David Attenborough coming to Australia

Oh my goodness...David Attenborough is coming to Australia! This is so exciting and he is apparently doing some public shows in August 2012.

I don't know how true this rumour is as I can't currently locate a place selling tickets to any of these shows, but according to some news websites and an event management company there are claims that he will be doing four public shows in August, two in Sydney and two in Melbourne!

If it is true, I would love to go along and hear him talk in person. I will have to wait and see if more details are revealed in the near future.


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Another great resource book....weeds

A great weed book that I can recommend for the central and southern sections of the east coast of Australia is Weeds of the South-east: An Identification Guide for Australia. It is written by F.J.Richardson, R.G. Richardson and R.C.H. Shepherd.

The second and fully updated edition of this book was released recently (2011) and I think it is brilliant. Great photos, easy descriptions (if you want them) and worth its cost if you are regularly needing to identify weeds in your area and not a true and passionate botanist. It is also easily available from online stores.

I live in south-east Queensland and it is certainly relevant for my area. And because of the geographic distribution of the book's subject matter you can also look at or learn about some of the weedy species that occur in the cooler parts of the continent.

Thumbs up for this publication!



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Common Koels have returned for the year

Just over the last couple of days I have been hearing the distinctive call of the Common Koel around my house and then on Tuesday I was lucky enough to see a female and male in the trees in my back yard.

These birds are migratory and return to the east coast of Australia between September and October each year and return north in about April. The Birds in Backyards website reports that this species is a parasitic breeder, which means that it doesn't actually raise its young but rather lays its eggs in other bird species nest tricking them into raising the young Koel. Fairly amazing since some of the bird species the koels do this to are quite often significantly smaller, which means that end up raising a baby that is monstrous compared to themselves. Bizarre.

If you have these birds in your backyard you can record their presence on the the Birds in Backyards survey for this species. The information helps to create a picture of their distribution and presence in Australia. The web address is: http://birdsinbackyards.net/surveys/koel.cfm. This site also has recordings of their calls which will help you identify them by call if you can't physically see them. Pin It

Glossy Black-Cockatoo survey day in SEQ & Northern NSW

The 31st October this year sees the return of the annual Glossy Black-Cockatoo survey in South-east Queensland and Northern New South Wales. There have been some changes from last year, with a number of regional coordinators organising local events on this day and a larger geographic area to be surveyed.

To participate as a survey volunteer you must complete some training before hand, which is again organised by the local coordinators and by the sounds of it doesn't take too long and just helps in identification and survey techniques. Once trained and willing to participate on the day it is my understanding that you will be responsible for surveying a one square kilometre location periodically from dusk to dawn to determine presence of this species. As an incentive to participate, the team has organised a number of prizes for participants (see their website, details below, for additional information).

Additional information on the survey work, who to contact or just further information on the Glossy Black-Cockatoo it can all be found on the Glossy Black Conservancy website (www.glossyblack.org.au).

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