Friday Feathered Friend
Another wonderful image from Simon Woolf. It was taken on the Kāpiti Coast.
"This bird is believe it, or not, I believe is Black Tern! "The Black Tern is one of four marsh tern species found worldwide and the rarest in New Zealand, with one accepted sighting north of Wellington in 2022. When breeding it is a small black tern with grey wings. It is pale in non-breeding plumage (as was the only local record).
Like the closely related white-winged black tern, the black tern can be found in a range of freshwater and estuarine habitats. The nominate form breeds in Eurasia, migrating to Africa to winter, while the North America subspecies migrates to Central and South America" We now have at least three birds in New Zealand, as I spotted three individual birds with the flock of White Fronted Terns. So rare in NZ. Very rapt, and a great find."
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!