Animals
Fireflies—twinkling magicians of the night sky
Bob Gosford September 19, 2017 1 Comment
"Magical – that's the word I keep on using, it was magical. It was like being around fairies – the forest was glowing.": Nick Moir
Happy Thylacine Day: Thylacines were lucky to last as long as they did
Bob Gosford September 9, 2017
Since the European invasion of Australia in 1788, on the whole Australia’s wildlife has been incredibly unlucky. The agents of extinction that Europeans brought with them – predators to eat them, herbivores to starve them, changed fire regimes, drastically altered habitats, direct hunting, invasive plants and even climate change – have brought the native fauna to its knees.
Domestic Cat Monitoring in Alice Springs
Bob Gosford August 29, 2017
The domestic cats involved in this study roamed to neighbouring properties, road verges, adjacent bushland and some cats were observed to impact the local wildlife through predation. The results of the study show that even the domestic cats that do not leave their property boundary often, still have the capacity to negatively impact native wildlife. This suggests that the management of the domestic cats could do with improvement.
Butterfly of the Week: Double-spotted Line Blue, Nacaduba biocellata
Bob Gosford January 17, 2017
This isn’t the sharpest pic I might be able to get of this delightful little fella that is most likely the most abundant life-form (apart from the ubiquitous Buffel Grass) around Alice Springs right now—in numbers if not in weight. I first noticed these Double-spotted Line Blue butterflies Nacaduba biocellata when I was out at Hidden […]
Why the chicken crossed the road. And how.
Bob Gosford January 7, 2017
On Chickens: Chickens have the capacity to reason and make logical inferences. For example, chickens are capable of simple forms of transitive inference, a capability that humans develop at approximately the age of seven
Bird of the Week: Willy Wagtail – “where’s my dinner Mum?”
Bob Gosford January 2, 2017
The local pair of Willy Wagtails have taken advantage of the great season we are having in the centre this year and so far have raised two clutches, and I'll expect that, as prime examples of avian opportunism in the desert, they may raise another couple yet in this season.
Bird Hide of the Week: The Buffalo Hide, Darwin
Bob Gosford December 22, 2016
Is it not too much to ask that if we are going to the effort of building something from which the public will gain great pleasure that such structures should not also be beautiful as well?
Bug of the Week: Termites – the rise and fall of the alate kings and queens
Bob Gosford December 22, 2016 2 Comments
Northern Australian and Central Desert languages have numerous words for insects that are eaten, used as medicine, or that indicate important phenomena in the immediate environment: Aung Si & Myfany Turpin, 2015.
Word of the Week: Burrmarlarla – the shimmering of half light and half shade on kangaroo fur
Bob Gosford December 17, 2016
Karlwardba ka-keyo ka-yo Burrmarlarla kalaba karndakarndayh, karrarangkan yiman njale delek kandakidj dakbameng ka-yo ka-warre: Lofty Bardayal Nadjamerrek
Birds of the Week: Little Crow and Willy Wagtail: best of enemies
Bob Gosford December 17, 2016 1 Comment
The other week I came back from town on one of those 40C+ days to a mad flurry of wings and panic calls that can only signal interloper ... or predator. This Little Crow Corvus bennetti was trying to cool down in the water but was being harried by the adult Willy wagtails