GreyShuck

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A PhD student at Bournemouth University is developing an AI model to help with the conservation of barn owls in Dorset.

Kavisha Jayathunge is working with Brian Cresswell, a biologist-turned-electronics engineer who uses technology to support ornithological research, especially barn owls and nightjars.

“We're using AI to count baby barn owls by sound instead of disturbing them in their nests with video cameras,” Kavisha said. “This helps reduce stress on the birds and could give us data from natural nest sites, which are often inaccessible for monitoring, not just the artificial nestboxes where most of the data we currently have comes from,” he added.

 

Precious ravine woodlands across the Peak District are being brought back to life through the largest restoration project of its kind, with 84,000 native trees now planted to replace those lost to ash dieback disease.

The 5 year LIFE in the Ravines project has successfully restored up to 25% of the region’s most severely damaged woodlands. It creates resilient habitats that will protect this rare ecosystem for future generations.

Natural England’s partnership project has focused on the Peak District Dales Special Area of Conservation, where ash dieback has devastated ancient woodlands. Teams have replanted a diverse mix of species, including the foundation species large-leaved lime, small-leaved lime, and wych elm trees that historically thrived in these unique limestone ravines.

 

Certain insects - including ladybirds, butterflies and wasps - are thriving after the warmest and sunniest spring on record across the UK.

Aphid numbers, the main food source of ladybirds, boomed according to the Royal Horticultural Society after a warm start to the summer.

But the relative lack of rain this spring and summer could lead to lower insect and amphibian numbers next year since eggs may not be laid and wetland areas are drying up.

 

Conservationists have celebrated breeding one of England's rarest insects in captivity for the first time.

The Species Recovery Trust led the project to successfully breed the endangered heath tiger beetle, external at a special artificial habitat at Sparsholt College, near Winchester.

The trust and college hope to eventually reintroduce the insects back into their heathland homes.

 

The divers emerged from the water smiling with satisfaction. They had found what they were looking for in the undersea meadows off the south coast of England.

“Seahorses are tricky to spot,” said Mark Fox. “The seagrass sways and they blend into it pretty well. It helps if it’s sunny and not too choppy but you have to get your eye in. When you see them, it’s brilliant.”

Fox is one of a band of volunteers (he is a semi-retired painter and decorator) helping survey the creatures that live in Studland Bay.

 

This year, we’re not just launching a survey — we’re launching a nationwide rescue mission, and we need everyone to get involved.

Last summer, Britain’s butterflies sent an urgent SOS through Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count.

The wildlife charity declared a Butterfly Emergency after results revealed a marked and deeply concerning decline in butterfly numbers, which were the lowest in the Count’s history.

 

An open letter from industry leaders and environmental charities is published today urging the UK Government to get Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) back on track across England.

The letter (1) follows recent proposals to remove small and medium-sized developments from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) commitments, a move The Wildlife Trusts has warned represents a weakening of the policy.

Addressed to the Prime Minister, the letter, which has been co-signed by Knight Frank, Schroders Wealth Management and Triodos Bank among others, says: “Our collective voice sends a clear message: weakening BNG would come at a high cost, setting back this fast-developing economy and more widely threatening business confidence in nature policy.”

 

A lucky fisherman spotted more than 30 dolphins off the Cumbrian coast.

Aaron Jones was fishing off Walney when he observed dolphins for more than an hour.

He described seeing the pod as a "once in a lifetime experience".

Sarah Neill, a marine biologist at Kendal College, said dolphin sightings become more common in the summer months.

 

An MP said he feared a river could be toxic to fish after carrying out water quality testing himself.

Labour's Peter Prinsley, who represents Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, says he carried out tests on the River Lark - finding dangerous levels of ammonia.

Prinsley said: "This kind (of pollution) is often linked to agricultural runoff or sewage discharge."

 

Eighty percent of people agree that marine wildlife should be treated with the same care as land-based wildlife, a new survey has found.

The independent research was conducted by Savanta for The Wildlife Trusts, ahead of National Marine Week (26th July to 10th August), which is the Trusts’ annual celebration of the seas.

Plus, when told about bottom trawling, which is an industrialised form of fishing during which nets are dragged along the seabed, 57% of people said they were now more likely to buy sustainably caught fish.

 

Five hen harrier chicks have fledged "against the odds" after four breeding males disappeared, the RSPB said.

Staff at the conservation charity said the disappearance of two of the rare birds from RSPB Geltsdale Nature Reserve in Cumbria, and a further two from the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, pointed to their illegal killing.

RSPB staff and volunteers intervened to provide their paired females with emergency food in an effort to save their chicks.

 

Dedicated "eel lanes" are to be created in rivers at the South Downs National Park to assist with the migration of the European eel.

The project includes the installation of fish passes created around man-made structures in the rivers which act as a narrow lane of water to provide eels with a route around artificial barriers like dams and weirs.

Strips of bristles, known as eel brushes, are also being added at new water control structures in RSPB Pulborough Brooks and Pagham Harbour to help eels manoeuvre upstream.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (4 children)

The photos that the Independent are using at North American elk - Cervus canadensis. However, the species that they are actually looking to introduce are Aces alces - Eurasian elk, which are what North Americans know as moose.

The Guardian did get this right a few days back.

ETA: they have now corrected the photos.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 6 points 2 months ago (4 children)

I think that it does improve after ep1, but we still abandoned it after around 4 eps. There was still nothing compelling or that added to the overall Duniverse.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's Shroud, after a bit of delay in the middle. Some good world-building and interesting concepts, and an engaging tale - but not quite up with Children of Time, I'd say.

About a third of the way through Iain M Banks' Use of Weapons. It seems too focused on the flashbacks - which have not coalesced into a cohesive whole so far. There is still plenty of time, of course.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Comments like that say far more about the person saying it than about the person being described most of the time, I'd say.

I'd need to know how good the describer is like in that area before I could make any assessment about the describee.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yes. This is one of his Culture novels. I've been enjoying them so far.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 4 points 3 months ago (6 children)

The run up to a fortnight of holiday for me, so the days were simultaneously dragging and full of stuff that I was trying to get finished or progressed as much as possible.

However, now I am dozing in the sun with the requisite amounts of clotted cream and cider and a stack of books (Banks' Use of Weapons at the moment).

Once the BH crowds have thinned, I will probably get out for some coastal hikes too.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 2 points 3 months ago

Very little is grabbing me right now. Probably only The Phoenician Scheme really.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 3 points 3 months ago

I had a nap yesterday afternoon, which is probably the first for several months. However, I am on holiday for a couple of weeks now, so will probably be having more over that time.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 4 points 3 months ago

Pizza, cheesecake, wife's puppy eyes,

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 2 points 3 months ago

Shadow (2018) - beautifully designed and shot, particularly in the first half. Relatively gory for a wuxia: I didn't mind but my wife, who is quite sensitive to such things, found it too much at times.

As with Zhang Yimou's earlier House of Flying Daggers I felt that that it didn't really reach a conclusion as much as ended the story and then drifted to a stop.

Definitely worth seeing though.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 2 points 3 months ago

I don't drink either - or any other hot drinks. I have never liked them.

There was a while when, every other year or so, in the depths of winter, I would get it into my head that my tastes might have changed and would accept someone's offer of something: tea, coffee, hot chocolate or whatever. But I'd always end up taking one sip and realise my folly.

And, no, Iced tea or similar does nothing for me either.

[–] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

A good deal of the current Scottish population are descended from the Irish, which goes some way to explaining that side of your comparison, but I am not aware of Finland being particularly cloudy.

I have not consulted any climatic records, but I would have expected it to be less cloudy than the rest of Scandinavia, really, since the rain will have been deposited on the mountain in Norway and Sweden before the air masses reach Finland.

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