I saw a cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) flying by this afternoon, in Ōtautahi-Chirstchurch, NZ, which was a big surprise.

I just checked and this is the first time ever that I've seen a cabbage white adult in June. I've been monitoring butterflies in the city since 2003 and have >37,000 cabbage white observations in my #wildcounts database. Me seeing one in June is officially weird.

Also, none of the 1,983 observations of cabbage whites from the Canterbury Region on #iNaturalist are adult butterflies in June.

I'd be interested if anyone sees more.

This, and daffodils coming into flower, and flowering cherries starting to bloom, all before winter kicks in, suggests that some animals and plants are getting thoroughly confused by the warming climate.

https://www.europesays.com/uk/149393/ Aurora Australis lights dazzle NZ skies, South Island residents first to see the show #Already #aurora #australis #begun #colours #dazzle #First #Island #islanders #light #lights #marvelling #NZ$ #residents #Science #see #show #skies #south #Space #striking #the #to #UK #UnitedKingdom #with #Zealand

#NZ immigration interview. (A few of the jokes might not go down well.) #humour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkZpL2VGiow

Stunning #sky out at Taupō #Plimmerton tonight. #TaupoPlimmerton #Aotearoa #NZ

https://www.europesays.com/2124679/ Ski Cardrona’s Soho Basin: 10 things to know before visiting biggest ski resort in NZ #10 #aotearoa #basin #become #before #biggest #cardrona #cardronas #every #in #Know #largest #NewZealand #NZ #opening #pollok #resort #Sarah #season #Shares #should #Ski #skier #soho #things #this #TO #visiting #will #with

Ski Cardrona’s Soho Basin: 10 things to know before visiting biggest ski resort in NZ https://www.byteseu.com/1062491/ #10 #aotearoa #basin #become #before #biggest #cardrona #cardronas #every #in #know #largest #NewZealand #NZ #opening #pollok #resort #sarah #season #shares #should #ski #skier #SoHo #things #this #to #visiting #will #with

This looks uncomfortable!

Philip Summerhays on #iNaturalistNZ took these images this evening of an apple looper moth in Auckland with its head covered in mites.

Philip writes that the moth flew away after being photographed, unharmed. I suspect the moth is incapable of moving its legs to a position where it could dislodge all these mites from its head. I don't know yet whether they're hitching a ride between flowers or feeding on the moth.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/285564842

Here's a baby wrybill spotted, and filmed, on the Ashley River by Canterbury birder Steve Attwood. Wrybills are specialists of NZ's braided rivers, with a beak bent sideways to reach invertebrates hiding under rocks. Baby wrybills are more like fluffy grey river rocks, except when they move.

(Steve has all manner of excellent bird encounters to explore on his #Flickr account.)

https://flic.kr/p/2r7AAbp
#nz #canterbury #birds #wrybill #BabyBirds #nature #rivers

Is there anyone in #Australia or #NZ, or who would be willing to ship to NZ, who could donate a #SPARC #Solaris (sun4u/sun4v) machine to the building effort for FractalKit? We're running up against some limits and some really bad time sinks, doing all of this on a 650MHz #UltraSPARC IIe is.... really really painful. We know this is a long shot, but if anyone out there has a machine they could donate to this we would be immensely thankful. This porting effort is really important to us but it's not going to be actually useful if a single library takes a day to compile. If you can't help, then please boost? @SolarisDiaspora

One for all you book loving Ōtautahi folk. I just learned that the Scorpio Books annual sale is now on.

https://scorpiobooks.co.nz/event/booklovers-sale-scorpio-books-annual-sale-2025/

Is there anyone in #Australia or #NZ, or who would be willing to ship to NZ, who could donate a #SPARC #Solaris (sun4u/sun4v) machine to the building effort for FractalKit? We're running up against some limits and some really bad time sinks, doing all of this on a 650MHz #UltraSPARC IIe is.... really really painful. We know this is a long shot, but if anyone out there has a machine they could donate to this we would be immensely thankful. This porting effort is really important to us but it's not going to be actually useful if a single library takes a day to compile.

ACT's Regulatory Standards Bill is a dangerous attack on nature and Te Tiriti. It aims to lock ACT’s far-right principles into law, ensuring corporate property and profits trump the public good, environmental protection and our founding document.

Have your say now and pass it on!
https://greenpeacenz.typeform.com/to/ZmYqREO3?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=Responsive

https://www.europesays.com/2114346/ Facebook NZ says profit and revenue down as it sends $159 million to Ireland, pays $831k in tax #159 #2023 #831k #according #And #Annual #as #compared #declined #down #facebook #in #ireland #IT #last #Latest #million #NewZealand #NZ #pays #Profit #report #revenue #says #sends #Tax #TO #year #zealands

TCF + #NZ Mobile companies have done lots of publicity about the 3G shutdown this year https://www.tcf.org.nz/digital-living/understanding-the-3g-shutdown

* Spark & 2degrees 3G closes late 2025.
* One NZ 3G to close 31 Dec 2025.

Most discussion has been about old mobile phones. NOT much about devices using SIM cards until today.

Do you have devices using #NZ 3G SIM cards? You may need a new SIM or may need to replace device if it can't do 4G or 5G.

Important for those with personal medical alarms or security alarms.
Easy to forget if you have things set up on auto topup or someone (eg accountant or relative) is dealing with bills for you.

Homes gates, security systems affected by 3G shutdown https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/562348/homes-gates-security-systems-affected-by-3g-shutdown 28 May

Check on your older relations (parents, grandparents etc) to ensure they are not going to be caught out when 3G shuts down in #Aotearoa #NewZealand later this year.

Yes it does affect other commercial services like some vending machines and parking facilities. However that's between them and their vendor etc.

Newsroom has a good article on the current NZ government ending the Predator Free 2050 Ltd agency in the recent Budget announcement.

Predator Free 2050 Ltd was set up by John Key's National government in 2016. The agency has led the ambitious project to achieve landscape-scale removal, and aspirationally national eradication, of some of NZ's worst predatory mammal pests.

The agency found out it was ending on the day the budget was announced.

Apparently the government is trying to make reassuring noises that everyting's fine and the predator free work will continue under the management of the Department of Conservation. That's the same department that keeps getting its budget cut and today announced a further 84 proposed job losses.

Hopefully all the conservation gains that have been made over the past decade can be sustained.

https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/26/it-was-a-bombshell-govt-culls-pest-eradication-company/

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/562316/department-of-conservation-proposes-cutting-84-jobs-primarily-affecting-women