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The Powerful Owl: a stealthy top predator or a fancy umbrella for Hunter Valley forests?

Oct 13th, 2011
by admin.
3 comments

This article is a special contribution from guest author Hayley Averell. If you’ve seen these birds in your back yard add your comments below because we’d love to hear about them. They are magnificent birds.

Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)

The Powerful owl. Could it be an umbrella? (Image: Greg Sharkey CC)

Australasia’s largest owl is found right on my doorstep, in the beautiful Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales. The Powerful Owl, Ninox strenua, is a stealthy top predator, and more imposing than any of the common nocturnal birds you find in backyards. Living along the east coast of Australia, the Powerful Owl is nationally listed as Least concern, meaning it is considered a secure species, but in New South Wales and Queensland is listed as Vulnerable.

Scientific knowledge about the powerful owl is young and incomplete, but growing; and the future abundance of powerful owls depends on the growth of this scientific knowledge. So what do ecologists know about the powerful owl? What actions are needed to conserve these elusive predators? Continue reading →

Posted in: Conservation, Forests.

Everybody needs a place to live

May 30th, 2011
by Dr Ruth Young.
8 comments
TalkingNature nest box

Pale-headed rosella inspecting a TalkingNature nest box (TalkingNature CC SH-BY)

Everyone needs a place to live. In our ever expanding cities, people are always finding new places to live but often at someone else’s expense. It’s a competition for space and often it’s the native animals, the frogs, birds and mammals that lose the competition. They lose their natural habitats. But can we keep nature and wildlife around us somehow, can we offset this habitat loss? Continue reading →

Posted in: Habitat, Human Impacts.
Tagged: · · · · ·

3rd Annual ‘Save The Frogs Day’ 29th April 2011

Apr 21st, 2011
by Dr Ruth Young.
1 comment

In an effort to raise awareness of the plight of amphibians, SAVE THE FROGS! America’s first and only public charity dedicated exclusively to amphibian conservation, has declared Friday April 29th, 2011 the 3rd Annual ‘Save The Frogs Day’. Continue reading →

Posted in: Conservation.
Tagged: ·

And just for fun… the Takapo!

Apr 1st, 2011
by Dr James Webley.
No comments yet

Hmmm? A Kakapo and a Takahe

Those New Zealanders are at it again…

Well it is April the 1st.. so just for fun!

Continue reading →

Posted in: Conservation, News.
Tagged: · · · ·

Are societies still dependent on the stability and resilience of nature?

Mar 24th, 2011
by Dr Ruth Young.
1 comment

Space shuttle Challenger

Have we evolved above Nature? (Flickr: Marion Doss & National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the U.S. Information Agency)

People like to think we are not a part of nature

‘Society has evolved beyond nature’. ‘Agriculture and technology allowed humans to break free from the natural world’; ‘Get away to Nature!’ These catch cries aim to separate humans from nature. They imply that our technology and societies allow us to ignore the constraints and responsibilities of living as part of the natural world.

So why do we think we have moved beyond nature? Continue reading →

Posted in: Conservation, Human Impacts, In Depth.
Tagged: · · · ·

ANZANG: Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea nature photography

Apr 13th, 2010
by Dr James Webley.
2 comments
Space Jellies

Space jellies by Justin Gilligan, NSW

I’ve always liked great photographs, especially nature photographs. The South Australian Museum owns and runs the annual ANZANG Nature Photography Competition. As you can guess from the title, photographs focus (pun intended) on the natural heritage of the Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and the New Guinea regions. Continue reading →

Posted in: Events.
Tagged: · · ·

Richmond Birdwing butterfly: knowledge of ecology aides recovery

Apr 8th, 2010
by Dr Ruth Young.
6 comments
Male Richmond Birdwing butterfly

The male Richmond Birdwing butterfly, on the way back from local extinction thanks to ecological knowledge and community work (Image: Dr Don Sands)

The Richmond Birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera richmondia) is one of Australia’s biggest and most spectacular butterflies. Just 100 years ago, these butterflies were abundant throughout greater Brisbane.

Today they are gone. Not entirely extinct, but no longer in Brisbane. The reason is more than just building a city. It’s a story of habitat loss, isolation and invasive species.

We can give them the chance to return and we’ll explain how here. Continue reading →

Posted in: Biodiversity, Conservation, Human Impacts, Urbanisation.
Tagged: · · · · · · ·

Mangroves: Smelly habitats but fantastic nurseries!

Apr 5th, 2010
by Dr Ruth Young.
3 comments
Fiddler crab

Fiddler crabs are mangrove bioturbators, oxygenating the sediments (Image: TalkingNature.com)

People often think of mangroves as smelly muddy places that ‘get in the way’ and block your view of the water.

It’s true they can be smelly, sticky places, but they’re also an important habitat for juvenile fish and crabs which we want to catch when they’re adults. So what is that smell and which fish get a benefit from those mangroves? Continue reading →

Posted in: Biodiversity, Marine.
Tagged: · · · · · ·

Turtles! You are what your mum eats! POP’s passed from mother to egg to turtle

Mar 30th, 2010
by Dr James Webley.
1 comment
Green turtle digging a nest

A female green turtle (chelonia mydas) starts digging a nest on the beach (Image: van de Merve)

We all know marine turtles lay eggs and don’t provide any parental care for their turtle hatchlings. The mothers do leave some food for the hatchlings though, as yolk in the eggs. But how healthy is this yolk?

Mammals suckle their young and when they do, they can pass environmental pollutants from their bodies to their offspring’s. But are toxins that maternal turtles accumulate when feeding, passed on to their turtle hatchlings within the eggs? And if so, does it affect the turtle hatchlings’ chances of survival?

These are important questions when conserving turtles like Chelonia mydas, because it means you have to conserve the ecosystem. Dr Jason van de Merwe decided to find out the answer and determine if green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) pass on organic pollutants to their eggs and subsequently their hatchlings. But first here’s some background on pollution and marine turtles. Continue reading →

Posted in: Conservation, Human Impacts, Marine.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · · ·

Anorexia when you’re pregnant? Sounds like an oxymoron unless you’re a sea krait!

Mar 24th, 2010
by Dr James Webley.
1 comment
Sea krait (Laticauda saintgironsi)

The banded sea krait (Laticauda saintgironsi) swimming over a seagrass bed in New Caledonia (Image: Xavier Bonnet)

Sea kraits (Laticaudine) are sea snakes. They’re front-fanged (proteroglyphous) venomous elapid snakes and are common through much of the Indo–Pacific region. When they’re pregnant, the females stop eating!

Seems like a strange thing to do when you need energy and nutrients to make eggs.

Why would they do that?

Francois Brisçhoux, Xavier Bonnet and Richard Shine set out to find out why by studying two of these kraits; Laticauda laticaudata and L. saintgironsi, on small islets in the Lagoon of New Caledonia. What a cool field site! Continue reading →

Posted in: Marine.
Tagged: · · · · ·

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