Dr Dave

#MistletoeMunchersFromWayBack

This is not my beautiful house!

Morning scene across the Tamar in Launceston. Wet and grey.

Morning all.

Tarāpunga poop on a rock, 100% made from taupata berries.

Tarāpunga poop on a rock, 100% made from taupata berries.

Tarāpunga poop on rocks, 100% made from taupata berries.

And most importantly, here is the poop.

This is from January last year but shows the At Risk - Declining Tarāpunga/Red-billed gull gorging on taupata berries at Cape Palliser.

Developing statistical models as an early warning system to predict Salmonella outbreaks in wild birds | PNAS Developing statistical models as an early warning system to predict Salmonella outbreaks in wild birds

Something new in @pnas.org from me & @grrlscientist.bsky.social! A commentary on a really neat paper.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Here's a chance to get involved in some important #citizenscience.

If you spot any tagged Bogong moths over the next few weeks or months, report them to the Bogong Watch website (www.bogong.org) or record them on iNaturalist.

#mothsmatter #ausinverts #wildoz #inaturalist #communityscience

Outstanding result! Many thanks for your tireless work on this Rob, the owls will be hooting their praises to you long into the night!

Breaking: APVMA suspends sale of persistent owl poisons in Australia! We have fought tirelessly for years and after meeting with them last week this is not an outcome we had anticipated! www.apvma.gov.au/news-and-pub...

Not a first for Phillip Island on the ground. I have several observations from Phillip Island in January 2020 including this one observed January 12, 2020.

It me!

A figure depicting the relative abundance of different prey items among two species of felid (e.g., monkey, small bird, agouti), derived from scat. The x axis is labeled "PoO (%)."

I would like to interrupt your doomscrolling for an important announcement: This figure from Ellen Dymit et al., 2025, depicts the proportion of vertebrate prey in felid scat, recorded as a Proportion of Occurrence (PoO). 💩

Aussies urged to look for tiny white marking to solve years-long mystery of iconic creature Over the next two months, Aussies are being urged to do their part.

Help! If you are lucky enough to spot one of these bogong moths marked with a white sticker or paint, please report it.
au.news.yahoo.com/aussies-urge...

Good morning.

From Congo to China: 309 freshwater fish species uncovered last year Freshwater ecosystems are rich but fragile. Of the new fish species discovered, many are critically endangered

Amazing! 309 new freshwater #fish species described last year

mg.co.za/the-green-gu...

One of the few partial wins for #biodiversity from (the threat of) armed conflict 🌍

Yep, they’re polymorphic for fruit colour. Some plants have yellow fruit, others pinky red.

Noice.

Nine ways extreme events reshape river biodiversity How floods, droughts, heatwaves, and compound events are impacting life in rivers

Nine ways extreme events reshape #river #biodiversity

1. They cause selective mortality that erodes genetic diversity
2. Droughts fragment rivers and refuges can become ecological traps
3. Long‑lasting physical legacies reshape habitats

Spatial distribution of reproductive phenology observations in Australian subtropical rainforest flora for three time periods: (a) 1770–1970, (b) 1971–2000 and (c) 2001–2025. The mapped region spans from 21 to 35°S and 150 to 155°E.

PhD Chap1 done! With an all-star cast, I built a reproductive phenology dataset by integrating flowering and fruiting observations from as many sources as possible. The dataset covers: 255yrs, most Subtropical rainforests in Aus, and 915 species.
doi.org/10.1002/ecog...

CLIMEX Match Climate Composite Match Index (CMI) overlaid with Tipuana tipu distribution location records, projected globally. Insets show the native range, part of South America, part of southern Africa, southwest Australia, and an area of eastern Australia with high levels of cultivation and/or naturalisation. Areas with an orange-red colour (CMI 0.8–1) had high CMI values. Areas with a blue colour (CMI 0.6–0.8) had a climate with moderate CMI values. Records of T. tipu are shown as open circles. Pink circles represent records of plants within the native range. All other colours represent plant records in the non-native range, with purple representing cultivated plant records, yellow representing non-cultivated plant records, green representing records with both cultivated and non-cultivated plants and brown representing plant records where the cultivation status was indeterminate.

The interplay between climatic niche and spatial distribution can inform the management of non-native invasive species. Our findings reveal that the invasion risk for species with small geographic ranges may be greater than assumed.
Read more (OA): doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
#bioinvasions 🌐🌏🧪

One week after decent rains refilled the dry half of our dam, and the first diving beetle has appeared!

Pomegranate Tree Leaves Falling Off: Why Do Pomegranate Trees Lose Leaves Pomegranates are typically grown for their fleshy, sweet-tart edible fruits. That being said, pomegranate leaf loss can be a frustrating problem for many gardeners. Click on the article that follows t...

All good; they’re deciduous and do this every Autumn. Nothing to worry about—more here: www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruit...

Good morning.

This is Iran. These are the people being murdered in our name.

Good evening good people.

This workshop is filling up fast, so register soon if you're intending to go. Come and find out about eco acoustics, the art of owl detecting, owl rescues and releases that we've been involved in, and much much more. Too much owls is not enough!

Boomerang made from mammoth tusk with 5 cm scale

A boomerang made from mammoth ivory, from Obłazowa Cave, Poland. Dating to around 40,000 years ago, the object was shaped and well-used, with signs of polish in the areas where a right-handed person would have handled and thrown it.

Photo: Sahra Talamo and coworkers (2025, scale=5cm)

One Nation candidate contesting Sussan Ley’s seat likened Julia Gillard to ‘non-productive old cow’ Pauline Hanson says ‘get over it’ and fully backs David Farley, her party’s candidate in Farrer byelection

Hands up those who grew up on farms and remember what is done to 'unproductive old cows'

You can do better #Farrer

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...