Day: May 10, 2023

Share this page THE HEATWAVES NORTH America is currently experiencing and our own “hottest on record” [1] 2019–20 summer indicates extreme heat events will become frequent. In 2019 tens of thousands of native Grey-headed flying foxes died and the Spectacled flying fox lost a third of its total population in 44C heat. [2] IMAGE: Grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) with her pup in Brisbane’s Roma Street Parklands. By Andrew Mercer, Wikipedia. CC By-SA 4.0  We will see 46–50C days soon, and when we do, one of the engines of our forests, the pollinating flying foxes that service over 100 species of native trees and plants, will die. Entire colonies will be wiped out. Bat conservationists are calling on the Federal Department of Environment Minister, the Hon. Sussan Ley, to aid the installation of cooling sprayers in every flying fox camp listed by her department as being of national importance [3]. In extreme heat colony cooling is the only intervention that will save sufficient numbers of flying foxes to regenerate and maintain ecosystems.   There are at least 100 flying fox camps in eastern Australia that need sprayers and at a cost of around $250,000 or less, per camp, this would equate to about $25 million. A paltry sum to save carbon-sequestering (forest building) long distance out-cross pollinators and seed dispersers. These are the landscape-level ecosystems needed by the bees and insects that pollinate many agricultural crops. Bats mean business. It’s nearly as simple as that.    Grey-headed and Spectacled flying fox populations [4] have already been decimated by starvation caused by land-clearing [5], bushfires and urban netting entanglements. Installing cooling systems in flying fox camps is something practical that will help Australian flying foxes survive:   “The bat you see Melbourne today may be the same bat you see in Brisbane a month later — that’s how far they fly and they build forest all the way. But they can’t do it if they’re dead. Cooling camps makes sense — ecologically and bottom line.”   [1]  Bureau of Meteorology, Australia Warming Graphic.png  [2]  BBC News, How one Heatwave killed a Third of a Bat Species in Australia, Jan 15, 2019. [3]  Nationally Important Camps of Grey-headed Flying-fox (Fed Dept of Environment).  [4]  Both bat species are Federally Listed as Vulnerable to Extinction, Environment Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. [5] Twenty three Queensland Spectacled flying fox camps have been destroyed since 1970s with forty still in existence (Pteropus Conspictillatus – Spectacled Flying fox – Recovery Plan, QLD Govt, Australian Govt 2010. —  Lawrence Pope, Friends of Bats & Bushcare Inc. 

Share this page PEOPLE ARE SHARING off YouTube a series of delightful home videos featuring young magpies who have adopted families and individuals. Dogs also feature and there is a lot of fun with the playful magpies. The videos are said to have brought enjoyment worldwide to audiences anxious with human society and underscore the rewards of peaceful co-existence with our fellow animals on this planet. Woman gives toys to a wild Magpie — and he invites his friends over to play Danielle had just moved into her new home when all of a sudden, a wild magpie landed at her feet. He would follow her around and sit on her knee. Then, he brought his son over. Before long, 25 teenage magpies were playing in her yard! Magpies sing along to harmonica (1977) John Allen fed the magpies on his property every day. They repaid him by singing along with his harmonica playing. Australian Magpie playing https://youtu.be/qoaEBb4IN4QSqwark and Whiskey playing. The unlikely friendship between a Gold Coast magpie and dog https://youtu.be/1uERf53d3s8They may not be birds of a feather, but this pair of unlikely friends have captured the hearts of thousands of people online.

Share this page The sound of magpies warbling in the morning is synonymous with life in Australia, but Perth researchers are predicting a bleak future for the beloved species. Research conducted by associate professor Amanda Ridley and her team at the University of Western Australia has found that very hot weather is affecting the birds” ability to survive, reproduce and raise their chicks. Dr Ridley, who has been collecting data on magpies since 2013, said heatwaves had devastated the birds and their babies over the past three summers. “During that very bad heatwave (in 2019–2020), which caused terrible bushfires all across Australia, we had zero reproductive success,” Dr Ridley said. ABOVE: Two magpies from Amanda Ridley’s research group warbling at the University of Western Australia recently. (ABC Radio Perth: Alicia Bridges) “All the babies that were alive during that heatwave died before it ended.“That’s a one-off event but if this happens more frequently, which is predicted to happen under climate change, and we’re already seeing it happen in Perth … this could cause a catastrophic decline.” The Western Australian Climate Projections summary, a document prepared by the state government, predicts the number of very hot days over 35 degrees Celsius in WA’s South West will increase from 28 to 36 by 2030, under an “intermediate emissions scenario”. By 2090, the number of days would increase to 63. Dr Ridley and her team, the Western Magpie Research Project, work with multiple groups of wild but tame birds across Perth. She said the more recent heatwave over the 2021 holiday period had also affected the birds. The team‘s research has found that the magpies suffer cognitive decline when the temperature reaches around 32 to 33°C. They experience heat stress which hinders their ability to forage for food and feed their babies. CONTINUE READING ABC News, Alicia Bridges

Share this page AWPC is starting a ‘Living with the nature of Australia’ campaign this year. To kick it off we are gathering inspiring stories from all sectors of Australian society where people are living peacefully and to mutual benefit — whether economic, creative or positive emotional — with the native wildlife and habitats around them. We’ll employ the social media platforms at our disposal, web, YouTube, Facebook to showcase these. Stay tuned! Here’s a feature story from Injustice  by author Maria Taylor that explores how Australians are already living harmoniously with their native wildlife and how all sides win. Sharing the land with Australian wildlife: a winning experience