The environment: science, ethics and communication
A recent trip to Paluma Dam with the good people of Wildlife Queensland was enjoyable for the wildlife and just being in the rainforest but was far from strenuous. We walked across the dam wall and along a vehicular track to the west of the dam, took a side track to down to the dam shore, and returned the same way Continue reading “Walking in the Paluma rainforest”
We had a bit of rain a while ago but nothing but drizzle since then so our birdbath still gets a lot of use. This Spotted Dove, an early-morning visitor, looks quite put out at the low water level.
I, of course, blame the other birds, especially the Mynahs, for splashing it all out. They, more fairly, blame me for not refilling it fast enough. Never mind – we do try, and I did top it up when I noticed the problem.
Incidentally, the bird has had a Latin name change: it is now Spilopelia chinensis rather than Streptopelia chinensis. Continue reading “Dove’s disappointment”
Charlie Veron: A Life Underwater
Penguin Viking, 2017
As has happened with other books, particularly where I have some personal connection to their authors, I have come across a published review which says what I would have said (and says it at least as well as I could have said it) and decided that it was better for me to quote excerpts than to write my own review. The quotations below are drawn from the extended review by Tim Elliott for the SMH (you can read it in full here).
… Equal parts memoir, coral reef primer and requiem to a planet, [A Life Underwater] charts a career that could scarcely be imagined today, a love affair with science birthed from childhood wonderment, free-range academia and happy accidents.
… Veron’s achievements are, quite literally, unprecedented. He was the first to compile a global taxonomy of corals – a monumental task that effectively became the cornerstone for all later learning. He was the first to show that, contrary to received wisdom, the Indo-Philippines archipelago has the world’s greatest diversity of coral, not the Great Barrier Reef.
A Life Underwater is a very approachable introduction to reef science since it allows us to learn the science sequentially through Veron’s own journey of discovery. Continue reading “Charlie Veron: A Life Underwater”
Green Path doesn’t spend much time on lizards other than geckos or skinks, mainly because its author doesn’t see them terribly often, so a quick overview may be in order.
The lizard families we have in Queensland are Geckos, Skinks, Dragons, Monitors (Goannas) and Flap-footed Lizards (Legless Lizards). (Wikipedia has a beautiful taxonomic chart that places them in relationship to each other and all the other families worldwide, if you’re interested.)
We don’t have as many Dragons (Agamidae) as Skinks or Geckos but they are attractive and distinctive and some, e.g. the Frill-necked Lizard and Thorny Devil, are very well known. Continue reading “Nobbi, the cute dragon lizard”