A magnificent new champion for Aotearoa! Fast, fierce, and fearless. Of the top 10 birds, only 2 are listed as "doing ok" - the rest are all "in serious trouble", including our wonderful falcon. 😳 www.forestandbird.org.nz/resources/ka...

The Bird of the Year!! The Kārearea!! ( @cardiokiwi.bsky.social )

This, more than ever, after the latest news cycle.

Welcome home to the toroa/albatross. May you nest safely, may your eggs hatch, and may your chicks get fat and fluffy. www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin...

The bells rang in Dunedin yesterday. The annual tradition celebrates the return of the Northern Royal Albatrosses to the Taiaroa Head colony, the only mainland breeding colony for this endangered species. Bells from all over the city chime at a predetermined time. ☺️ www.dunedinnz.com/insiders/bel...

Truth. You'll never stop a bully by sucking up.

The three leading contenders on this list have won #BOTY before, Kākāpō twice. Vote Big Round Boy! Vote Takahē №1 🟣

"Nodding like bobbleheads." Bobbleheads do not have spines. 😠 #JustSaying

Overnight, my alpine village delivered some lovely white stuff. Just as well I got my last gardening task done yesterday before heading back North on Saturday!

Oops - @thoughtfulnz.bsky.social pointed out that the Tawaki (Fiordland crested penguin( is "not known for its flying"). It can wave though! 😜

It's a small trial & it's major stuff - needs 12-18 hours of neurosurgery - but the results sure are exciting. Follow up has been for 3 years. Prof Tabrizi is already working with young people who don't yet have symptoms, aiming to do a prevention trial. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Subtly downgrade a band Coolplay

Subtly downgrade a band Nutloaf

Jim Henson would've been 89 years old today. Commemorate his life and legacy by celebrating creativity, diversity, imagination, peace, and just plain silliness. Walk with me a bit while I talk about Jim and his work--and leave your comments about what he means to you. Right this way. /1

Jim Henson would have been 89 today. His creative spirit continues to make our world a better place. I wish you a day filled with wonder and joy! 💚 #JimHensonsBirthday

Go takahē! You may be fat and the only flightless bird in the top 10 but you can climb! And it's a great view from the top! #BirdOfTheYear

From the Ohau Conservation Trust. "Spring has brought very special visitors - a pair of Kakī/black stilt. With only around 170 kakī left in the wild, we are very fortunate to have these two feeding along the margins of the lake." PS Give one of your votes for Bird Of The Year to Kakī! 📷Tony Brunt

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview. cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

There are certain queer times in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke

Todays partial solar eclipse. Luckily the clouds stayed away until after maximum eclipse. From South Canterbury, New Zealand Lunt LS80tha and Grasshopper 3 camera #eclipse

Blue penguin with hatchling! This bird was nesting in a narrow space between the ground and deck of our cabin near Dunedin, NZ. Light through the deck joints was enough for photo. #🪶 #penguin #nature #birding #birdsofbluesky #nz #bluesky #photography #blueskyday #naturephotograph #penguins

"Throughout 2025, the U.S. healthcare landscape has been reshaped by significant changes. Our most recent survey reveals that symptoms of unhealthy stress levels are trending back to levels not seen since the height of the COVID pandemic." www.medpagetoday.com/publichealth...

Morena.

And if you accidentally leave your gate open, they will come in and eat the entire garden, including your laundry on the line… (Ask me how I know.🤨)

From @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social "I just thought you could use some Highland cow in your life".😍

This place translates to 'place of wind' but actually got off very lightly in the current weather - some high winds late evening for a relatively short time, then it all vanished - went completely still. I bet Windwhistle lived up to its wonderful name. 🙃😏🫤

Eegh. 😳 "A heads up that MetService have issued a 🔴RED wind warning for the Waitaki Valley. This is the HIGHEST LEVEL OF WARNING that can be issued." From 10:00pm Sat 20 Sep to 3:00pm Sun 21 Sep. Forecast: Northwesterlies with gusts of 150 km/h in exposed places.

This photo of Willis and Luxon is disturbing in so many ways

Just Saying.

Election progress from Aotearoa.... Only two of my picks are in there but it is early days.

Three forestry company directors held personally responsible for ensuring that woody debris is cleaned up from a Gisborne forest say they face bankruptcy if the order is carried out. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3608...

Here's a celebratory bird.

No new pictures, where are you at mentally.

Luxon himself handed me the Prime Minister's science prize last year. Let me say this in plain English: he's an idiot for running a govt who budgeted more for AI than for the Marsden fund. any journo reading this can quote me on it #nzpol

A genie using the teapot as their lantern. ☺️

DYING at these pictures of a heron rescue from an animal rescue fb group (credit Sven Shale on fb)

Jesús (Tito) González, Paul Negulescu & Michael Welsh have received the 2025 Lasker DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for contributions to the development of Trikafta, a 3-drug combination that has transformed the lives of patients with cystic fibrosis. www.the-scientist.com/triple-drug-...

If you see this, quote with the energy you bring to Bluesky

The world is a mess so here are some old teddy bears.

All manu are winners #boty #BirdOfTheYear Here is a tauparapara that celebrates birds: Korihi te manu Takiri mai te ata Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea Tehei mauriora The bird sings, the dawn unfurls. The day becomes brighter and brighter until the full light of day has dawned. Breath of life.

Helen has written an excellent critique of a study referred to by Robert Kennedy (who shouldn't be the health secretary based on his dangerous, unscientific views) diplomaticimmunity.blog/dreadful-stu...

Endorse. It is a travesty that the Takahē has not yet been #BirdOfTheYear. They are extremely round and they were thought extinct for nearly 50 years. What more do you need! #ComebackKids . I met these two lovely, round rainbow dinosaurs some years ago in @zealandia.bsky.social

Is there anyone here at one of the universities in Wellington, NZ, who would want to host me to give a talk around November 10th?

Robert Redford playing a gentle incarnation of death, coming for a frightened old woman in The Twilight Zone episode "Nothing in the Dark" (1962). An extraordinary performance then, terribly bittersweet today

RIP Robert Redford. 😔

😲😁 www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlTV...

Time to take a break from human politics. It's that time of the year when we elect the Bird Of The Year for Aotearoa, New Zealand. I have not yet sorted all my votes, but one definitely goes to this handsome dude with the hair. The Royal Spoonbill (Kōtuku ngutupapa) www.birdoftheyear.org.nz

I beg to differ. This is A plus birding. 😁