My second DPhil paper is out! A nice example of how continuous long-term monitoring of natural populations can be so valuable for understanding impacts of climate change on wild animals 🪶
📍Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire 🌳🪺
A no brainer at this stage, if it wasn't already.
#rugby 😂
The most Scotland 6 nations ever.
Pretty sure this guy isn't anywhere near this tanker.
Little bit of the birdsong this morning (sound up)
Spring has sprung in Wytham woods today. Chiffchaffs singing (first I've heard here this year), and a surprise firecrest in the mist net.
Great pre-print led by @davididiaquez.bsky.social discussing possible causes of declines in adult and nestling mass. I suggested it be titled "Weapons of mass reduction"
We have published a new pre-print showing a decline in great tit adult and nestling mass of around 1 gram in 47 y. [rate of approx. -0.040 Hadanes] With @ellafcole.bsky.social, @devisatarkar.bsky.social, Sam. Crofts, @mcmahok.bsky.social & @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!
bluesky-map.theo.io
I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
FFS
Vote Wesley, in the leadership election to come, for More Of The Same. www.thenational.scot/news/2545164...
Someone make it happen.
Still time to apply for our spring field assistant roles on the Wytham tit project. Deadline this Sunday. Wonderful work in a wonderful setting (but I'm biased). egioxford.web.ox.ac.uk/event/short-...
New preprint! 🐥🦠🏝️
We study a great speciator, the silvereye, to test whether parasites follow island biogeography rules, and find that parasite diversity and isolation effects depend strongly on transmission strategy.
Led by PhD student Sarah Nichols.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
RFK Jr. Demonstrates How To Remove Tapeworm By Scooting Ass Across Carpet https://theonion.com/rfk-jr-demonstrates-how-to-remove-tapeworm-by-scooting-ass-across-carpet/
@tntsports.zpravobot.news.ap.brid.gy Can someone tell Matterface how to say Wirtz properly.
Came on here to rant about this. If it was Vee-ertz it would be spelled Wiertz.
How Human Behavior Is Driving Evolution In Wild Birds
#SciComm🧪 by @grrlscientist.bsky.social
#ornithology🪶 #evolution #BirdFeeding #Birding #birds🦉 grrlscientist.medium.com/how-human-be...
This week's EGI seminar will be given by Prof Jon Slate @jon-slate.bsky.social of @sheffielduni.bsky.social at 3.30 on Fri 30 Jan in LT1 in LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk. OK, it's not quite birds, but our colleagues' work on @soaysheep.bsky.social has much in common with what we do. All welcome: details ⬇️
I'll be keeping mine in the shed for another few weeks.
We are hiring at the Wytham Woods for the upcoming field season. 4 roles available. Please share with anyone who might be interested. #UKbirds #birdringing
New paper published! 🧬🐥🦠
Host WGS data can be repurposed to uncover endoparasite diversity at low cost, without destructive sampling, and outperform 18S metabarcoding. We test it in silvereyes.
This work was led by PhD student Sarah Nichols @biology.ox.ac.uk
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
If you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇
I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦
doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)
lots singing here too
A very early drumming great spotted woodpecker. Not sure I've heard one as early as this before. #ukbirds
This week’s seminar will be given by Prof Daniel Field of @zoologymuseum.bsky.social & @cambridge-earthsci.bsky.social on the origins of modern birds. 3.30pm Friday 28 Nov in LT1 in the Life & Mind Building @biology.ox.ac.uk - all welcome & see below for live streaming joining information
All on benefits too of course, while taking all the jobs.
