Posts by joncounts@mastodon.nz
(DIR) Post #AyNSZ4GwV6ZrKOArmS by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-09-19T21:37:47Z
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There's a standout article in #ThePress by Charlie Mitchell detailing how in the 1960s Christchurch city, NZ, came within a whisker of having a major motorway built through the middle of Hagley Park. That's the big park in the core of the city. The majority of local politicians were all for the motorway and it was only stopped by a coincidental administrative change in the way parks were managed that was backed by a national government decision.Christchurch's mayor in the late 1960s, Ron Guthrey, was an ardent motorway supporter. The Press article notes how, in his inaugural speech as mayor, "he floated the idea of allowing cars to drive through the Botanic Gardens". At the next election he became the first sitting Christchurch mayor to be defeated in nearly half a century.I see some parallels here with our current self-described "petrol head" mayor who wants to dig up a central city cycleway.In the 1960s, opposition to the motorway was led by conservative councillor Peter Skellerup. “Surely the cult of the motor-car is not so strong that we carve through our oldest and most beloved reserve,” he said in 1963. “You can't land an aeroplane in the city… surely the car should be restricted from certain places.” "Skellerup, running to reclaim his seat, won more votes than any other council candidate in New Zealand’s history."https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360820413/road-not-taken-how-abandoned-hagley-park-motorway-changed-christchurch#Christchurch #nz #Cars #roads #UrbanPlanning #motorways
(DIR) Post #AygepeDWKBTCJE7052 by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-09-29T04:21:40Z
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NEWS FLASH: We have CLAMS living on campus!As part of last week's Sustainability Weed at #LincolnUniversityNZ, our freshwater ecology tutor Elysia Harcombe did some kick sampling along a farm ditch. Yes, she found clams!It's the first record on #iNaturalist of clams on campus, or anywhere in Lincoln (and we've been kick sampling in the Liffey Stream through Lincoln for several years in my biodiversity class).There are records of some clams living in the Yarrs Lagoon wetland reserve to the south of campus, but that's about 3 km to the south.https://inaturalist.nz/observations/316195607#clam #FreshwaterEcology #nz
(DIR) Post #Aygf3bV9DaXPwO0n9E by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-09-29T04:26:39Z
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@lightweight This is an excellent question. Yes, maybe birds? Muddy duck feet are blamed for a lot of otherwise unexplainable long-distance dispersal. Some young clams travel about in the gills of fish. But, it would be an adventurously foolhardy fish that would be able to discover this farm ditch.
(DIR) Post #AytbbILn3NOxd4vKDo by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-10-05T06:00:47Z
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One of the fun things about working in an ecology department at a university is being surrounded by people who are *really, really good* at finding interesting critters.On Thursday we took our annual first year ecology course field trip to Ōtamahua/Quail Island. That's a reserve in the middle of Lyttelton Harbour, where the pest mammals (except mice) have been removed and lots of trees have been planted. It was a great day.Here's entomology Masters student George Gibbs, a genius at finding insects, with one of a pair of mating stick insects that he found.And, here's Jennifer Gillette, our talented herpetologist, with two native geckos she found. (Don't pick up geckos. Jennifer has training and a permit from the Department of Conservation to handle these.)#LincolnUniversityNZ #nature #insects #geckos #NZ #CanterburyNZ #QuailIsland #Ōtamahua
(DIR) Post #AzAxHJYWMamKFr4hGa by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-10-13T19:06:22Z
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"I've realised, far too young, the decisions of today echo loudly into tomorrow”That’s quoting Buller High School student Zabeel Scanlon, speaking at this week’s Adaptation Futures conference at Te Pae Convention Centre in Christchurch, NZ.Their town, Westport, will be flooded off the map with global warming and the Buller District Council has been trying to plan a retreat inland to a new site. That plan has been controversial with some local residents, which was reflected in the recent local elections.https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/575836/outgoing-buller-mayor-cries-as-he-talks-about-risks-facing-town#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAdaptation #quote #nz
(DIR) Post #AzQltbGEtVWhFXN7i4 by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-10-21T10:17:11Z
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There's an alarming new article in the science magazine article #Quanta titled "How Soon Will the Seas Rise?""The uniquely vulnerable West Antarctic Ice Sheet holds enough water to raise global sea levels by 5 meters. But when that will happen — and how fast — is anything but settled. "Note it's now "when", not "if".I've now lived through the optimistic age of science articles all focused on telling us how very bad things are going to be if we don't do something. We're now shifting into the age of science articles telling us that some of those very bad things we were warned about are now unavoidable but we don't know how soon they'll happen.The 5 m rise is just from the West Antarctic ice sheet. Add in Greenland and the expansion of the warming ocean waters and other glaciers we could get 15 m rise.Still, please do something. We'll now lose our coastal cities in a few generations, including my home of Christchurch, NZ, but there's still so much bad we can avoid if we act now.https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-soon-will-the-seas-rise-20251020/#ClimateCrisis #SeaLevelRise #ActNOW
(DIR) Post #AzW2Ca5q1vnMBeNaOu by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-10-23T22:51:23Z
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The American ragwort aphid is now up in the Christchurch Port Hills where it's feeding on native senecio plants. 😔 The species arrived in the city in autumn of 2019 and has been spreading since then. I found it last week on the top of Sugarloaf, which is the first record of the species in the hills beyond the city.Things are going to get complicated when the aphid arrives at NZ's at-risk populations of threatened endemic senecios.https://inaturalist.nz/observations/322653324#BiologicalInvasions #aphids #insects #nz #iNaturalistNZ
(DIR) Post #AzlCR9QxRQPttJOgAS by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-10-30T19:12:56Z
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I found this handsome longhorn beetle on the outside of our house last night. My daughter likened it to a 1970s station wagon from the movies, complete with wooden trim.It's an endemic NZ species commonly called a lemon tree borer, although its larvae bore into many native trees as well. Here in Ōtautahi-Christchurch they've mostly been seen on #iNaturalist in October–December, so it's right on time.https://inaturalist.nz/observations/324028205#Oemona_hirta #nz #beetles #cerambycidae #entomology #insects
(DIR) Post #AzvnoFxKztqWfH1RqK by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-11-05T09:35:28Z
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It's now Baby Bird Time in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, New Zealand.Here are four of my observations from today of the next generation of the city's birds. I wish them all luck.Baby mallards/greylards: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/325003722Baby blackbird taking a bath: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/325003536Fluffy wee baby spur-winged plover: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/325003537A family of young paradise shelducks next to their mother: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/325003539#birds #BabyBirds #nature #nz #Christchurch
(DIR) Post #B0kQIlkuunu0tTnavw by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-11-29T19:44:19Z
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@lightweight Great article. They’re fascinating animals that we know too little about. I wonder how many relatives used to be on mainland NZ before the kiore and mice. Stewart Island is notable in having no southern beech, and in beech mast years on the mainland the numbers of small rodents spike spectacularly.
(DIR) Post #B0kne21Pvn64MxcmIa by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-11-29T22:01:34Z
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Look! Cinnabar moth!Last summer I was surprised to find cinnabar moth caterpillars feeding on the native pahokoraka, Senecio quadridentatus, in the middle of Christchurch city, NZ. Cinnabar moths were released to control the European pasture weed ragwort back in the 1940s.I collected four caterpillars and fed them on pahokoraka leaves until they pupated on 16 January. I put them on some scrunched up newsprint in a plastic container and put that outside in a shaded area of our garden. Today, three adult moths emerged.They're day-flying moths which retain the poisons of their host plants and advertise that to would-be predators with their bright colours,https://inaturalist.nz/observations/328816568#mothodon #moths #nz #Christchurch #BiologicalControl
(DIR) Post #B0kneHHDDLdzgI86V6 by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-11-29T22:03:09Z
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Here are my iNat observations of the caterpillars, pupae, and now moths, all connected with iNat's "same specimen over time" observation field.https://inaturalist.nz/observations?verifiable=any&place_id=any&field:Same%20specimen%20over%20time=257561024#moths #iNaturalist #nz
(DIR) Post #B0lNmCmrO33QQK0p0q by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-11-30T06:22:22Z
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I was reminded this week that trout in New Zealand rivers are introduced predators and that this is not good for some native fish.I was up in the mountains at Craigieburn Forest Park on Thursday (scoping out a new university ecology field trip). One of our team thought she saw a trout in Cave Stream, and I got a quick photo.We were with retired forester Nick Ledgard, who spent much of his career working here. He had seen native galaxid fish in the stream before and thought it was trout free, since trout would have difficulty getting up past the cave system that Cave Stream is known for.Looking at my photo later, I unfortunately confirmed that it was a brown trout.NZers love trout and trout management is an important way to advocate for cleaner rivers. Still, it is also important for native fish conservation (especially non-migratory galaxid fish) that some stretches of our rivers remain trout free.http://inaturalist.nz/observations/328459396#fish #nz #BiologicalInvasions #trout
(DIR) Post #B1E52ymQSDQaMLvq9w by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-12-14T03:07:32Z
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@futurebird I’ve been told that NZ’s professional moth taxonomist prefers to use a lion whisker when he mounts delicate moths.
(DIR) Post #B1GgcZtmWbiQEj89AW by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-12-15T08:32:47Z
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I've enjoyed the final post of 2025 on JK Revell's (@JKRevell) Synapsida blog. It's Prehistoric Mammal Discoveries 2025 and it's got all sorts of exciting finds like the oldest known fossilised cowpat (20-million years old), the longest ever fossilised horn from a woolly rhino (164 cm!), an expansion of the known range of the extinct European jaguar, and evidence that Glyptodonts (VW beetle sized armadillo relatives) walloped each other with clubs on their tails.That just scratches the surface. Check it out.http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/12/prehistoric-mammal-discoveries-2025.html#paleontology #mammals #blog #Synapsida
(DIR) Post #B1X8lp8jOyAvpHQxKS by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-12-23T02:24:40Z
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We were out shopping at Barrington Mall today and I was surprised to see this big sign saying “Shopping is pointless” next to a photo of a happy woman in a field of flowers.My first thought was that it’s some surprisingly on point anti-commercialism messaging to see in a mall at Christmas time.Then I realised that a word was being blocked from view. When I made a few steps to the left, the whole sign reads “Shopping elsewhere is pointless.”They were so close!#mall #shopping #sign #nz #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #Christmas
(DIR) Post #B1tmb3Av9Ji1oYzg4e by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2026-01-03T05:57:31Z
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Behold, a feeding frenzy of Plum Sharks!Plum sharks AKA kererū, the NZ wood pigeon.Plums are in full fruit in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, at the moment. I was on Valley Road today in Cashmere there were at least 11 kererū feasting in the plum trees up the side of the road.I think plums are one of the big reasons that these birds venture down from the hills into the city at this time of year.https://inaturalist.nz/observations/333255361#birds #fruigivory #plums #Prunus #woodpigeon #pigeons #kererū #nz #Christchurch #nature #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ
(DIR) Post #B2c4dtrmxkpajTem3M by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2026-01-24T09:49:28Z
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Here are four of the many things I found taking my camera for a run this afternoon in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ.Curious European greenfinches on a wire (one twisted around to look at me): https://inaturalist.nz/observations/335927660A late instar caterpillar of an Australian yellow admiral butterfly that I found feeding on a European dwarf nettle: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/335927656A mallard duck swimming on the Heathcote River with the *best* reflections (I took a lot more photos of the swirling patterns on the silver water): https://inaturalist.nz/observations/335927802A mushroom of what I think is the native *Pluteus readiarum*, growing on the dead stump of a planted ribbonwood tree: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/335927658#nature #WildCounts #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #NZ
(DIR) Post #B2m5Y1RrcWFjMUR8r2 by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2025-10-20T06:00:57Z
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@dannotdaniel 😂 It’s all thanks to our indomitable chief Johnmastodonix.
(DIR) Post #B2rUpy2uTjBsfMDa6a by joncounts@mastodon.nz
2026-02-01T01:20:35Z
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Yesterday I found this proposal for improving the transport network of Christchurch city, NZ, drawn on a footpath in chalk. It's brief, but good.https://flic.kr/p/2rUsBSV#graffiti #bikeTooter #Christchurch #nz #bikes