Amid political instability, local communities in northern Myanmar are documenting the critically endangered white-bellied heron. As government and NGO support diminishes, community-led research is proving vital to protecting one of the world’s last strongholds for this rare bird. By Carolyn Cowan.

New report on the world's most endangered #heron (Ardea insignis). "The demographic challenges observed, including unstable fecundity, high juvenile mortality, and declining adult survival, underscore the vulnerable status of this small and isolated population." academic.oup.com/auk/advance-...

Dutch Spoonbills are in the air and on their way to Netherlands. These are the days to visit www.globalflywaynetwork.org/tracks/speci... and enjoy the antics of spoonbill #migration. Cool story by @wmgvs.bsky.social about these tagged birds, including joint flights www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

"The alternation of light and dark is not a trivial background condition. It is one of the oldest organising principles of life on Earth." Beats me why the hell anyone would ever think "sunlight on demand" is a good idea. Human arrogance astounds. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

What’s stopping homeowners from treating windows to prevent bird strikes? 💀 🐦 Interesting to see some survey data (from the relatively bird strike aware city of Ottawa 🇨🇦 ) journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

I asked ChatGPT for upcoming bird-related conferences open to non-professionals. It suggested the "BIRD Group" Congress in Belgium. Turns out BIRD Group = Belgian Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research and Development Group In fairness, most attendees probably won't be professional avian ecologists.

The worst part of being a collision monitor is when one tries to rescue an injured bird only for him/her to wind up DOA. ...especially when one is then haunted by thoughts like "What if I killed the bird by running too hard to get away from the axe-wielding madman?" (for a hypothetical example).

New terminal Ediacaran fossil assemblage just dropped. www.reuters.com/science/chin...

"What change would moving from an anthropocentric to a non-anthropocentric perspective make for bird conservation?" "Where is it potentially most needed to enable a transformation of people's relationships with birds?" 🐦

My most recent at #Rewilding Earth. Rewilders tend to get more excited about "the big outside" than tiny islands, but I like tiny islands. And sometimes tiny islands can provide opportunities to reflect on some of the movement's key normative concepts, like the ideal of "self-willed land."

Go Harper! Not even Traveller Heron would risk that flight!

1/🧵 Anthropogenic noise 🔊 is a growing 🌐 pressure on wildlife. Drone (UAS) noise 🚁🔊 is one emerging source. At #BOU2026 I’m sharing our research on how UAS noise impacts #birds and whether phylogeny + morphology predict species‑specific sensitivity. #ornithology #ecology #drones

I like big bugs and I cannot lie. "This study places what may be the final nail in the coffin for the prevailing view that more oxygen made ancient insects bigger." www.science.org/content/arti...

Sometimes I use red text in manuscript drafts to mean "go back and revise this," but then sometimes I forget and think that those are the parts that Jesus said.

"[A new UMass polls] find President Donald Trump's approval rating has fallen to 33%, the lowest rating of his second term in office." (Traveller Heron is slightly encouraged but still wonders what's wrong with a third of Americans.) www.umass.edu/news/article...

Sounds like positive news, and a reminder to my #rewilding people that migratory connectivity encompasses so much more than wildlife crossings over freeways. #Birds again show the way…

No cavities. Stains cleaned. Here’s to another 6 months of coffee and sugar 🦷 ☕️ 🍫

“My human’s human friends have pictures of Heron on their phones too? Why of course they do!”

Traveller Heron meets a new (indoor) feline friend 🐈

Blog from 2024 about formative experiences of nature and #birds in Columbus' Olentangy Wetland Research Park (c. 2019-21) - a reminder that, even though I'm lately writing for #Rewilding Earth, I won't deny the significance of such small urban restoration projects. open.substack.com/pub/carfreeb...

Yep, Traveller knows that feeling.

I've been saying for a while now that I want to find a niche in bird conservation, but it can often feel like a wild goose chase. Jk, the wild geese are *much* easier to find.

Herons are usually so elegant and graceful. Usually. This yellow-crowned night heron was trying to walk toward me on a handrail when something embarrassing happened. We've all had days like this... #BirdOfTheDay #yellowcrownednightheron #birds #birdbloopers #originalphotos #wildlife

Apparently today is when we turn off our lights at 8:30 pm (local time) in support of Earth Hour. www.earthhour.org

My latest blog for @rewilding.org looks at the volcanic island Surtsey as a case study in "self-willed land." I've not heard Surtsey discussed in #rewilding circles, yet it strikes me as a fine example of "letting beings [& ecological processes] be" - as Foreman urged. rewilding.org/surtsey-a-ca...

"Framing conservation in narrowly human terms risks reinforcing the very mindset that created the problem in the first place. There is another way of thinking about this – one that recognises that non-human life has value beyond its utility to us." 💯

"Conservation is often framed as a moral calling. That can be inspiring, but it also creates a trap. When a job is treated as a vocation, people start to believe that suffering is part of proving you belong. Long hours become a badge of seriousness. Low pay becomes evidence of purity."

I like to stop for a post-collision-monitoring coffee; the butterfly net is a good conversation starter [*]. Today the barista told me about finding a dead finch who had hit a window, so I advised on where to find bird-safe window film (e.g. featherfriendly.com/collections) 🐦

Unfortunately, this Protoceratops is just a wee bit large to be a travel companion for Traveller Heron. Someone find this pal friendly home!

Employees who work in office buildings with untreated glass windows that kill birds should refuse to go to work until the windows are treated; it would be a Bird Strike. 🐦

Latest study on birds' use of cigarette butts as pesticidal nesting material... 🚬 🐦 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/s...

“Several features that are typical of biological information networks make socially transmitted messages particularly likely to be misinformative. Three such features are loss of context, message mutation and collective distortion.” Misinformation is not limited to social media or even to humanity.

Ameland 🇳🇱 is a curiosity if you're interested in lighting infrastructure and perceptual ecology. It must be the only place on Earth that chooses green lights over amber for the sake of wildlife, alleged to be less disruptive to migratory birds. One article & response: www.jstor.org/stable/26267...

Traveller Heron wishes everyone a happy International Day of Forests 🌳

Traveller Heron wishes to note a corollary: "You never drink alone when you drink where birds are near." 🍷🐦

Just a few personal* reflections on #rewilding - the term, the movement, my own past and recent involvement therein - on the occasion of #WorldRewildingDay 🌍 *of Kate this time, not Traveller Heron www.linkedin.com/pulse/though...

"If our sense of beauty is rooted in ancient, shared biology, the features that make a song moving to us may be related to the ones that made animal calls attractive long before we evolved." www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/cha...

"The full version of the wild song disappeared from the wild during the study, making the zoo population the only remaining source of traditional song culture. ... zoo-bred males that had learned the complete song subsequently taught it to the next generation." 🐦 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

"[W]hile birding, I don't feel alone. Because there are birds surrounding me, offering companionship. I feel I'm a part of a community." 👍 substack.com/home/post/p-...

“Hey, I’m just doin’ my #cormorant thing here — what you lookin’ at?” 🪶

“I am a cormorant, doing my #cormorant thing.” 🪶

Just a few personal* reflections on #rewilding - the term, the movement, my own past and recent involvement therein - on the occasion of #WorldRewildingDay 🌍 *of Kate this time, not Traveller Heron www.linkedin.com/pulse/though...

I might be a Heron, but maybe I should socialise *a little bit* with the national bird while I'm visiting NL. #NotAHeron but also pointy. #grutto #skries 🪶 🇳🇱

This is a bird photo. (Wadden Sea, Ameland 🇳🇱)

I (Kate) expand on the "why carry a camera" question in a new Substack. It's easy to find better photos of birds of the same species I see, but sometimes I like to keep mementos of individual birds. When I'm lucky, I find ringed individuals to report. carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com/p/writing-ab...

Just when you think you’ve tried every #heron wine there is…

Dusk-time stick delivery 🪶 (Heronry near Warkum, Súdwest-Fryslân 🇳🇱) #heron #reager #reiger

Heron 2: Exit Stage Left

The Ancient Egyptians knew the Heron (the Bennu bird) was there at Creation. 𓅡𓅢𓅣𓅥 "The Bennu bird flew over the surface of Chaos, landed, & let out a scream that broke the original Primordial Silence. A Cry that was to decide what would Be in this world & what would Not."

"... all of the people that died through the roadside bombs died and are right now walking around with no legs, no arms." Words of the man who started a new war with Iran. (Yes, it's still Traveller posting. I'm a political Heron - one reason I drink so much wine.) newrepublic.com/post/207572/...