FirEUrisk’s Post

Discover the magic of the forest 🌲 through a fortuitous encounter with a roe deer in its natural habitat, capturing the essence of wildlife. 🦌 Elegant and adaptable, the roe deer is a treasure of our biodiversity. Today on our blog, learn about its curious habits and its discreet charm. By José Luis Gallego, #environmental communicator. 

Attention Long Point Residents & visitors: Help Protect Our Turtles! With the unseasonably warm weather and recent rains, our local turtles are more active, and many have been spotted on roadways. The Long Point World Biosphere Reserve Foundation's Road Ecology Working Group urges you to be vigilant and watch for turtles, especially in areas marked by MTO road signs indicating high mortality rates during turtle season.  What You Can Do: - Be extra cautious while driving. Slow down and watch for movement on and near roads. - Keep an eye out for snakes and amphibians as well, as they are also more active during this weather. - Consider putting a "Watch for Turtles" sign on your front lawn to raise awareness among your neighbors and visitors. Together, we can make a difference and ensure the safety of our wildlife. Let’s all do our part to protect these vital members of the Long Point ecosystem. #LongPointBiosphere  #TurtleConservation#RoadEcology #PriorityPlace 

SEASONAL CHANGES As we transition into the dry season, which marks the onset of winter, we witness fascinating changes in our local wildlife and their habitats. During this period, water sources become scarce, and many animals adapt their behaviors to cope with the arid conditions. For instance, some species will migrate to areas with more abundant water, while others, like certain reptiles and small mammals, reduce their activity to conserve energy and moisture. Plants also undergo significant transformations. Many trees shed their leaves to minimize water loss, and the landscape takes on a golden hue as grasses dry out. These changes are crucial for maintaining the balance of our ecosystem, as they influence food availability and shelter for numerous species. Understanding these seasonal dynamics is essential for our ongoing research and conservation efforts. By studying how wildlife adapts to the dry season, we can better protect these species and ensure their habitats remain resilient. Stay tuned for more insights and updates on our research as we delve deeper into the wonders of nature during this dry season! #SeasonalChanges #DrySeason #WinterWildlife #WildlifeResearch #Conservation #NatureLovers #WildlifePhotography #EcoAwareness #SustainableLiving #ProtectOurPlanet

💬 “Wholesale moving of ecosystems can’t be undone, so should be very much a last resort. Our #woodland wildlife often depends on native trees: for example well over 300 species are completely dependent on our native oak trees." - Andrew Allen 👉 'As the world gets hotter, could helping trees migrate northwards protect them?' from Phoebe Weston in The Guardian https://lnkd.in/efRifffR 🌳 Native trees have a high capacity to adapt to change, especially if consideration is given to allowing regular cycles of natural regeneration. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eeEJWqTS

🌍🐾 Discover the Fascinating World of Otter Doppelgangers! 🦦✨ Are you intrigued by otters and their semi-aquatic lifestyles? Dive into Simply Ecologist's latest article and uncover 15 animals that share remarkable similarities with otters, each with their own unique characteristics and ecological roles! 🔹 **Fur Seals**: Adorned with thick fur, these agile swimmers lead a semi-aquatic lifestyle. 🔹 **Mongooses**: Agile carnivores, these creatures thrive in diverse habitats. 🔹 **Grisons**: Often mistaken for European minks, these semi-aquatic carnivores are fascinating predators. 🔹 **Tayras**: Small but mighty, these carnivorous mammals navigate both land and water with ease. 🔹 **Wolverines**: Known for their solitary nature, these fierce creatures adapt to varied environments. 🔹 **Eurasian Badgers**: Masters of the underground, these burrowers have a strong connection to their habitats. Explore the intricate tapestry of wildlife ecosystems and gain a deeper understanding of our world's amazing biodiversity! 🌿 Dive into the full article here: [https://lnkd.in/dY_ixBWP) 🦦 #Wildlife #Biodiversity #EcoSystem #NatureLovers #SimplyEcologist #Otters #EnvironmentalEducation #WildlifeProtection

Tonight's ecological learning experience. A fantastically interesting webinar on Pine Martens by Simon Roper and Tracey Hamston together with #DevonRewildingNetwork and #DevonWildlifeTrust. Pine martens are small, agile mammals native to Europe and parts of Asia. They have sleek bodies, typically brown fur, and a creamy-yellow throat patch. Renowned climbers, they navigate arboreal canopies with ease using sharp claws and long tails for balance. Pine martens are omnivorous, opportunistic predators, feeding on a varied diet of small mammals, birds, insects, and fruits a surprisingly large part of their diet (up to 75% has been recorded!) Despite facing habitat loss and hunting pressures in the past, conservation efforts have helped stabilise some populations in recent years.

Happy World Wildlife Day! In the spirit of cherishing all wildlife species as vital threads of healthy environments, here are some must-know facts about monitor lizards: 1.     Evolutionary origins: Monitors lizards originated from Asia around the Late Cretaceous and subsequently spread to Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia, where they live today. 2.     Living relatives: Two oddball species - Chinese crocodile lizards and Bornean earless monitors - are the closest living relatives of monitors. Monitors are also related to snakes, both having forked tongues. 3.     Intelligence: Monitors are one of the smartest reptiles on the planet. African rock monitors can count to six, and Komodo dragons in zoos appear to recognise their keepers. 4.     Ecological diversity: Australian monitor lizards occupy niches that are taken by small carnivorous mammals in other continents. As a rule of thumb, large Australian species such as sand goannas and perenties are ground dwelling generalist predators, while smaller species like spiny-tailed or black-headed monitors hide in trees and rock crevices. 5.     Size matters: The world’s smallest monitor lizards – the ones I’m studying - break the rule of thumb since they’re ground-dwelling generalists. This group comprises of three species – rusty desert monitors, short-tailed monitors, and Dampierland monitors. Rusties grow up to ~45 cm long while short-tailed and Dampierland monitors only grow to <20 cm long. 

Its Day 2 in the countdown to World Rewilding Day on 20th March and we bring you another tip in rewilding your space from Bright Green Nature .... 2. Just Add Water…. One of the most impactful things you can do for wildlife in your garden is add water. Establishing a small pond in your garden can offer vital resources for wildlife such as birds and small mammals, providing both drinking spots and places to bathe. Moreover, it serves as a sanctuary for endangered species like the great crested newt, common frog, and common toad, along with sustaining a diverse array of aquatic and flying invertebrates, which form the base of the food chain. Even the creation of a tiny water feature – and we’re talking a bucket-sized affair here - can swiftly attract a variety of aquatic flora, insects, and amphibians. Go into your garden under the cover of night, and with a strong torch and you’ll witness the (very busy) underwater ecosystem: from dragonfly larvae poised for their next meal to juvenile newts leisurely navigating the shallows. To a child this kind of adventure is something which will last in their memory for a long time to come. Want to bring Nature back to your space? Bright Green Nature offers small grants for households and schools to do just that. Go to https://lnkd.in/eRFmNRxH for more details. #brightgreennature #rewilding #biodiversity #aquaticecosystems #nature #grantsfornature #communityengagement

At American Bird Conservancy, we love birds — so of course we also love trees! 🌲🌳🌴 In honor of National Arbor Day, we’re exploring the diverse forest biomes found throughout the Western Hemisphere, the trees that populate them, and how ABC works to conserve them as vital bird habitats (including supporting the planting of more than 7.7 million native trees where birds need them most in the Western Hemisphere!). Read the final installment of our forest blog series at https://lnkd.in/gbj9d7W3. Caring for forests means providing a future for many bird species. You can help conserve forest habitats by making simple swaps, like choosing certified Bird Friendly® coffee and chocolate, tending to your backyard habitat, and supporting ABC's work to restore habitats, prevent extinctions, reverse population declines, and reduce threats to birds throughout the Western Hemisphere. #ArborDay #NationalArborDay #ForestConservation #BirdConservation #BirdFriendlyCoffee #BirdFriendlyCocoa

🌍 Today is World Migratory Bird Day! 🐦 The aim of this day is to raise the level of awareness about the threats migratory birds are facing. This year's theme, "Protect insects, protect birds," highlights the crucial role insects play as a food source for many migratory species. Insects provide an essential source of energy not only during breeding seasons but also throughout the birds' long migrations, influencing the timing, duration, and success of their journeys. The final bird in our featured series is the Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa). This large, long-legged shorebird has a large breeding range in the Northern Hemisphere (it is the national bird of the Netherlands), but birds occurring in Australia probably predominantly breed in Siberia. In Australia, the birds are mostly found in coastal regions, arriving in August and leaving in March. As with the previous two highlighted birds, recent studies have shown a significant population decline in Australia and the species is now listed as ‘Endangered’ under the EPBC Act. The Black-tailed Godwit and other migratory waders are a symbol of the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the importance of global conservation efforts. Protecting habitats such as wetlands and coastlines is essential to the survival of these birds and other species that depend on these environments.  Learn more about projects from the MaC Hub helping to protect shorebirds at: https://lnkd.in/gGg6XnbR   #NESP #shorebirds #Waders #WorldMigratoryBirdDay #Conservation #WMBD2024   Image: Black-tailed Godwit Image credit: Tisha Mukherjee, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://lnkd.in/gcqacBW)