Who is a fish? Is he a pet, food or a sovereign being? Can he be all these things at once? Those were questions that came to mind after a recent debate at Gulf Harbour Marina. Residents have befriended local snapper which come to the surface for food....... Read More

Seabirds, including gulls, terns, penguins, petrels, shearwaters and shags, are all regular visitors to Shakespear Regional Park and those of you with boats will have encountered them all in the Hauraki Gulf. Gulls, terns and shags nest on the surface,...... Read More

The first downpour arriving in the last week of March made little impact on a soil that was dust dry. Luckily the showers continued throughout the week and soil moisture increased for the first few centimetres. The storm that brought the rain also littered...... Read More

Autumn is my favourite time for observing the night skies. The evenings are cooler, but not yet too cold. The skies get darker earlier, so we don’t have to stay up so late, and we have the best objects to see in autumn. Some of our favourite Southern...... Read More

The release of the First Report of the NZ Climate Commission is an important step towards establishing a sustainable economy. The report covers a wide range of issues and targets. It is critical that a fresh vision for a sustainable future emerges from...... Read More

During lockdowns, the volume of the human world was muted. Traffic, aircraft, industrial and other anthropogenic noise (that is noise caused by humans) reduced. We could hear birdsong again – birds could probably hear each other better, too. But...... Read More

In 2021, there are few people in the world who deny that our climate is in crisis, but they do exist. They claim our planet is ‘just fine’. These climate crisis deniers would say that governments who declare climate emergencies, just like...... Read More

This year is going to be the Year of Mars. It is the year that we learn a lot more about our sister planet than ever before, thanks to three space probes. The Emirates Mars Mission was the first to arrive at the planet on February 9. This is an orbiter...... Read More

This month sees a new community police officer on the beat in Ōrewa, and he’s already a familiar face to many. Senior Constable Wiremu Waretini, known to many as Moo, has lived on the Coast with his family since 2000. He’s been in the police...... Read More

That feeling of autumn freshness in the morning air has arrived. The cicadas have been singing loudly through February but have you wondered where the birds are? Remember that frantic bird activity and dawn chorus from August through to January? Late...... Read More