Good times here in Normandy

My Easter books cartoon for @theguardian.com

The weather was *bleugh* today but at last these Tadornas were within reach. They're everywhere, but always with hundreds of meters of salt marsh between me and them. First step: a picture. Second step: a better picture at some point.

I almost took a great shot of a Zitting sitiscola. But then it disappeared into the brambles before I could even adjust my ISO. This is one of those impossible birds. They're locally super common, but not where I live. I need at least one reasonable photo before the end of my vacation!

This paper provides a phytochemical framework for understanding above- versus belowground herbivore interactions. From @jpschnitzler.net, @robinheinennl.bsky.social, @terrecolgroup.bsky.social et al. Read #OpenAccess in our societies journal #PlantBiology #PlantSci DOI: doi.org/10.1111/plb....

Great work by Humay Newrzella on how Tansy chemotypes respond to above and below-ground herbivory. As it turns out, very locally and with different terpenoids. Very comprehensive piece of work! Happy to be a part of it.

As an instructor, I was always frustrated about students missing class. Sure, it's their choice! But frustrating to work hard to prep lectures, then students don't come. I know my colleagues agree. We all wish students would show up; we don't understand why they don't. 1/2

It took traveling to Normandy to capture this basic bird. They always hide in Bavaria. But I like them!

❤️

The only difference is sheep.

Gratitude is great. I ask my kids daily what they appreciate most about the day. My partner and I often share three things we're grateful for that day as well. It's a little thing that with time changes attitude and mindset, and I think it grounds you somehow. Even on bad days, there is *something*!

Another excuse for me to pull this out again...

Macho de Osmia caerulescens (Megachilidae)

Open postdoc position in my lab at Cornell, conducting comparative and experimental studies on transcriptomic responses to diet and toxins, utilizing the milkweed-insect community. Background in molecular bio & herbivory desired. academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/31867

Scientists: In the hypothetical situation that you were invited to present a proposal for a large ECR grant and you would have to present yourself, your career, ánd proposal in 15 minutes; would you or would you not include 'academic metrics,' and why? I lean to no, but am not sure what's common.

Scientists: In the hypothetical situation that you were invited to present a proposal for a large ECR grant and you would have to present yourself, your career, ánd proposal in 15 minutes; would you or would you not include 'academic metrics,' and why? I lean to no, but am not sure what's common.

There are few things online that make as happy as @edyong209.bsky.social 's email list The Ed's Up. This months edition summarizes a birding trip to Honduras, and it describes exactly how it felt to me to pick up birding and bird photography. I hate news letters, but I recommend Ed's!

Some pictures from last week's birding session with @tanjabrendel.bsky.social. We were looking for Pied avocet, but it wasn't home that day. We did see White wagtail, which is almost the same. And my first Common ringed plover photos. A slightly better picture of Ruff (but ugh these fly fast!).

Fully agree. Peter recently added many birds from Europe too, which is tremendously helpful to disentangle conplex the many complex songs in the bird song spaghetti pile.

100% agree. doi.org/10.48550/ARX... estimate that the world spent nearly $9 billion on APCs between 2019 and 2023. That would pay for an awful lot of sciencing.

Research by Abdulhai et al suggests Large Language Models generate text that is more neutral than human-written prose, and both more analytical and more emotional: buff.ly/aoShTJo TL;DR:🧵 by coauthor @natashajacques.bsky.social buff.ly/a1ApgNF

The crucial distinction between becoming "educated" (developing skills and thinking ability and knowledge) versus "certified" (getting a piece of paper with nothing to back it up). This was already misunderstood by too many students (and policymakers) but AI sloppification exacerbates it massively.

Finally managed to capture a grey wagtail and a black redstart today!

Perched on the trunk of a live oak at #RiceUniversity, a male brown anole (Anolis sagrei) signals other males by displaying his dewlap. This is an introduced species to Texas that is native to Cuba and other parts of the Caribbean.🦎

This is quite a crucial read for those that choose to use LLMs. I'm increasingly worried about its long term consequences and the friction that will come from its use among coauthor teams. I want to be able to trust my coauthors but that will be less and less realistic it appears? Not good.

Honestly, this historic heat dome across the West is really hard to put into words for me. Temperatures over 110°F (43°C) in March, shattering all-time monthly records on multiple consecutive days, and not just by a little. ➡️ I can confirm this is human-caused climate change. polarwx.com/models/

This little bugger was trying to hide from me behind this little tussock of grass. I'm glad my camera somehow managed to focus. Beautiful Little ringed plover (and yes, a phone picture of the actual picture on my TV, because it's Saturday evening, alright...)

Puffins are back in numbers on the cliffs at @rspb.bsky.social Bempton Cliffs. Took this at early o'clock this morning and hand-stacked the composite in Photoshop #birds #ukbirds #wildlife #photography #seabirds

Eaten alive: how plants cope with sequential herbivory 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 👆 A #Commentary by @robinheinennl.bsky.social on this article by Delamore et al. 👇 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #LatestIssue #PlantScience

EDITORS WANTED AT ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS -QUANTITATIVE ECOLOGY -THEORETICAL ECOLOGY -ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY -EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY -MARINE ECOLOGY -PLANT ECOLOGY EDITORS FOR OTHER DISCIPLINES NEEDED TOO

Paper 16: @proksima.bsky.social and colleagues review the scientific evidence for ALAN impacts on amphibians across their life cycle. As it turns out, this vulnerable group of animals is vulnerable to impacts in all life stages. Read all about it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Paper 17: Kévin Barré et al assessed the impact of ALAN and part-night lighting on bat activity on La Réunion. Turning off lights earlier ended the strong bat attraction, suggesting that lighting schemes could be optimized for conservation of this bat www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Paper 18: Daphne Chevalier et al assessed the impact of different spectra on ground-dwelling arthropods, revealing impacts ranging from attractant to repellant, depending on spectrum and distance from light. How far do light impacts reach in the landscape? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Song thrush are maybe among the most common(ly heard) #birds. Nonetheless, in the first 10.000 pictures with my new camera, *this* is the only reasonable picture I have of it. I need to up my game for these. I stared at a tree for 30 minutes today and got nothing (this pic is two weeks old).

And this Northern lapwing just deserves its own post. I have been taking pictures of them for a few weeks, but didn't bulk them in with the others. These are superb #birds. Maybe even the best birds. This is the bird that brings back the good childhood memories for me like no other bird does.

Some other #birds of the weekend; Ruddy shelduck, always pretty. A Coal tit, always looking the other way, and Ruff, to be honest I saw them, but only figured them out while sorting through the pictures at home. They were far away and I took them for Curlew...

I have posted several Hen harriers over the past weeks. Most of them were females. While I love the looks of female harriers too, the males are particularly stunning. This male spent about 15 minutes hovering and scanning for voles (unsuccessfully). It was cold as hell, but 100% worth being outside!

This is probably the shittiest picture I have posted here since I got into bird photography. But it contains more Common snipes in one shot than I had previously seen *in my life* This morning I counted at least nine individuals, eight of which are hiding in this shot...

For up and coming academics: develop your scholarship such that there's no way a goofball AI program could do your research and write your papers for you. Make it original and unique to you, be curious and authentic, and be willing to do the hard work to learn and think for yourself.

Skylarks are absolute weirdos, singing out loud while hiding in plain sight, somewhere on the wing. I often find myself staring into the void to find them (but not finding them). Yesterday afternoon I spotted one reasonably close by, and my camera decided to focus. Better pictures WILL follow.

Lots of #birding this weekend. On Friday evening, I came past the Bodensee, where I decided to spend the night and go out for birds early morning. Great crested grebes engaged in their elaborate mating/pair-bonding rituals. Attenborough type stuff! Absolutely gorgeous to watch!

Lots of #birding this weekend. On Friday evening, I came past the Bodensee, where I decided to spend the night and go out for birds early morning. Great crested grebes engaged in their elaborate mating/pair-bonding rituals. Attenborough type stuff! Absolutely gorgeous to watch!

Dental Formulas xkcd.com/3213/

Look at this bird. I mean it. This bird is so common to many of us and because of this it gets very little attention. I also find myself often enjoying the rare or otherwise special animals, but let's be honest: how is this not special? Moorhens are spectacularly beautiful.

To me, all marsh tits look like this; mostly hiding, never sitting still, very skittish. Why are these birds so shy? (at least they are loud this time of year, making it easier to find them at all!)

Some quick edits before work today. I am quite happy about these pictures, considering I had about 25 minutes to get to the spot, find the #birds, take the pictures, and be home for dinner. I made it though :).

Too lazy to edit (and to be fair I don't have any means to at home), but boy was it a good idea to really rush my way into the field 30 minutes before sunset. Curlews are so cool!

New paper online today. In it, we advocate for biodiversity in the increasingly modernized agricultural world. Smart farming could be a wonderful tool to alleviate pressure from agro-ecosystems, but, as we argue here, this will only happen if biodiversity becomes an explicit target. rdcu.be/e6zB7

This makes me feel embarrassed to be Dutch. What an absolute diaper this guy is.

Also, spring flowers in my garden. Soon the garden will be buzzing with life!