Here’s a closer look at the amazing prehistoric rufous scrub bird - ancient relatives to most song birds and related to lyrebirds, we are hoping that our breakthrough with capture techniques == new opportunities for conservation (1/2)

Full moon, wolf moon and super moon all rolled in to one.

Strong start to 2026 with birding in the Karri Forest netting me 29 species on the year list by 9 AM.

As the last rays of sun slip below the horizon and the Grey Fantail calls from the darkening Karri forest, a Collared Sparrowhawk took me up to 224 birds. I look forward to the 2026 year list, starting at first light tomorrow! Happy New Year all.

Van lifer taking up 4 spots at the most popular local beach when the carpark was full. Was not popular.

Moody morning at Canal Rocks

Amazing sunset to farewell the longest day of the year on the summer solstice. Approximately 14 hours and 14 minutes today.

Sunsets and sea breezes. Must be holiday time.

Morning all. Carnaby’s cockatoo calls cut through the still morning air.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many fires in the Perth Hills in one day. Resources are stretched to their limit I suspect.

Sssneaking in some science stories before the year's end. @science.org.au shares research from #AusJZoology & @pacificconsbio.bsky.social: - coastal taipan classifications are corrected - python species in Cape York - plumed egret makes a 38-hour non-stop flight www.science.org.au/academy-news...

Summer is in full swing now. After a scorching day and severe thunderstorms yesterday (including lots of lightning started fires) these are the total fire bans in place today. That’s basically the entire south-west region of the state!

It’s a wrap. A wonderful year for the Wildlife Lab - all of us united in our common desire to stem the extinction crisis. From Black-Cockatoos to possum systematics and the diet of the world’s rarest marsupial it’s a privilege to work with so many great colleagues and students.

Lovely to be at ANU when it’s not below zero 🤣

Getting my fill of the strange grassy woodlands. We don’t really have these in SW WA where grassy woodland = weed filled woodland.

Amazing place for a meeting

Not a bad way to start the day

Morning all. Greetings from the National capital.

This table from the new UK Biodiversity Indicators is particularly stark, bleak, and awful. Almost every major group of UK birds is doing badly in the long- and/or short-term. None are showing sustained recovery, most have been declining for 50 years. Awful. #ukbirding #ornithology

A outstanding specimen of Eucalyptus woodwardii (lemon-flowered gum) growing in the wild. It's one of 173 types of eucalypts that occur naturally in the WA goldfields, and one of 46 species that occur naturally nowhere else in the world. More info: www.dn.com.au/Eucalypts_of...

It’s that time of the year where the bougainvillea is so colourful it hurts your eyes when you open the bedroom blinds.

We had a brilliant time at #AOC2025! Congratulations to all the organising team for a fantastic meeting, and we can’t wait to host you all in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in 2027!!

And in case you didn’t catch it, the next AOC will be held in Auckland, NZ in February 2027! Looking forward to returning to Aotearoa and catching up with that Kōkako!

Richard Fuller, winner of the #AOC2025 Serventy Medal, talks about migratory birds in Australia. From shorebirds that use the East Asian – Australasian Flyway to surreptitious night-time migrant, the story of bird migration is far richer than most of us realise. www.fullerlab.org

What a way to finish the #AOC2025 plenaries with Prof. Rich Fuller talking shorebirds and bird migration more broadly.

The always inspiring Simon Cherriman talked about how to save waalitj - the wedge-tailed eagle. #AOC2025.

The bird nerd quiz made for a memorable #AOC2025 dinner complete with Sean Dooley as MC, bird calls and emu impressions. Thanks to The Aviary for a great venue.

Very proud of our PhD student @nirjana-dewan.bsky.social for delivering an excellent talk at #AOC2025 on her white-tailed black cockatoo genomics work this morning! Looking forward to being able to share some nicely assembled genomes in the near future...stay tuned!

With 4 island types and over 300 islands, Palau has a huge diversity of habitats, for at least 168 bird species, #AOC2025 plenary speaker Heather Ketebengang tells us.

Heather shares how the birds are culturally important to the people of Palau, embedded in many traditional stories and sayings. Protecting nature also ensures the protections of culture and traditions. #AOC2025

Welcome to #AOC2025!

Busting all our assumptions about sexual dimorphism, bird colour and song, Kristal Cain gets #AOC2025 off to a rollicking start!

Plenary 3 of #AOC2025 was the iconic @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social talking about Orange-bellied Parrots. Science, insights and lessons from over a decade of research. Without captive breeding this species will become extinct in the wild.

Amazing plenary for day 2 at # AOC2025. Alii to Heather Ketebengang from Palau Conservation Society who talked about the importance of Palau to 13 endemic species and migratory shorebirds.

Panel discussion to conclude Day 1 of #AOC2025. It explores the nexus between the energy sector and bird conservation.

Great talk by Mike Lohr on our newest research on rodenticide impacts on Masked Owls #AOC2025

What an amazing opening to #AOC2025 with the Binar Dance Crew and Emeritus Professor Simon Forrest.

It begins! Excited for the greatest and only conference of southern hemisphere ornithologists #AOC2025. See you all tomorrow.

If you stand still too long around here, the bush will claim you.

When you live in the country, opening the bedroom curtains in the morning can bring all sorts of surprises!

The amazing @rebeccajquah.bsky.social who I have the privilege of supervising, just got her first PhD paper published. She used eDNA to examine the diet of the world’s rarest marsupial and explores how this approach can help find new suitable habitat. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Woah, a ghastly murder scene on our property? No it’s just the annual Marri tree sap season! Also called Red Gums, Marri (Corymbia calophylla) can exude an intense blood-like sap from the main trunk. In fact the name Marri is indigenous Noongar for 🩸

Some local ag show highlights from the handsome roosters through to the goat judging! Our local show is in its 70th year and I hope it will get the community support to continue. A worrying majority of the judges and committee are very old!

And he takes the fig double crown! 7 years in the making this one.

All ready for the local agricultural show. Will there be any gold this year? I’ve previously won first place for my Strawberry and Apricot Jam but have kept getting second for my fig jam - losing to a fig and ginger jam! This years secret weapon is a white fig jam made with apple port. Wish me luck!

It’s fair to say that this succulent really is the star of the front garden right now!

Nothing is as cathartic as newly made firebreaks and a driveway fixed up from the winter erosion.

Thelymitra crinita flowering on our place today. Love these native “blue lady” orchids. Once our block was covered in them but the 7 resident kangaroos have severely reduced plant survival!

AI 'limits my creative thinking' www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Applications now open for the position of Director of Pacific Biosciences Reseach Center, at University of Hawaiʻi. PBRC fosters cutting-edge research across cellular, molecular, developmental, ecological, evolutionary, and conservation biology—with a focus on Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.