Busselton Naturalists Club in Capel, Western Australia | Community

Busselton Naturalists Club

Locality: Capel, Western Australia

Phone: +61 8 9727 2474

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25.01.2022 https://blog.csiro.au/river-murray-fish/

25.01.2022 There’s no koala crisis in NSW, just the Liberal left’s shameful shopping for soft green votes Vic Jurskis, The Spectator Australia - 10 September 2020 Our Black Summer proved two things beyond doubt: The unprecedented fires were a consequence of the unprecedented accumulation of explosive fuel, and koalas are under no threat of extinction. But the Coalition seems likely to be left in smoking ruins because the minor party is taking a stand against government policy based on g...Continue reading

23.01.2022 https://theconversation.com/grass-trees-arent-a-grass-and-t

22.01.2022 Our new paper Is Cat Hunting by Indigenous Tracking Experts an effective way to reduce cat impacts on threatened species? has just been published in the journ...al Wildlife Research. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR20035 The paper documents the hunting of feral cats for food on the Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area over a 5-year period and discusses the benefits of maintaining Traditional tracking-based hunting activities for conservation of threatened species such as the bilby and great desert skink. The study found that cat hunting by Indigenous tracking experts was a very efficient method of controlling cats at localised sites. Hunts took an average of 62 minutes per cat and a team of 4 hunters could catch up to 4 cats in one day. Our long-term data suggest threatened species (bilby and great desert skink) have persisted better in areas where there is an active presence of hunters. The ability to follow individual cats known to be hunting at bilby and great desert skink burrows allows this method to be very specific, targeting the individual predators that are pursuing threatened species. Regular hunting provides other co-benefits that contribute to the health of country (improved fire regimes) and the health and wellbeing of people. Finally, acceptance of Indigenous cat hunting as an effective tool for conservation programs provides a new relevance for Indigenous tracking expertise, that helps conserve these traditional skills in an era when there is less reliance on wild caught meat. The paper includes this quote from one of the authors, John West: ‘These days there a lot of cats. They are killing all the desert finches and other things too, like bilbies. We have to save the bilbies. They’re special animals They are only left here and a few other places. That’s why we are hunting and killing the pussycats, but there are more and more, so many now out here. What do they call them? Predators. Because they cheat. And the ones that were here before are now all gone.’ See more

21.01.2022 Black turbine paint saves birds A Norwegian wind farm has devised an inexpensive method that may prevent birds from being killed by turbines' rotating blades. By painting only one turbine blade black, the farm reduced bird collisions by more than 70%, say researchers who conducted the first field study of the approach. Fast-moving, monotone blades can be difficult for birds to see; in the United States alone, collisions with wind turbines kill 140,000 to 500,000 birds each ye...ar. But a single contrasting black blade makes this rotating obstacle easier for birds to identify and avoid, researchers report in the 27 August issue of Ecology and Evolution. The approach needs further validation, other researchers say. And they note that windmills still rank low on the list of threats to birds: Collisions with power wires and communication towers kill an estimated 32 million birds in the United States annually, for example, and cats are believed to kill 2.4 billion each year. Loss of habitat is another leading threat. See more

21.01.2022 Some useful information I found shared by a friend. Worth a read That bite of summer has well and truly come early this year and with that heat, comes snakes. ...This article was written by Rob Timmings Rob runs a medical/nursing education business Teaching nurses, doctors and paramedics. It’s well worth the read #ECT4Health 3000 bites are reported annually. 300-500 hospitalisations 2-3 deaths annually. Average time to death is 12 hours. The urban myth that you are bitten in the yard and die before you can walk from your chook pen back to the house is a load of rubbish. While not new, the management of snake bite (like a flood/fire evacuation plan or CPR) should be refreshed each season. Let’s start with a Basic overview. There are five genus of snakes that will harm us (seriously) Browns, Blacks, Adders, Tigers and Taipans. All snake venom is made up of huge proteins (like egg white). When bitten, a snake injects some venom into the meat of your limb (NOT into your blood). This venom can not be absorbed into the blood stream from the bite site. It travels in a fluid transport system in your body called the lymphatic system (not the blood stream). Now this fluid (lymph) is moved differently to blood. Your heart pumps blood around, so even when you are lying dead still, your blood still circulates around the body. Lymph fluid is different. It moves around with physical muscle movement like bending your arm, bending knees, wriggling fingers and toes, walking/exercise etc. Now here is the thing. Lymph fluid becomes blood after these lymph vessels converge to form one of two large vessels (lymphatic trunks)which are connected to veins at the base of the neck. Back to the snake bite site. When bitten, the venom has been injected into this lymph fluid (which makes up the bulk of the water in your tissues). The only way that the venom can get into your blood stream is to be moved from the bite site in the lymphatic vessels. The only way to do this is to physically move the limbs that were bitten. Stay still!!! Venom can’t move if the victim doesn’t move. Stay still!! Remember people are not bitten into their blood stream. In the 1980s a technique called Pressure immobilisation bandaging was developed to further retard venom movement. It completely stops venom /lymph transport toward the blood stream. A firm roll bandage is applied directly over the bite site (don’t wash the area). Technique: Three steps: keep them still Step 1 Apply a bandage over the bite site, to an area about 10cm above and below the bite. Step 2: Then using another elastic roller bandage, apply a firm wrap from Fingers/toes all the way to the armpit/groin. The bandage needs to be firm, but not so tight that it causes fingers or toes to turn purple or white. About the tension of a sprain bandage. Step 3: Splint the limb so the patient can’t walk or bend the limb. Do nots: Do not cut, incise or suck the venom. Do not EVER use a tourniquet Don’t remove the shirt or pants - just bandage over the top of clothing. Remember movement (like wriggling out of a shirt or pants) causes venom movement. DO NOT try to catch, kill or identify the snake!!! This is important. In hospital we NO LONGER NEED to know the type of snake; it doesn’t change treatment. 5 years ago we would do a test on the bite, blood or urine to identify the snake so the correct anti venom can be used. BUT NOW... we don’t do this. Our new Antivenom neutralises the venoms of all the 5 listed snake genus, so it doesn’t matter what snake bit the patient. Read that again- one injection for all snakes! Polyvalent is our one shot wonder, stocked in all hospitals, so most hospitals no longer stock specific Antivenins. Australian snakes tend to have 3 main effects in differing degrees. Bleeding - internally and bruising. Muscles paralysed causing difficulty talking, moving & breathing. Pain In some snakes severe muscle pain in the limb, and days later the bite site can break down forming a nasty wound. Allergy to snakes is rarer than winning lotto twice. Final tips: not all bitten people are envenomated and only those starting to show symptoms above are given antivenom. Did I mention to stay still. ~Rob Timmings Kingston/Robe Health Advisory #vrarescue #snakebite

20.01.2022 ! Since 2012, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), along with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (...DBCA), has been asking citizen scientists to take part in the count to learn more about where quendas are currently living and compare this to previous years.This helps to work out how their distribution an populations are changing. This year they are also asking for help with identifying potential disease outbreaks among the quenda populations. Surveys can be done any time during the spring months, from 1 September until 30 November. For more information on the project and details of how to get involved visit the 'Quenda Q & A' website - https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/quenda-qanda#gs.dnrei8

20.01.2022 Light pollution's wasted energy seen from space Victoria Gill, Science correspondent, BBC News An experiment carried out at 01:30 every morning for 10 nights ha...s revealed the main sources of artificial light polluting the night sky. The city of Tucson, in Arizona, US, dimmed its 14,000 streetlights over that period. "We used a satellite to measure what fraction of the total light emissions are due to the streetlights," explained physicist Dr Christopher Kyba. Artificial light has been shown to affect our sleep and our health. "And late at night, when people are sleeping - that is exactly when we can save a lot of energy," Dr Kyba, who is based at the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, told BBC News. His light-from-space experiment, published in the journal Lighting Research & Technology, showed that most of the artificial light wasted - by being sent upwards into space, rather illuminating a sign, street or building on Earth - does not actually come from streetlights, but from other sources. Prof Kelsey Johnson, an astronomer from the University of Virginia, who gave a TED talk about ways to solve the light pollution problem, told BBC News: "We waste tremendous resources on light that goes out into space and doesn't do anyone any good." Advertisements, floodlights, lit buildings, facade lighting, parking lots and sports stadia - these are the types of installations responsible for most of these light emissions, Dr Kyba explained. "That's really important information for policy makers and light pollution activists," he said. "This does make it more difficult to solve, because there are so many contributors. It means everyone has to get together to decide what lights need to be lit at night, and how brightly." Wasting energy while we sleep Because emissions come from so many sources, the exact amount of energy wasted on inefficient or unnecessary artificial light is difficult to estimate. But the International Dark Sky Association estimates that 35% of artificial light is wasted by being poorly aimed or unshielded. This equates, in the US alone, to about $3 billion per year spent on "making the sky glow". That familiar urban glow means that most people on Earth never see a naturally dark night sky, but it also affects migrating birds, insects and other animals, by disrupting the light-dark cycle they are tuned into. More philosophically, Prof Johnson and other astronomers argue that this wasted light destroys our connection to the stars. "I believe this has a profound effect on our worldview," she said. "I'm heartbroken for all the children growing up today who will never experience a truly dark night sky." And according to a 2016 study, that could be true for as much as 80% of the global population. One recent project with a floodlit church in Slovenia - a country that passed a law to curb increasing light levels - revealed how relatively straightforward the problem is to solve. A lighting company re-lit a church in a way that reduced the power consumption for the light by 96% (from 1.6 kW to only 58 W). It also reduced the total waste light emission by using simple masks to shine the light just directly on the church. "A lot of people talk about climate emergency but never talk about light pollution," said Dr Kyba. "But it's an important part. And at night, when most of us are asleep, all that electricity could be going to do other things - charging electric vehicles, for example. media captionHow we are losing the night "It's the kind of thing that can be done with a little bit of cleverness and the will to take action."

19.01.2022 Just on one year ago, the Busselton Naturalists Club was camped at the Mt Trio caravan park next to the Stirling Ranges. When the park owner suggested that it m...ight snow on Bluff Knoll the following morning, Ann Storrie and I got up at 5.30am and climbed the mountain. After about an hour of climbing, we reached the clouds and IT SNOWED, after which it hailed and then it rained. All the ice and snow was gone by 9.00am, but what a wonderful experience!!! See more

19.01.2022 Worried about being attacked by magpies this breeding season? Feed them small amounts of cheese or mince once a week or so and they'll remember you as a friend and won't attack you. The CSIRO has found that magpies are good at recognising and remembering people's faces so treat them well and they'll return the favour.

18.01.2022 CAMPING AT THE PERUP ECOLOGY CENTRE - NATURE'S GUESTHOUSE - OVER THE SEPTEMBER 18-20 WEEKEND The Busselton Naturalists Club has booked the former Perup Ecology Centre over the weekend of Friday September 18 to Sunday September 20. This is the third year in a row the Club has enjoyed a weekend at Perup, but previous visits focused on nighttime wildlife and fungi.... This year, the weekend in September will focus on wildflowers, but we'll also be undertaking a spotlighting walk on each of the two nights we're in camp. As well, on the Friday afternoon, interested people can visit a privately owned and managed jarrah/marri forest at Wilga on the way to Perup where the owner, Richard Walker, has conducted ecologically sustainable thinning to protect environmental values while improving timber production on his property. The Perup Ecology Centre - now called Nature's Guesthouse - is located some 40km east of Manjimup in the Tone-Perup Nature Reserve and includes a large fenced enclosure and several nature walks in surrounding bushland. The Centre accommodates up to 33 people in 10 bedrooms within its two buildings, with a communal kitchen, hot showers and flushing toilets. . A small number of caravans and camper vans can also be accommodated on site. The cost of the weekend is no more than $30 per couple per night or $60 for the weekend, with the same cost applying for camper vans and caravans and for single people in a bedroom by themselves. Linen hire is also available at $20 per person for the weekend. The Tone-Perup nature reserve was chosen as the site of the original field study centre due to the reserve's high natural biodiversity, with woylies, bandicoots and ringtail possums recorded from the area, with quolls and numbats occasionally found in surrounding bushland. Access to the centre is off the Boyup Brook-Cranbrook Road, 49km south of Boyup Brook. Bookings are essential ASAP - first in, best dressed - so please contact Club president Bernie Masters on 0408 944 242 or at [email protected] to book a room.

18.01.2022 https://www.abc.net.au//coral-reef--at-rowley-sh/12840302

18.01.2022 ROO SHOO CANCELLED The roo shoo planned for this Sunday has been cancelled. The Capel LCDC believes the planned event has generated too much controversy, primarily through the ABC's Facebook page and the comments of animal rights activists who somehow equate shooing with shooting.

14.01.2022 Laura Skates has just handed in her PhD thesis after three years of research into carnivorous plants. Over those 3 years, she has come to understand WA's significant diversity of plants that eat insects and, at the Busselton Naturalists Club meeting this coming Thursday November 12, Laura will outline the diversity and biology of this special group of plants. Ranging from the Albany Pitcher Plant through to the many species of sundews (Drosera), carnivorous plants cover a wide range of soil types and are found in a wide range of different vegetation ecosystems. The Club meeting will be held at the Busselton Senior Citizens Centre, 22 Peel Terrace, Busselton, starting at 7.30pm. The meeting is open to the public and is free of charge, although a gold coin donation to cover meeting hall hire costs will be appreciated.

13.01.2022 IS YOUR BUSHLAND AT RISK FROM DIEBACK? A PURPOSE-BUILT SPRAY UNIT IS AVAILABLE FOR HIRE If your native bushland has or is at risk from dieback, phosphite spray will give native plants 2 to 3 years resistance against the disease. The Busselton Dieback Working Group has a trailer-mounted spray unit available for hire. It’s only used for phosphite so it is free of pesticides and other unwanted chemicals. The spray unit has a 30 metre hose with a 20 m spray distance, allowing you... to cover areas up to 50 m from the roadway or track used to gain access to your vegetation. One tankful will cover an area 100-200 m long by 30 m wide in forested bushland, more in low scrub, less in dense bushland. It's best to have two people using this spray unit: one to drive the vehicle; the second to operate the spray. It shouldn't be used on a hot day or when rain is forecast within 24 hours. The unit is easy to operate. Contact Julie or Duncan via the group's Facebook page or phone 9756 6617 if you'd like to hire the spray unit and trailer. Cost is $50 per day plus phosphite at $40 per tankful.

13.01.2022 Places are still available on the bus for this Sunday's 3 wildflower walks. The weather is looking ideal for the day, with no rain forecast. Details of the excursion are:... Sunday August 30 sees the Busselton Naturalists Club holding its first wildflower excursion for the year. Three short walks will take participants through three different types of native vegetation and highlight the diversity of native plants occurring in the south west. A one kilometre walk through the south east block of the Ambergate Reserve will show the abundance of wildflowers that have returned to this area which was prescribed burnt in 2018. A two kilometre walk through Ken Cuthbert's privately owned bushland in Kaloorup will show the influence of the Whicher Range vegetation along the edge of the Swan Coastal Plain. Finally, a five kilometre walk through a section of jarrah forest in the Whicher Ranges will provide the opportunity for people to see plant species not usually found of the Swan Coastal Plain. A bus will take people on this excursion and participants need to book a seat at a cost (payable on the day) of $15. Interested people will need to bring morning and afternoon teas plus a picnic lunch and a folding chair. Bookings to club president Bernie Masters by email to [email protected] or by phone on 0408 944 242. The bus leaves from the carpark at the former visitor centre on Peel Terrace near the Senior Citizens Centre at 9.00am sharp. The excursion is open to members of the public. Photo: Sphaerolobium medium

12.01.2022 'ROO SHOO' AND WILDFLOWER WALK THIS COMING SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13 Wildflowers within the fenced enclosure in the northern section of the Ludlow tuart forest are providing outstanding displays at present, but 3 or 4 kangaroos within the enclosure need to be removed. The fenced-off area was created by the Capel Land Conservation District Committee about 8 years ago to remove kangaroo grazing pressure as a threat to a 15 hectare section of the tuart forest.... In spite of the fence being almost 2 metres tall, a small number of kangaroos have jumped into the enclosure to enjoy a meal orchids and other wildflowers. This coming Sunday September 13, volunteers are needed to drive or shoo the kangaroos out of the enclosure via an escape gate built into the narrow end of the enclosure. No harm is done to the kangaroos and volunteers get to enjoy an excellent wildflower display which highlights what much of the tuart forest must have looked like prior to European settlement. Participants are asked to meet at the northern end of Mangles Road, Minninup (where the bitumen ends off Roberts Road) at 10.00am, after which it's a short walk to the fenced area. People will then distribute themselves along one side of the enclosure and, at a pre-arranged time, start walking towards the far end while banging tins and talking loudly to 'shoo' the roos towards the escape gate. Volunteers are encouraged to bring morning tea which we'll enjoy upon our return to the cars. The event is well suited to families with children who can make as much noise as they like while shooing the roos out of the enclosure. This is a combined event of the Capel LCDC and the Busselton Naturalists Club and residents of the local area, including Peppermint Grove Beach, are most welcome to take part. Bernie Masters President Busselton Naturalists Club M 0408 944 242

11.01.2022 The Geographe Community Landcare Nursery is now open on Saturday mornings. If you want local native plants grown locally and available at a very reasonable price, you can now drop in on Saturday mornings.

11.01.2022 Threats posed to conservation by media misinformation Adam G. Hart, Rosie Cooney, Amy Dickman, Darragh Hare, Charles Jonga, Paul K. Johnson, Maxi Pia Louis, Ro...dgers Lubilo,, Dilys Roe, Catherine Semcer, Kei Somerville Society for Conservation Biology, October 2020 Media misinformation is an increasing concern in conservation; for example, climate change denial is particularly pervasive. Here, we highlight simplistic and inaccurate coverage of trophy hunting in mainstream newspapers (print and online). This is particularly timely because the United Kingdom and the United States are considering laws to restrict or ban trophy imports and exports. The dominant media narrative is beguilingly simple: wellloved animals are on the brink of extinction, people pay to kill them, this is horrible, and stopping it will save species. This narrative provides a perfect media concoction: peril (implied extinction risk), emotion (repugnance at killing for fun), a villain, a victim, and an action (donate and petition). The clear message in most coverage is that stopping Trophy Hunting will have immediate positive effects on conservation. However, the reality is not so simple. Locally, Trophy Hunting can harm hunted wildlife populations, but it also helps populations increase, persist and recover. By providing economic incentives to maintain habitats and species Trophy Hunting can protect against far greater threats, including habitat loss and indiscriminate killing. Understanding these complexities is critical for ensuring that policies do not unintentionally worsen conservation, human livelihoods, and animal welfare outcomes. Unfortunately, media coverage acknowledging complexities is outweighed by the dominant, overly simplistic narrative. Moreover, much coverage of Trophy Hunting asserts falsehoods. A U.K. newspaper recently claimed that Trophy Hunting was speeding polar bear extinction, whereas polar bears are actually threatened by climate change and anthropogenic changes to the Arctic, and only a small fraction of the sustainable hunting quota goes to trophy hunters. Similar falsehoods include U.K. trophy hunters targeting puffins in Iceland (puffingate); Trophy Hunting of cranes and buzzards in the U.K. (later corrected but not before widespread recoverage); and professional hunters in Zimbabwe offering to wound leopards to make them easier for hunters to shoot (strenuously denied by the outfitter involved). False extinction narratives abound, suggesting that Trophy Hunting is a major threat to species such as lions, elephants, and rhinoceroses. In fact, Trophy Hunting does not currently threaten these or any species. Rather, Trophy Hunting helps conserve populations of argali (Ovis ammon), markhor (Capra falconeri), black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), lions (Panthera leo), and many others. Media stories also frequently conflate Trophy Hunting with poaching. Many communities in Africa and elsewhere support Trophy Hunting, but the voices of primarily Western animal protection organizations drown out those of the citizens most affected. Claims that alternative wildlifefriendly land uses, especially phototourism, could replace Trophy Hunting are optimistic. Many places are unsuitable for phototourism and currently offer no prospect of viable alternative wildlifebased land use. Indeed, options for financing conservation outside protected areas, particularly in Africa, are limited. The most likely outcome of banning Trophy Hunting without viable alternatives would be conversion of wildlife habitat to more profitable uses such as mining and agriculture. Conservation inevitably requires making decisions amid scientific uncertainty. Current discussions about the acceptability of wildlife trade and wet markets in the context of COVID19 provide a case in point. Conservation strategies can appear to be both counterintuitive and unpalatable, and those who oppose them often deploy disingenuous or false arguments. Despite the volume of misinformation, the temptation to disengage with a media that prioritizes simplistic narratives and falsehoods over complexity and uncertainty must be resisted. Engaging with the media to present evidence and communicate uncertainty is essential to counter the effect of conservation misinformation, the increasingly toxic influence of which should be of great concern well beyond the topic of Trophy Hunting.

09.01.2022 In our modern Covid-19 world:

05.01.2022 SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10 - DR MARK HARVEY, WA MUSEUM The Busselton Naturalists Club is returning to near normality, with our first meeting for several months to be held this coming Thursday September 10. Dr Mark Harvey, Head of Terrestrial Zoology and Senior Curator of Arachnids & Myriapods at the WA Museum is returning to the Club after an absence of many years, to present on a topic that both fascinates and scares many people.... Mark will talk on "Spiders and other creepy-crawlies of south-western Western Australia". The south west is a world biodiversity hotspot and spiders form just one small part of the huge number of plants and animals found nowhere else on the planet. A prolific publisher of research articles, Mark has spent 30 years studying, identifying and classifying the state's spiders, scorpions, ticks and other arachnids. He knows which spiders are biters and which provide important services to people. His talk will include comments on some of the lesser known arachnids found in the south west. The meeting will be held in the Lesser Hall of the Busselton Senior Citizens Centre, 22 Peel Terrace, Busselton, starting at 7.30pm. The meeting is open to the public and is free of charge, but a gold coin donation is requested to cover hall hire and other costs. Families are most welcome to attend and the meeting should finish about 9.00pm. Bernie Masters President

03.01.2022 Circumstantial evidence that poorly sited wind turbines can seriously impact on bat populations: Estimation of spatio-temporal trends in bat abundance from mort...ality data collected at wind turbines Christina M. Davy, Kelly Squires, J. Ryan Zimmerling The Society for Conservation Biology, October 2020 SUMMARY: Data from 594 wind turbines suggest rapid declines in abundance for 4 common species of bat and identify spatial predictors of bat mortality at turbines. Renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, are essential tools for reducing the causes of climate change, but wind turbines can pose a collision risk for bats. To date, the populationlevel effects of windrelated mortality have been estimated for only 1 bat species. To estimate temporal trends in bat abundance, we considered wind turbines as opportunistic sampling tools for flying bats (analogous to fishing nets), where catch per unit effort (carcass abundance per monitored turbine) is a proxy for aerial abundance of bats, after accounting for seasonal variation in activity. We used a large, standardized data set of records of bat carcasses from 594 turbines in southern Ontario, Canada, and corrected these data to account for surveyor efficiency and scavenger removal. We used Bayesian hierarchical models to estimate temporal trends in aerial abundance of bats and to explore the effect of spatial factors, including landscape features associated with bat habitat (e.g., wetlands, croplands, and forested lands), on the number of mortalities for each species. The models showed a rapid decline in the abundance of 4 species in our study area; declines in capture of carcasses over 7 years ranged from 65% (big brown bat [Eptesicus fuscus]) to 91% (silverhaired bat [Lasionycteris noctivagans]). Estimated declines were independent of the effects of mitigation (increasing wind speed at which turbines begin to generate electricity from 3.5 to 5.5 m/s), which significantly reduced but did not eliminate bat mortality. Latesummer mortality of hoary (Lasiurus cinereus), eastern red (Lasiurus borealis), and silverhaired bats was predicted by woodlot cover, and mortality of big brown bats decreased with increasing elevation. These landscape predictors of bat mortality can inform the siting of future wind energy operations. Our most important result is the apparent decline in abundance of four common species of bat in the airspace, which requires further investigation.

01.01.2022 https://theconversation.com/scientists-devised-a-cheap-inge