On Owl Awareness Day an important reminder that no conclusive evidence of South-west Australian Barking Owls has been produced since my last call for information in 2022. This taxon nay now be extinct. bioone.org/journals/bul...

A sad find on a road near my place. This beautiful female Koomal (South Western Brushtail Possum) had a fairly developed baby in the pouch that was also (presumably) killed on impact with a speeding vehicle. Nobody had stopped to check. Another one of the many avoidable wildlife deaths.

Grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to my first Handbook of Birds of the World profile with @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social We revised the state of knowledge for the Regent Parrot including new info from Western Australia. You can check it out here: birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

Red sky in the morning heralding (I hope) some much needed rain. In our highest rainfall month with a mean of 175mm expected, we’ve had just 13mm so far.

House Crow. A new addition to my Aussie list. Considered an invasive species of concern, these often turn up on ships but are quickly eliminated. A pair has been hanging around for a few weeks south of Perth, with apparently no action by authorities.

Sunrise at the Irwin River, Dongara.

Fleshy mistletoe (Amyema miraculosa) looking fantastic on a Santalum in mid-west WA.

Mid-winter WA style

A few days scoping fire research last week in the stunning Walpole wilderness. We’re studying the effects of prescribed burning on biodiversity to better inform fire management.

In less than one minute you can see why they call our native grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea preissii) nature’s flamethrowers!They can exceed 1000 celsius. This was during a “cool” fuel reduction burn on my property. It is not advised to burn them more frequently than every 5-6 years.

Got this lovely young male Scarlet Robin in my mist net this morning ❤️

I love Hakeas and am grateful to have found this Hakea multilineata in a nursery a few years back. It’s very uncommon in cultivation but a hardy species from the nearby West Australian wheatbelt. It’s easily coped with the hot and dry Perth Hills conditions.

The Crested Pigeon was never a bird seen in Perth when I was growing up. I was surprised to see three this morning alongside a busy footpath on the Canning Rover in inner city Perth. The latest urban adapter is doing well. Invasion of the ‘burbs nearly complete 🤣

The amazing @rebeccajquah.bsky.social had another PhD chapter published. This study examines two keystone mycophagous marsupials the boodie and woylie. Bec used DNA metabarcoding to work out what they were eating. Her work inform translocations. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

The morning after the first of the winter storms has created chaos across the South-west. Some 290 power outage areas and over 30 000 affected. Lots of rain but no trees down on ours. Grateful for my trustydiesel generator to get us through the day ahead with power restoration time unknown.

Cosy! Got our state of the art efficient slow combustion cranking tonight as it dips to 4C. We should be able to make good on my aim of getting through winter with wood from our property - thanks to the summer storms of the last few years.

The olive harvest begins in our orchard. Let’s see if I can do a better job of preserving them than last time. Any easy and good methods? Please share!

Hakea season has started. My favourite genus of Australian plants! Western Australia has 3/4 of all the Hakea species and most of the well known horticultural cultivars.

Last night I heard the eerie sound of a fox crying. I went out the back door and saw two glowing eyes in the darkness. It ran a short distance away watching me. Then I noticed the remains of a Quenda (bandicoot) it had just killed. Our native fauna has no hope with feral predators.

Weekend spent making the most of the late season chilli burst. Hot sauce and dried chilli plus flakes to last the winter season.

Think you know the “common” brushtail possum? The amazing @shelbymiddleton.bsky.social just published a review of their long and convoluted taxonomy. This sets the scene for some future resolutions of this messy species complex that she’ll be dropping. museum.wa.gov.au/research/rec...

Our road this morning. Love the autumn fog at this time of year.

Long weekend banding* at home netted this beautiful honeyeater - a male Western Spinebill. Endemic to SW WA that impressive beak is adapted to feeding on nectar from the famous kangaroo paw and other native flowers. *approved activity undertaken with permits and licences.

Mist amongst the trees at home after the cyclone system remnants have passed.

The rain has started here in Perth and looking forward to a lot more after 3 months with no significant rain events. Early reports from Exmouth are not good though. Narelle slowed and sat on them most of the night at Category 4 strength. Pic: ABC News.

Panic buying or disrupted supplies at the local supermarket. Weird stuff like no HiLo milk today. Pasta wiped out too.

Enjoyed getting to chat invasive corellas with Channel Nine News. Perth and Bunbury have large flocks of corellas established from aviary escapes and now naturalised. They are poorly studied and no longer being actively managed. We have commenced research on their ecology and genetics.

I really appreciated the opportunity to talk about the impacts of anticoagulant baits on wildlife and what the new bans mean. Thanks ABC News Weekend Breakfast.

I’ll be discussing what the rodenticide bans mean for wildlife and home users on ABC (Australia) News Breakfast tomorrow at 1030 AEST. Tune in if you’re interested in hearing more.

The newly announced rat poison bans are a long time coming. But what does it means for wildlife? My thoughts are out in The Conversation. theconversation.com/new-ban-on-d...