Messy Ecology

A bat, flying, with a grey-blue background. The title "RATS eating BATS?! And other terrifying facts about our furry flying friends" beneath.

Happy Halloween, #BlueSky!
Check out my latest #Substack post if you want to read about bats, including a new paper that documents Rats catching and eating Bats!
🤯
open.substack.com/pub/messyeco...

#bats
#rats
#Halloween
#MessyEcology

Halloween and Wildlife How to be mindful about our wild neighbours during this spooky season

As we approach Halloween, how can you make sure your Halloween decorations don't have unintended consequences for wildlife? Read the latest from #MessyEcology on #substack here:

open.substack.com/pub/messyeco...

#UrbanWildlife
#coexistence
#Halloween

Porcupine crossing a bike path and walking toward a road in an urban area.

This beautiful #Porcupine crossed between parked cars, grass, a bike path, & eventually a road this morning in front of me. Thankfully, s/he has street smarts, & turned away from the road a few times at the lights of oncoming traffic.
Plz watch for #urbanwildlife, especially as days get shorter!

Finding Inspiration Starting, Stopping, and the Importance of Moving Forward in the Face of Doubt

Hey BlueSky, check out our latest post - discussing inspiration and moving forward in the face of doubt.

Striving for weekly posts; follow along for more!

#MessyEcology

open.substack.com/pub/messyeco...

Bright city lights make birds around the world sing longer Big-eyed species are especially vulnerable to the effects of light pollution, a citizen-science effort shows.

Big-eyed species are especially vulnerable to the effects of light pollution, a citizen-science effort shows

go.nature.com/4mXMkTX

Saturday was a wild opening of the fall bird collision monitor season. After a light rain, the sun emerged over the clouds, and BOOM we had a mass of collisions on the north east corner of buildings. Over 70 dead and 20 rescues for our entire downtown team. I am mainly found Tennessee Warblers.

Report injured birds in Chicago area & volunteer/support birdmonitors.net

Chicago is the most dangerous city for migrating birds, turn out lights 11pm-6am to help birds reach their destination
aeroecolab.com/illinois

make windows bird friendly flap.org

live bird migration map
birdcast.info

An Introduction to Messy Ecology Starting something new... at last

Hi people of #BlueSky,
I took my first stab at a #Substack post. Please consider taking a look.

#MessyEcology
#Ecology
#Wildlife
#Coexistence
#Conservation
#Management
#Science
#Ethics
#Biology

open.substack.com/pub/messyeco...

Arched concrete bridge over a prairie river with city skyline beyond. It is dark and snowy.

Arched concrete bridge over a prairie river with city skyline beyond. It is sunny and green.

What a difference 6 months makes. In honour of the summer #solstice (8:42 pm tonight in Saskatoon), here’s a comparison of Dec 20 (sunrise 9:12am, set 4:56pm) and June 20 (sunrise 4:45am, set 9:31pm). Both pics at 8:30am. Happy #Solstice! #GoodMorningFromSaskatoon

It's that time of year! See any slightly clumsy birds begging for food? Probably some young that have left the nest not too long ago!

#Birds
#BackyardBirds
#MessyEcology
#UrbanWildlife

Ah, yes, absolutely love their clumsiness and stubby tails!

Climate misinformation turning crisis into catastrophe – major report False claims obstructing climate action, say researchers, amid calls for climate lies to be criminalised

Climate misinformation turning crisis into catastrophe, report says.

False claims obstructing climate action, say researchers, amid calls for climate lies to be criminalized.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Tonic immobility in cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes): function, evolutionary history, and future directions - Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Tonic immobility, a temporary cessation of voluntary movements, is a widespread phenomenon within the animal kingdom. While commonly regarded as an ‘anti-predator’ defence strategy, empirical evidence...

Tonic immobility in cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes): function, evolutionary history, and future directions 🦑🧪🐟🦈 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Some movement on the sidewalk by a busy road caught my eye this morning.

Aren't #Ants fascinating and inspiring? 🐜

It's amazing how much life we see around us, even in the most ordinary places, when we take a moment to appreciate it.

#MessyEcology
#UrbanWildlife
#Don'tGiveUp
#Determination

Fascinating!

When you look closely, life rarely fits into our tidy categories.

#Science
#MessyEcology

Trying to get rid of noisy, food-stealing gulls is missing the point – it’s humans who are the pests | Sophie Pavelle Hawks, spikes and sonic repellants are among the measures used to deter these birds. Perhaps we should try sharing our planet, says writer and science communicator Sophie Pavelle

Excellent (short) read, questioning our framing of gulls as #pests. Considering the state of our #oceans, is this simply an inevitable outcome, an example of their resilience?

#WorldOceansDay
#Human-WildlifeCoexistence

Disclaimer: Please do not feed wildlife!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Animal centre issues plea to hummingbird feeders after bird poisoned in Victoria An animal welfare organization in Victoria, B.C., is calling on birders to be cautious after a hummingbird was fed a toxic concoction that will ultimately lead to its demise.

ALERT for hummingbird feeders! Plz:

1) ONLY use 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water (NO fancy/substitute sugars!)

2) wash your feeder frequently

Otherwise, you may be doing more harm than good: “If you can’t or won’t do this, please do not put out a feeder at all”

www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

Oh dear, good time to teach them not to run away from wildlife! (I mean, running might work for most reptiles, but please do NOT run if you see a wild mammal!).

That said, love your approach best. Knowledge can be the best antidote to fear.
#Human-WildlifeCoexistence

Cuscuta crawling over a hapless plant. The sickly yellow threads of the parasite are wrapped around the green of the victim like a thick spider's web.

How do parasitic plants find their prey? New study shows dodder vines use touch sensitivity and light detection to hunt victims. These master grafters even attempt to parasitize metal objects.

Learn more: wp.me/pdRZhH-m3g

#Botany #PlantScience 🧪

Penguin poo helps keep Antarctica cool Huge colonies of penguins in Antarctica fill the air with ammonia, which stabilises particles in the atmosphere that allow climate-cooling clouds to form

“This demonstrates a deep connection between the ecosystem and atmospheric processes." 🧪 Cool new study from Matt Boyer etal.

green graphic with numerous GBIF stats surrounding a collage of biological drawings

"Hey GBIF, what day is it?"
Us: "The best day of the year - #InternationalDayForBiologicalDiversity!" 🤩🐛🧬

As a global biodiversity data infrastructure, GBIF works with our international network to provide anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth.💚

#BiodiversityDay

😮

Today is International Day for Biological Diversity!🐦🌍

Let us renew our commitment to identifying, safeguarding and restoring Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) worldwide.

Let’s live in harmony with nature.🌿

Find out more👉 datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-sc...
@keybiodiversity.bsky.social

Loss of grasslands and shrublands is definitely a factor. Not sure if there is evidence of shrike population impacts from wind farms. 🤔

What's going on when I see little birds going after a big bird? You witnessed a behavior called “mobbing,” where smaller birds swoop and dash at flying or perched larger birds (and sometimes mammals). They typically do this in an effort to drive away potential pre...

Yes! "Mobbing" is a common behaviour among many songbirds - Red-winged Blackbirds & Kingbirds are well-known for this behaviour. Essentially harassing/chasing a predator away from an area. Could be they have a nest nearby.
Great summery of the behaviour here:
www.allaboutbirds.org/news/sometim...

Beautiful grey flycatcher with yellow belly perched on a fence wire with background of soft focus purple thistle flowers.

Handsome charcoal flycatcher with white belly perched on a twisted fence wire with soft focus green background.

My Birdathon #AlphabetOfBirds continues!

*T* is for Tyrant flycatchers (family Tyrannidae), a group that contains hundreds of species. My local favourites are the Western kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) and Eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) #birds (1/5)

FAIR WARNING: It’s ground squirrel kiddo season and excessive cuteness levels may occur or be occurring 🌿

What most people call gophers (at least in North America) are, in fact, actually ground squirrels.

Red wolves are one of the most endangered canids in the world—with fewer than 20 believed to remain in the wild. Every sighting, pup, and howl is a sign of hope—and a reason to keep fighting for their future. 🐺 #wolfconservationcenter #saveredwolves

A little journey for you today about snakes 🐍. Scroll down through 8 images for the whole story.
#SnakeEducation #Snakes #SnakeHeroes