Bio in the Gong
It was a very illuminating week in Wollongong with bioluminescence, or sea sparkle, spotted near the big lighthouse. Sea sparkle is caused by a bloom of a single-celled organism, Noctiluca scintillans, which flashes as a defence mechanism when it is disturbed, or agitated by the crashing of waves. It’s always such an incredible sight and we’re so lucky that there were some folks out capturing it who saw the alert via the Bioluminescence Australia Facebook page.
Often sea sparkle will occur after a period of rain due to the nutrients in the run-off that the organism feeds off, so fingers crossed for the next couple of weeks.
Read about the four types of bioluminescent organisms we can see here in the Illawarra in my interview with light chaser and bio enthusiast David Finlay.
Wildlife watching from inside your house
It’s raining and with even more rain forecast, I’ve been wracking my brain as to how you can get our nature fix if you’re not feeling like splashing around in your gumboots. Thanks to the wonder that is the internet there are some great live-stream wildlife cameras set up around the country. Just be aware, these are wild animals, with cameras focused on wild nests. Ethically, these nests have to stay wild and untouched, meaning that they cannot be interfered with and not all chicks will make it.
- Peregrine falcon chicks in Melbourne
- FalconCam Project – Peregrine falcons in Orange with four different cameras to choose from
- Sydney Sea Eagle Cam – White-bellied sea eagles. Nest is currently quiet as both chicks have fledged but parents and remaining chick occasionally return to the nest
- Port Lincoln Osprey Cam
Aussie Bird Count
Loads of Illawarra locals participated in the Aussie Bird Count last week with almost four million birds counted. Results are incoming and it will be interesting to see if and what has changed from last year's results. Last year, the most common bird counted Australia-wide and here in NSW was the very lovely and very noisy Rainbow Lorikeet. You can see last year’s results here.
If you’ve enjoyed contributing to citizen science in this way and can’t wait until next year’s Aussie Bird Count, you can conduct 20-minute quarterly surveys for Birds in Backyards. Find more information here.
