, though. www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Thank you Sally 🙏 he was such a special dude

Clay passed away 2 months ago from bone cancer 💔 I miss him v v much

feeling deeply today for all the gorgeous goofy greyhounds ❤️

and missing my boy terribly 😭

You too! 😊

🥳🥳

the mag is on a mish to reach 10k subscribers & they're super close

a subscription makes a fab gift. you'll be supporting stories about wildlife, people, places & history told nowhere else—deeply researched, woven with care & beautifully illustrated

recommended read: www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-...

A magazine double-page spread for an article called "The forgotten pandemic" with a photo of a forest canopy. I'm peeking over the top of the pages.

I'm holding a New Zealand Geographic magazine with a dog on the cover. My eyes are peeking over the top.

I'm smiling and holding up a New Zealand Geographic magazine with a glowy ultraviolet kea on the cover.

i've been writing for @nzgeo.bsky.social for about 6 years now.

imo it's a keystone species in the aotearoa media ecosystem. a home for uniquely nz longform tales, science yarns, stunning photojournalism.

if you value this, please consider subscribing: www.nzgeo.com/stories/we-n...

Juliet Gerrard: Funding the whole pie It's a tiny portion of our overall funding, yet social sciences and humanities research makes a massive impact. Without it, the pie starts to crumble....

Juliet Gerrard: Funding the whole pie

An open letter about the future of The Spinoff An important announcement from the CEO, the editor and the founder of The Spinoff.<br />

The future of The Spinoff:

The Spinoff’s CEO, founder and editor level with you in an open letter published this morning.