The temperatures this week in Dubbo have been brutal for anything breathing. It’s been far worse further west — heat records broken by more than 1° in places. Another day of the heatwave to go. Heading for 45°C today and an overnight of 26°, and then fingers crossed, a more reasonable end to summer.

It’s been stinking hot here but these little guys know where the cool spots are 🐸

Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild: Grey-headed Flying Fox Hump-backed Whales Australian Bustard Brolga Platypus

Dr Dave@ecosystemunraveller.com · 10mo ago

Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild: Black Wallaroo Blue Mockingbird Green Anaconda Grey Falcon White Bellbird

Data collected for another year of microbat monitoring at my place for Bats in Backyards (NSW). Now it’s the wait for a report to come back to tell me what species have been logged this year. Some great pick-ups, like this one. These calls are in the 30-80 kHz frequency range 🦇🔊 #EcoAcoustics

2 weeks out from summer & it feels like 6°C at 7.30am. I’ve been for a walk & had brekky outside watching an Eastern yellow robin, Double-barred finches and wrens at the bird bath. Roos are grazing in the paddock with Straw-necked ibis. Blue-cheeked honeyeaters are shrieking from the Silky oak 💚

I’m thrilled to be a featured artist in the ecoartspace published book 'Soils Turn' & one of only two artists in a section on listening to soils. Marcus Maeder being the other. 'Soils Turn’ incl. 175+ artists from Europe, US, India, and Australia. It’s launching in New York in a couple of weeks.

The storms have passed.

Just hanging about this weekend doing all the things I have no time or energy for through the week…reading, writing, laundry, walking, gardening and watching my garden ornaments graze amongst the native trees and shrubs beside the house 🦘🦘🦘

Pastel skies after a warm, grey, showery couple of days across the Western Plains of NSW.

CALLOUT: arboreus.earth submissions. This is growing a global, virtual forest of sounds. Are trees near you on this map? If not, we’d love to see them included. Details of how to submit are on the submit page of the site - arboreus.earth/submit/ Deadline for final 2025 upload is 21 November.

White-plumed Honeyeater eggs in a beautiful nest of woven grass and cobwebs, found in the back of my garden.

The view on my way to work in the mornings these days. A pre-dawn Dubbo City.

My week in pictures. An early morning Sunday walk, a Saturday of conversation and listening on farm, and another week down of presenting the ABC brekky program across the Western Plains on NSW sharing ideas, laughs, information, and some great yarns.

I’ve just finished up my first week as the full-time breakfast presenter on ABC Western Plains. It’s where I started started my journalism career in earnest in 1992. Some call it full circle, others back to the future. It’s a new challenge. Radio has changed enormously in 30 years, but so have I.

It’s the first day of spring tomorrow 🥶 The only thing we don’t get here is snow. Winter can piss off now.

The sounds of a virtual, global forest - 25 beautiful sonic tree and forest portraits from 8 countries, recorded by 14 field recordists. New listings now online. Take a break and plug into arboreus.earth 🎧 arboreus.earth/trees/

This is a bit rude for the end of winter. I don’t need this for my predawn work starts 🥶

Wallaby today? 🦘 This fella has a story to tell 😕

After chasing radio stories all week, I’m switching gears this weekend with looming creative deadlines for an exhibition opening late October. Puzzling over how to supply a high res image for a sound work. I might have to use one of my macro photos of soil given that’s what the work is about.

Over 3 decades, I’ve navigated my way through new processes, software & comms formats as needed with a little bit of on-the-go learning along the way. After a week in a new job, using an unfamiliar PC, software & apps I’d never seen or heard of before this week, my brain feels ready to explode 🤯

BOOK LAUNCHING IN OCTOBER // "Soils Turn" highlights the work of approximately 30 distinguished soil artists from across the world, and includes soil essays, and a directory of 140 soil artists. I’m thrilled to say my work of the past few years listening to Australian rural soils will be included.

That’s a wrap! It’s been a fabulous week wandering & listening to the forests and waterways of South Coast NSW. With 160+GB of recordings in the bag, it’s time to head home and start creating. Big thanks to the the Botanic Gardens staff, the team at the Bas & Eurobodalla locals for your assistance 💚

Today’s workplace 🌊

Listening and recording the sounds of first light and dawn in the coastal forests on the South Coast of NSW. I was naming the the birds in my head as I heard them…was that a chicken? 😳 Yep, a clucking clucker 🐔amongst the native Wattlebirds, Currawongs, Honeyeaters and Kookaburras.

Sun 27 July is National Tree Day in Australia. What a great excuse to have a listen to an Aussie tree...or maybe one from England, France, Germany, Venezuela, Canada, the US, or Kenya. arboreus.earth growing a virtual, global forest—one soundscape at a time. 🎧 recommended - arboreus.earth/trees/

arboreus.earth

The sounds of a virtual, global forest

arboreus.earth

It’s the start of wattle season. Yellow buds are on the cusp of bursting into yellow fluff everywhere here.

There are few things more satisfying than a desk clean. I have space.

I’ve been an exhibiting artist for 24yrs. My practice has been centred on ecological issues for the past 17yrs, the past 6 on full-time equiv hrs. I pay my bills doing part-time work in comms/journalism. I was asked today what am I doing while I’m ‘between real jobs'? Being an artist doesn’t count 🙄

It’s World Listening Day. I’m dwelling on what it means to be a listener. This week, my soundscape has been dominated by the construction sounds of a 444ha solar development, that will clear 68.5ha of native veg, incl. an Endangered Ecological Community. This soundscape is being altered forever.

Feed cleanse. That itch you just can’t reach.