A casual study of science and nature
It's been over three months since I last posted on here, and exactly four months since this trip occurred! So, although I imagine the majority of people who are reading this haven't noticed or cared, apologies to anyone who was waiting with bated breath for this. I hope you're still with us! The Great Ocean … Continue reading The Great Ocean Road
What people tell you about the Australian climate is that it’s very very hot. What they don’t tell you is that in Winter it can get really quite cold and miserable, especially in the southeast. We escaped Sydney (I’ll come back and finish Tassie at a later date) just as the weather was closing in … Continue reading Wet Cold Australian Winter
<<<Part Two It was a shame to get up and leave our lovely AirBnB so early, as the surrounding gardens were wonderful; there was a flowering tree just outside our window covered in nectaring birds, including the Tasmanian endemic yellow wattlebird. But we were going on an adventure, and had to make the most of … Continue reading We’re Going to Cradle Mountain!
<<<Part One After a quiet night in Devonport, we were up bright and early to continue our great Tasmanian road trip. As we were going to be heading away from the large towns for the next few days we stocked up on food from the supermarket before carrying on along the cradle to coast tasting … Continue reading Tassie 2 – The North Coast
I’ve just returned to Sydney after two weeks travelling around Tasmania, and I found that there were so many things to do and see that I couldn’t find the time to blog whilst I was out there, and there is no way I can fit everything we did do and see into a single blog. … Continue reading The Tasmania Chronicles – Part One: Cradle to Coast
So, after a few weeks in Sydney, it was finally time to get out and explore a bit more of what Australia has to offer. Sydney’s nice, but a city’s a city, and you only really get a feel for a country when you head out and explore. Hiring a car isn’t too expensive, and … Continue reading Jervis Bay and the Kangaroo Valley Misnomer
So it's been a week since I upped sticks and moved myself to Sydney on a working holiday visa. Well, technically it's been a week and a half, but the first few days don't count as I was recovering from the jet-lag! It started off hot, but in recent days we've had some heavy downpours, … Continue reading A Week in Wild Sydney
A recent article in the Independent suggests that as a direct result of Brexit, it will no longer be legal to rehabilitate and release grey squirrels and muntjac deer. This change in regulations means that any rescued individuals will have to be euthanised. This is not always the case under current regulations, as at the … Continue reading A Brexit Death Sentence for Grey Squirrels and Muntjac Deer?
When an animal is exposed to a stress, it produces hormones that elevate its blood pressure, allowing it to quickly respond in a "fight-or-flight" scenario. When these hormones are produced in a pregnant female, they can be transferred to the foetus, changing the environment in which the embryo develops, therefore causing physiological and behavioural changes … Continue reading The Effects of Maternal Stress on Zebrafish and their Offspring
People seem to love bees but hate wasps, so why is there a difference in perception between the two? If I had a penny for every time I heard the question "what's the point of wasps?" I'd have at least enough money to buy a Freddo (well, back in the good old days of cheap … Continue reading In Defence of Wasps
Nature's Mark 