#Tasmania
I hadn't seen a Giant Freshwater Crayfish for 2 months, which is a bit unusual. However, yesterday I found this medium-sized one turning rocks over & snacking on whatever was underneath (probably plant-matter).
Just look at those colours!
#Tasmania #Crayfish #GiantFreshwaterCrayfish #AstacopsisGouldi #Waterways #Creeks #Nature #Invertebrates
Gardening question
We have put a trellis up at the side of our house to keep wallabies out of our garden. But we want to cover the trellis with an evergreen climbing plant.
Could anyone suggest a climber that would look good to the side of our house? The photo shows our house a couple months back in northern Tasmania and the trellis is on the left hand side.
I was lucky enough to see Violet Coral fungi for the first time at the weekend. This was in Liffey Forest, Tasmania
#tasmania #lutruwita #mushtodon #fungi #purple #mushrooms #forest #nature
#DATV Experimenter's Night - Live Stream
Tonight: #VK7MO Auroral Propagation 6&2m
+ #DUBUSMagazine
#REAST #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #VK7OTC #Tasmania #Hobart #Australia
https://www.youtube.com/live/38_MOckCNrk?si=P5S-22I6cLRG6DBt
It's triceratops season! No, not dinosaurs - Chiglottis triceratops is a tiny species of orchid that grows in Tasmanian forests.
There are any more plants in the forest this year than I saw last year, and they're just starting to flower.
I moved to Tasmania 14 months ago and I'm really happy here. We moved to a small town in the north of the island in the beautiful Tamar Valley. Our little town has everything you'd need, except a country pub.
Well that changes this Friday as a new pub opens in Beaconsfield, Tasmania 🙂
Breakfast/ morning tea is ready!
Today at the Don Market, 17 Forth rd, until 2pm or sold out.
Next week Sunday the Exeter Market is back!!
#dutch #tas #tasmania #food #australia
Great news! 民句 folk ku journal Issue 1 has now been deposited with Libraries Tasmania. They have 2 copies; one is the legal deposit for reference purposes and the other is on shelf for members to borrow. We are now open for submissions and are going through them as they come in. I'll be carrying out acceptances over the the weekend for anybody who submitted this week. Submissions close October 15 😃
https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/Library/SD_ILS-1424519 #haiku #senryu #tanka #submissions #Tasmania #KingrRiverPress #folkku
Tonight I had a bizarre experience. Our local chess club was asked to give a display at a local festival which I thought would be for kids.
Instead we were on a stage in a comedy/variety tent. I had to compere trying to make chess games entertaining 😂 😂
The act we followed was a scantily clad hula hoop performer. 😳 😂
"A team of Scandinavian researchers has recovered messenger and micro RNA from a Tasmanian tiger specimen kept in a museum collection.
It’s the first-ever collection of RNA from an extinct creature in history, an achievement long sought after in the study of extinct species and for other applications.
The Tasmanian tiger, or thylacine, was truly unique for an apex predator. This large predatory marsupial was king among Tasmanian forests which remain largely intact since its extinction 130 years ago.
For this reason, the potential resurrection of the thylacine has received a lot of attention, as it would immediately solve many problems facing the balance of the Tasmanian ecosystem without the complexities of trying to replace the apex predator role with a non-native animal."
#GoodNews #Tasmania #TasmanianTiger #Australia #Extinct #RNA
Today I was working in a rural school in northern Tasmania, so I went for a walk to some nearby Falls afterwards to enjoy some late afternoon sunshine.
Lilydale Falls were flowing well. The view from below the Falls was great, but so was the water at the top about to join the cascades
I was looking at this DALL-E 3 example from the prompt "A modern architectural building with large glass windows, situated on a cliff overlooking a serene ocean at sunset." (https://openai.com/dall-e-3)
Looks rather a lot like somebody's photo of Cape Hauy, don't you think? #tasmania (Example cropped from https://tassiegrammer.com.au/15-aerial-images-tasmanias-stunning-tasman-peninsula/)
#DATV Experimenter's Night - #Radio and #Electronics Association of Southern #Tasmania
#REAST #Hobart #Australia #HamRadio #AmateurRadio
https://www.youtube.com/live/53qYWDx2te4?si=R6zGLfCLzC_bsfHq
#BrisbaneFestival #Theatre #HideTheDog #Māori #Noongar
Starts tonight.
“A world premiere showing at QPAC’s Cremorne theatre from Thursday September 21 to Thursday September 23, Hide the Dog highlights the power of First Nations’ culture, following a journey of two besties Niarra and Te Umuroa, who while out playing in the bush, just another day in paradise, glimpse what can only be the world’s last Tasmanian Tiger. Dodging hunters, Niarra and Te Umuroa set sail for Aotearoa to hide their new friend. But hunters aren’t the only ones on this Tiger’s tail. They’ll have to outwit Māori gods and palawa spirits to save their furry friend.
“This Performing Lines production is directed by Isaac Drandic (Noongar) on a rich sound design by Maaka McGregor and stunning costumes by Sabio Evans. Co-written by Tasmanian playwright Nathan Maynard (pakana) and Aotearoa writer Jamie McCaskill (Māori), Hide the Dog is a truly trans-Tasman creation boasting a heart-warming tale, and is a celebration of true friendship that intrepid explorers of all ages will delight in. If you’re looking for a family-friendly outing – it’s right here! Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the QPAC website.
#Brisbane #Aotearoa #Tasmania #Yes23
https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/whats-on/2023/hide-the-dog
If any of you are in Tasmania nearish the Huon Valley on 26 October, you're very welcome to the launch of Murder, You Wrote, an interactive mystery (to which I contributed a chapter).
The launch is part of the Terror Australis readers and writers festival, and the book will be launched by Ann Cleves (of Vera and Shetland fame).
The event details are here on FB: https://fb.me/e/1w1TaYWcq
Let us know if you can come!
A picturesque island with the cleanest air on Earth
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230918-a-picturesque-island-with-the-cleanest-air-on-earth
There's a long-suffering Tasmanian Blue Gum planted down the road from here which struggles along. About 60 metres shorter than this one (Article from Nov. 2022):
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/forest-giant-blue-gum-tree-lathamus-keep-photographed/101592128
#nature
#forest
#TreesOfMastodon #Tasmania #BlueGum #TasmaniaBlueGum #Australia #Tree
On Sunday I saw a huge Brown Top Stringybark with a 3.5 metre diameter. Earlier this year I saw a whopper that was over 60 metres tall and about 400 years old. These huge messmates are among the biggest trees in Australia.
Ep 67 is out, looking at the UNESCO World Heritage listed Maria Island.
🎧 https://www.australianhistoriespodcast.com.au/67-maria-island/ 🎧
From it's aboriginal heritage, to use as a convict and then industrial site, to it's present day national park status - a rich interesting history.
#AustralianHistory #OzHist #AustralianPodcast #History #convicts #AustralianStories #MariaIsland #Tasmania #ConvictsTasmania #NationalParks
We went up the mountain this morning 🗻
The next AusHistPod episode will be all about Maria Island, a spectacular National Park with abundant natural beauty and a rich history. Plotting my own return visit as soon as possible. 🙂
🔗 https://parks.tas.gov.au/explore-our-parks/maria-island-national-park
📸 Tasmania National Parks Service
#AustralianHistory #OzHist #HistoryPodcast #History #MariaIsland #ConvictsTasmania #tasmania #AustralianStories
Today we went to Liffey Forest Reserve where there is a beautiful walk to a magnificent tiered waterfall. The waterfall was wonderful, there were great fungi and lichen/moss, and some huge trees, including a 50 metre tall Stringybark with a 3.4 metre diameter.
But my favourite was very small. The forest has great stands of Sassafras and Tasmanian Myrtle Beech trees. Myrtle Beech can live for 500 years, so when I saw this baby growing from a mossy stump, I wondered whether it would outlive the human race.
#tasmania #lutruwita #trees #forest #climatechange #mosstodon
Take off time. See you soon #Tasmania 👋
I just checked one of the trailcams and found a video of a Tasmanian Devil!! This is very exciting because it's the first time we've seen one on our property.😃
https://youtu.be/GD9xTEZ334c
#Tasmania #Wildlife #Nature #TasmanianDevil #Marsupial #Carnivore
Truganini: The Story of Tasmania’s First People | Hindsight
Here's the latest variant picture for Tasmania, Australia.
The "Deltacron" XAY.* variant (45%) has continued to dominate, the most success this variant has seen globally. The driving child lineage is GL.1.
Tasmania’s already reached net-zero and 100% renewables. So what's next?
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/tasmania-net-zero-emissions-renewables-climate-change-future
#climate #tasmania #globalwarming #renewableenergy #climatecrisis
Just hit midnight. Gonna read some Lovecraft Country then sleep. Last day of work tomorrow before 1 week off down in #Tasmania. Pretty excited.
I spent 10 days in July around the south of Tasmania in the hope to capture Aurora Australis with our home galaxy - this was the first night, and literally the only time the right conditions came together for about 20 minutes. A lot of sleepless nights with not many results followed 🤪.
.
You can also spot the Large Magellanic Cloud in the centre, and the purple Carina nebula on the top right.
.
#tasmania #milkyway #aurora #southernlights #astrophotography #omsystem
Pardy party time! The Striated Pardalotes have moved back into our upstairs walls for breeding season & will spend the next 6 months singing & dancing outside my study windows.
As they're so tiny and as any time some will be in the walls, some on a nearby tree and others out foraging for food I don't know how many there are but it's more than 10 and they sing their repetitive little song all day. 🎶🎶🎶It's lucky they're so adorable. 😂
So last week I told my colleague one of my favourite travel stories of all time.
He liked it, and encouraged me to write a blog post about, so here it is: https://latower.github.io/posts/2023/09/moonmilk/
Now I am curious what awesome, unexpected and free thing others have experienced during their travels?
#StoryTime #Travel #Music #Cave #Caves #Australia #Tasmania #AcademicChatter #AcademicMastodon #Story
South-East Australia Marine Heatwave Forecast To Be Literally Off The Scale
--
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/27/south-east-australia-marine-heatwave-forecast-to-be-literally-off-the-scale <-- shared media article
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #climatechange #marine #marineconservation #marinelife #heatwave #Australia #Tasmania #MarineHeatwave #fishing #fisheries #fisheriesmanagement #economics #economy #foodsecurity #watertemperature #waterquality #abalone #paua #salmon #oyster #ecosystem #health #ecosystemchange #disease
If I have to walk around urban areas, it's a pleasant surprise to see little quirks, like this sign which I'd walked past many times but only noticed yesterday.
Moss spores were out in force on my walk yesterday.
Phenomenally impressed with The Unconformity Festival’s inclusion and access material and plan… https://2023.theunconformity.com.au/accessibility/ #Tasmania #Festival #Inclusion #Access
Spring Snowflakes with green fingernails show up well against wattle
Europa at night.
From the Netherlands (originally from Germany, I believe) in Hobart, 2013
Today's most adorable visitor is this little Superb Fairy Wren.
These tiny birds travel in groups of 5 to 20ish hopping about & hunting for insects. When we cut fallen trees for firewood we leave all the spindly bits in piles, which the wrens love as a sheltered place full of insects. Wouldn't want to be eaten by yesterday's goshawk!
"Overcast, Undercast, Wandering Free"
Kangaroo Bay, Tasmania
#Sea #Nature #NauticalVessel #Sky #BodyOfWater #Outdoors #Cloud #Reflection #Tasmania #boat #yacht
"Eat My Shadow" Linda Cockburn. 4 stars. Post-climate apocalypse in #HuonValley & #Hobart. Mostly believable (ex-PM was a caricature, and questionable lack of planning for expedition) with survivors being both humane & loving, but also merciless when called for. Unnerving to see local area in this light.
Reading time 7 days, 47 pages/day
#BookReview #Books #Bookstodon #BookWyrm #CliFi #SciFi #Tasmania
https://wyrms.de/user/wildwoila/review/46555/s/climate-collapse-close-to-home#anchor-46555
Heading into Spring, the birds are coming back. Today's prettiest visitor was this Grey Goshawk (white form) - Accipiter novaehollandiae. These are the world's only pure white raptors.
#Tasmania #TasmanianForest #Goshawk #Raptor #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdsOfPrey #WhiteBird
A lavender farm in the off-season, if you've ever wondered.
Had a nice time at the #Astronomical Society of Tasmania viewing night in #Ridgley, Northern Tasmania las week! #astrophotography #tasmania #lutruwita
Tasmania has 12 endemic bird species although some claim it's as many as 18. Anyway, on our road trip we were lucky enough to see a few.
- Tasmanian Native Hen
- Black Currawong
- Dusky Robin
- Green Rosella
(As well as Tasmanian Wedge Tailed Eagles which are sometimes considered endemic.)
I was particularly happy to see a Dusky Robin which I didn't know about before this trip. We also saw Pink Robins and Scarlet Robins.
Anyway, the only worthwhile photo was of a Black Currawong who was quite friendly when we went to Dip Falls
Prof David Bowman from #University of #Tasmania #UTAS sounds the clarion call for Australia's relationship with devastating #bushfires
in the wake of the #Maui fires #MauiFires.
Climate change is already here.
On a whim, I turned down a dirt road I'd never noticed before. Within 30 seconds, I was greeted with this amazing scene.
Taken from the side of the road as a 5 shot panorama. Otherwise, this shot is #straightoutofcamera #soc with no adjustments applied.
#landscapephotography #photography #traquility #tasmania
With just a couple of days left of our road trip, we've hit the east of Tasmania and are stopping in Bicheno before heading north tomorrow towards the Bay of Fires. Bicheno is just good for walking with a great coastline full of interesting rocks and beaches. We particularly like the Blowhole, though it wasn't spouting water as much as the last time we were here. So here's a sunset as there were some great clouds today
#roadtrip #tasmania #lutruwita #seascape #nature #photography #sunset #clouds
But my favourite was seen this morning when it was frosty.
#tasmania #lutruwita #mosstodon #moss #nature #winter #photography
I've just spent a couple of days in old world forests. Seen some great trees and plants, but the moss was amazing
Today we spent some time looking at the amazing area around Lake Pedder in Tasmania's Southwest National Park. Lake Pedder was created as we know it today in 1972 so as to develop Hydro Electric Power and there is still a push today to drain it back to its original size for ecological reasons.
I don't know enough about this, but it is certainly something I would like to follow up researching.
In the meantime, here's my favourite picture from today.
#tasmania #lutruwita #lake #nature #reflections #clouds #conservation
Today we went in to Strahan to take a walk to Hogarth Falls, but the track was closed after some pretty bad weather the past couple of days.
Never mind, Strahan is still great and Ocean Beach is the longest beach in Tasmania at about 40km. It is also pretty wild.
We also crossed the beautiful Henty River a few times
#tasmania #lutruwita #roadtrip #River #beach #weather #nature #clouds #photography
Is it fungi Friday? A bit of a cheat as I saw this beautiful coral tooth yesterday sitting on the trunk of a Blackwood
Lake Burbury looking quite magnificent.
The month of #ScienceWeek begins! I've got an action-packed ~5 weeks coming up, full of #SciComm and #Space content all around lutruwita / #Tasmania! If you're keen to hang out, or see some great local #science content, check out some of the events below 👇
🌘 Aug 4 - presenting at Beaker Streets "Young Tassie Scientists After Hours: Science for Kids (for Adults)" at #TMAG
🤖 Aug 5 - watching @parisba argue that #AI is anything but #creative in "The Great Debate" at The Theatre Royal
🍎 Aug 6 - speaking at the ABC Ockham's Razor event, LIVE at Willie Smith's Apple Shed down #Huonville
🛰️ Aug 12 - speaking at TastroFest up in #Devonport, as part of a series of presentations running all next week with the support of Libraries Tasmania
🏰 Aug 14 - mingling at the Government House launch of #ScienceWeek 2023, likely whispering in people's ears about my plans for a science centre out west...
🚗 Aug 15-18 - travelling around Tas on the #YoungTassieScientists Southern road trip! This includes about a dozen schools plus at least one event with Children's University!
🎙️ Aug 16 - giving the ECR address at Hobart's #ScienceMeetsParliament dinner, hosted by Minister for Science and Technology, Hon Madeleine Ogilvie MP
🎪 Aug 19 - staffing a booth at Inspiring Tasmania's #FestivalOfBrightIdeas / #FoBI down at Salamanca
🎓 Aug 22 - talking futures and opportunities as the occasional address at the afternoon session of Winter Graduations for #UTAS's College of Sciences and Engineering
(Then I take a week off to catch up on normal work + sleep, and do 2 days of #SciComm training with #SuperstarsOfSTEM)
🏫 Sep 1 - back at it, as a keynote for the 'It Takes a Spark!' #STEM #Education conference, alongside the fantastic Dr Lila Landowski!
(Then maybe I get a break from speaking for a bit, at least until the Australian Space Research Conference comes to town a few weeks later 😬)
Links and tickets:
🌘 https://www.beakerstreet.com.au/2023events/young-tassie-scientists-after-hours/
🤖 https://www.beakerstreet.com.au/2023events/great-debate/
🍎 https://www.beakerstreet.com.au/2023events/ockhams-razor-live-at-willie-smiths/ (Sold Out)
🛰️ https://libraries.tas.gov.au/event/tastrotalk-with-mars-buttfield-addison-devonport-library/
🏰 https://westcoastspacecentre.com
🚗 https://youngtassiescientists.com
🎙️ None (seemingly not public/on the internet at all this year?)
🎪 https://festivalofbrightideas.com.au
🎓 https://www.utas.edu.au/about/events/graduation#content2-1381297
🏫 https://spark-educonferences.com.au/tasmania-2023/
Day 1 of road trip over. Crossed the north of Tasmania and am shattered in my hotel in Stanley. An early night will be good as I'm hoping to see a sunrise from the top of Stanley's Nut tomorrow morning.
My favourite image today was of this Exchange Library in the town of Penguin in the shape of a Tardis 😀
Good morning from our home!
What a beautiful start to the day in southern #Tasmania.