During a 4x4 trip in the Akamas region in Cyprus, we visited Lara bay where there is a green and loggerhead turtle conservation programme. The area is a prime nesting area for these turtles and is visited by many people to try and catch a glimpse of them. As it is listed under the Fisheries Law Cap 135, as well as other legislation, the use of sunbeds, umbrellas, tents etc is forbidden (and very much frowned upon even just sunbathing without these!) as well as littering, disturbing nests and anchoring or using a boat. Unfortunately, I was unlucky and didn't see any turtles but just to see such an unspoilt area and the vast numbers of turtle nests was really interesting. Turtles have been threatened by a large demand for turtle soup, by-catch and tangling during fishing and the increasing use of beaches (i.e. nesting areas) for recreational use by humans. Green turtles especially are on the brink of extinction in the Mediterranean so conservation efforts like these at Lara bay are essential in the attempt to prevent this. On the west coast of Cyprus, the numbers of loggerhead turtle nests was over five times more in 2014 than in 1999. This clearly shows the massive importance of the work being completed in Cyprus. There are five main aims of the project: - To protect and manage turtle nesting beaches - To protect eggs and hatchlings from predators (mainly foxes - shown by surveys early in the project where 80% of nests had been dug up & eaten) and humans - To protect adult turtles - To monitor the turtle population - To raise public awareness An aluminium cage is placed over each of the nests after monitoring of where the eggs are laid. These prevent predator access but allow hatchlings to easily escape - a process often helped by the staff and visitors to guide them in the right direction. When to visit
At Lara Bay, adult loggerhead turtles will kick-start the breeding season in June through to July and the green turtles about 2 weeks later in their start and finishing times. The hatchings will then be in their nests for approximately 7 weeks and typically emerge at night. So, really it depends on what event you hope to see as to when to visit! If I were to visit Lara bay again, I wouldn't choose to do it as part of the 4x4 trips that are commonly offered in Cyprus. Mainly because for me, this part of the trip was what I was most looking forward to but due to the tight schedule of the day, we didn't spend long here. Also, the buggies that people hired to get there without a trip looked super fun and a visit at dusk would probably increase the likelihood of seeing some turtles.
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As you will have noticed from my last post, I took part in some research of the wildlife in the national parks of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe with a company called 'African Impact'. Typically, in the day it was elephant and giraffe research and at night, hyena research. As well as this, full game counts of wildlife above the size of a warthog, and bird surveys were completed. I'll start by talking about elephant research! Elephant research in Victoria Falls is completed so that the population size and herd structures can be found. So, as a photography volunteer, I needed to take ID shots of the elephants. This was required so that each elephant could be identified as they all have unique ear 'notches'. Photos from each side of the elephant, as well as a 'jazz ears' photo were preferably needed of each elephant but this proved rather difficult as they usually walked across in front of you in only one direction. Photos were also useful in identifying the gender and age of the elephants if unable to see these with the naked eye. Other factors such as the GPS, distance and angle were also recorded. It was on my final day in Victoria Falls that I experienced my favourite moment whilst out on elephant research. We were just crossing a road from one national park to another and we noticed a few elephants on one side of the road. We stopped at the opposite side and waited for them to emerge. What happened was such an incredible sight as over 80 elephants, of all ages, crossed in front of us! Whilst we were all rapidly trying to record all of the data and take photos of each of these, I don't think the smile on any of our faces faded.
Giraffe research was similar to elephants and for these, a full body photo from each side, head photo from each side and front-facing head photos were needed. As you have probably guessed, it is the 'spot' pattern that makes each one unique from one another. ID portfolios can then be built up from this. Game counts were similar but ID shots were not required for this. Instead, this was 'what it says on the tin' in that the number of each species were simply counted when seen on a game drive. For bird surveys, you would typically stop at a certain location (e.g. we did one overlooking a waterhole) and every species of bird within an hour period would be recorded. Night drives were done 1 or 2 times a week (usually a Tuesday and Thursday) and had the main purpose of trying to find spotted hyenas (which also have unique spot patterns). ALERT (African Lion and Environmental Research Trust) has 3 collared hyena in Victoria Falls so when one was sighted, it would make for quite an exciting night drive! The hyenas are collared so that their movements can be tracked so that more can be learnt about the population living here. The only downfall to the night drives - a lot of layers and at least 2 blankets were needed to even keep slightly warm!! I have recently returned from a trip to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe as a wildlife photography and conservation volunteer with 'African Impact'. I'll write more about this in the future, but my main role was to photograph elephants, giraffes, and other wildlife in the parks from different angles to build up ID portfolios so that the population size in the parks can be estimated, as well as herd structures. I was also responsible for photographing the other volunteers 'in-action'! Below I have picked out my favourite 20 photographs which are in order of when they were taken, not from most favourite etc... read below to find out what I was doing and to see the camera settings used for them! © 1. Meeting the lovely people from the market which was a fab experience, getting to know them rather than just purchasing from them! Focal Length: 35mm, ISO 450, f / 6.3, Shutter Speed: 1/60
2. The women's market. Focal Length: 18mm, ISO 400, f / 6.3, Shutter Speed: 1/320 3. Taking part in an art session at a local school. Focal Length: 86mm, ISO 6400, f / 5.3, Shutter Speed: 1/800 4. Sunset at safari lodge which was absolutely stunning (I'm sure you'll agree!) and seeing lions drinking from the water hole made it even better! Focal Length: 18mm, ISO 500, f / 11, Shutter Speed: 1/500 5. A little bee eater with 2 hippos in the background. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 200, f / 7.1, Shutter Speed: 1/320 6. The mighty Zambezi river! Focal Length: 18mm, ISO 220, f / 20, Shutter Speed: 1/60 7. Pied kingfisher looking over the river. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 200, f / 14, Shutter Speed: 1/60 8. White-fronted bee-eater. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 100, f / 11, Shutter Speed: 1/80 9. White-fronted bee-eater in the tree. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 1250, f / 6.3, Shutter Speed: 1/5000 10. Dragonfly at the golf course (also a wildlife haven)! Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 100, f / 9, Shutter Speed: 1/40 11. Traditional method of sieving grains in the local village. Focal Length: 56mm, ISO 2000, f / 4.8, Shutter Speed: 1/1600 12. Giraffe on a research game drive. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 500, f / 22, Shutter Speed: 1/60 13. Giraffe on a game count evening drive. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 250, f / 22, Shutter Speed: 1/60 14. Panoramic view of Victoria Falls. Focal Length: 18mm, ISO 200, f / 10, Shutter Speed: 1/250 15. Meat prep for the lions. Focal Length: 18mm, ISO 1800, f / 22, Shutter Speed: 1/60 16. 'Yum' - Lion Feed. Focal Length: 230mm, ISO 2000, f / 6.3, Shutter Speed: 1/1250 17. Beautiful elephant by a water hole. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 1000, f / 13, Shutter Speed: 1/640 18. Tawny eagle in flight. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 1000, f / 13, Shutter Speed: 1/1600 19. A starling. Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 1000, f / 13, Shutter Speed: 1/640 20. Giraffe - I think this wins it for my favourite photo! Focal Length: 300mm, ISO 1000, f / 13, Shutter Speed: 1/800 As some of you may know, I have been in Bristol for the past couple of weeks on a work experience placement with the BBC wildlife magazine which was absolutely incredible and I have learnt so much in my time there. I have a few articles on the news section of their website that I have written which is pretty exciting (click the buttons below the read them!): Whilst in Bristol, I also visited Bristol Zoo (I should start making a checklist of the zoos I've visited!). It was here that I photographed this wonderful yellow-headed day gecko which was perfectly posed to show off its' reflection. Yellow-headed day geckos are an endangered species according to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list and are restricted to Madagascar so really, it's a privilege to be able to see them. Their population in Madagascar is fragmented in two distinct locations so the importance of conserving this species is high as they could rapidly diminish.
This gecko is reliant on bamboo and forest areas for a place to safely live. Slash-and-burn agriculture is therefore a major problem in the destruction of their habitats in Madagascar. There is some hope that as bamboo can establish in cleared land, it might eventually re-establish but whether it actually will or not is unknown. Thankfully, due to the captive breeding of this species, the gecko is no longer known to be subjected to the illegal pet trade as harshly as it previously has been. Commercial exploitation has also greatly reduced. Bristol Zoo is the coordinator of the European breeding programme that is organised as part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (EAZA) studbook species. This is a population management technique across all of the zoos in Europe that host the yellow-headed day gecko. The coordinator is responsible for keeping all the records to discover how well the species is doing in zoos so that it can be determined if more intensive measures need to be taken in their captive breeding programmes. As well as organising captive breeding programmes, members of EAZA also have a strong place in educating the public on the importance of conservation - both in Europe at the zoos, and in the native countries of the animals. This means that not only are populations being managed in captivity but steps towards improving the state of wild populations are also taken. If you are lucky enough to visit Madagascar, yellow-headed day geckos can often be seen in a small group basking in the sun but like most geckos, they will quickly dash if something gets too close. They are a stunning bright turquoise blue colour with a yellow head and black markings down their side so shouldn't be missed! Ophrys speculum is a species of orchid found in the Mediterranean which mimics the virgin female of a scoliid wasp - Campsocolia ciliata. The mirror orchid produces many volatiles organic compounds that together, are exceptionally similar to the pheromones produced by female wasps prior to copulation. In addition, the colours and shape of the labellum (the landing platform for the wasp) also show great similarity to the wasps in order to attract them for pollination. Studies have found that when both the orchid and the virgin female wasps are present in one area, the orchid is more successful in attracting the males. This is possibly due to the greater range of pheromones that they possess of which some may have a different means of attracting the males. This is a phenomenon which I think is incredibly interesting and I was lucky enough to see it in action in Mallorca. I always wonder how the orchids evolved this mimicry and why the wasps are still attracted to the orchids, despite there being no benefit to themselves - known as 'pseudocopulation'. This process also occurs in other mimicry orchids, including Ophrys apifera (bee orchid) which can be seen in the UK, as well as spider and fly orchids. It was suggested by Schiestl and Cozzolino that the pheromones produced did not initially have a role in sexually deceiving the male wasps but this later became it's main function. The initial role of a high range of volatiles likely evolved as they were scents preferred by pollinators. The higher production of the volatiles that mimic the female of the pollinator would have then later evolved. Ophrys speculum mimic the female wasps, rather than the males as males invest more time in mating (as females care for the brood) so the likelihood of a successful pollination event is increased.
In other studies, when male Campsocolia ciliata have been tracked, they do eventually seem to learn to avoid specific flowers that they have attempted to copulate with, after they've realised nothing was gained. So, if they learn to avoid, how does it persist? New males. These young and naïve wasps do not yet realise that the so-called 'female' is actually an orchid. These wasps are therefore the main pollinators of Ophrys speculum. As I saw in Mallorca, within the group of wasps present where the orchid was, only some of the males would attempt copulation but others would fly up to the flower and then fly off - as if they knew that it was a hoax. Also, they may not teach their young how to distinguish because that would take a lot more energy than the new males would spend learning themselves. Hopefully you have found this as amazing as I did - that a massive range of orchid species are able to mimic an insect so that they are pollinated, and without giving a reward to the pollinator too! If you get chance, you could try spotting some of the Ophrys apifera which are present in the UK, or the other mimicry species elsewhere and observe if the males are yet to overcome their innocence. © You might be thinking, what is 30 days wild? This is a campaign by The Wildlife Trusts to get people more involved with nature and wildlife. So, for each day in June you simply complete a task, or 'random act of wildness', to help nature or to bring you closer to it. If you head to their website, you can request a pack to give you some ideas of what to do and how to get a school or your workplace involved. For Day 1, 4 and 6, I spent my time volunteering at the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital to help provide care for the hundreds of animals there that are currently in need of some TLC! That means a lot of cleaning but also hand-feeding baby birds and the most rewarding part of all - releasing the rehabilitated animals back into the wild. You should check out their facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/leicestershire.wildlife.hospital/) to see some of the wonderful animals and also to find out about fundraising events where your support would always be massively appreciated! Day 2 - On this day, I cleaned some bird feeders in the garden before filling them up with sunflower hearts, fat balls and bird seed. This is very important to stop the spread of disease between birds which is a problem with bird feeders which attract a large number of birds into the same area. Also, if you notice any food has droppings on, discard this food. To clean the bird feeders, just use a disinfectant and scrub them, leave to dry and fill up again! Day 3 - I found a bumblebee looking very worn out so gave 'him' a spoonful of sugary water which he soon drank and flew off looking much better! It is super important right now to save our bees as in the last 5 years, they have reduced by 1/3rd! Day 5 - This day I unfortunately saw a cat take a blackbird out of it's nest. It was sad to watch as the parents were clearly very distressed and trying to do everything they could to save their young. During this, the 2 other baby blackbirds fell out of the nest. Fortunately, my dad and I had noticed this. As I was 100% certain of their nest and I was able to watch them all day to make sure parents were still coming back to feed them, I returned them to their nest and was very happy to see their parents flying in and out all day long (and even right now, as I am writing this, I can see them!). There's a photo below of the 2 of them, which I am so so glad are doing brilliantly! I do however just want to say that if you do ever find baby birds, do NOT return them to a nest unless you are 100% certain that it is theirs. Also, even if the nest is theirs, there may have been a reason they were kicked out of it (e.g. the birds had grown and there was simply not enough room for them) so returning them would not be a good idea and instead, I would recommend ringing your local wildlife rescue centre, a local vet (who do not charge members of the public for wildlife), or the RSPCA. In addition, if you are unable to get them to a wildlife centre/vets etc then remember that they are very young so are on a specific diet with a lot of fats and protein. For example, if these blackbirds needed to be hand-cared for, live mealworms would need to be fed to them approximately every 20 minutes. The most important point is that every situation is unique so always ask for advice and seek professional care. Day 7 - Today, my act of wildness is writing this blog post to raise awareness of '30 Days Wild' and to hopefully get some more people involved! A few more ideas for this; go for a walk and see what animals and plants you can spot, plant some wildflowers to attract more insects to your garden, go out for an hour and pick up as much litter as you can see. I hope that I have convinced at least a couple of you to sign up (http://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/20877/petition/1) - even if you just do a few 'random acts of wildness', it all helps in bringing everyone closer to nature!! ©
Firstly, I apologise for the lack of posts recently but I've been revising a lot for my uni exams! I thought I would start back with writing about harvester ants which I saw in Mallorca. Ants are an incredible insect with such a complex social structure that is truly fascinating. I have learnt a lot about them during uni and I wouldn't have imagined finding them so interesting so I'm hoping that I can pass this on to more people. Ant colonies will either have one or multiple queens which may be singly or multiply mated. They also have males whose role is just to mate after which they die, and workers which are all females and do not mate. Typically, harvester ants will accept multiple queens, despite reducing the relatedness between the colony and increasing queen conflict. They do this because genetic diversity is mediated by queen number in these colonies such that susceptibility to parasites is lessened and the ants can diverge to specialise in a wider range of tasks (such as defending the territory, collecting food or nursing young). However, new queens will almost always still be related to the colony. If the new queen was unrelated, the colony would not benefit from helping care for their brood. This is because with a related queen to whom they share many genes, they are indirectly passing on their own genes so caring for them is advantageous. Did you know that queens and females are genetically identical?
If you have ever seen a queen ant, you will know that they are much bigger than the female workers (which can also differ) so how can they be genetically the same? Caste (morphologically different ants) fate of an ant is determined either in the egg or larval stages and is determined by the environment and nutrition of each ant. Epigenetic factors (differential expression of the same gene) also determine this. For example, more insects than seeds in the diet of the Florida harvester ant results in a larger caste - i.e. it becomes a queen, and then a major worker and then a minor worker depending on the amount of insects fed. As the workers control the environment of the colony, they determine caste fate. Major workers are also known as soldier ants and play a role in defence as well as to crack open strong, hard seeds by using their large heads to do so. Minor workers will typically either be nursers for the young produced or they will be foragers of food and have a role in the maintenance of the colony. The difference between being a nurser or forager is also due to a different expression of some genes - including the 'foraging' gene. Finding their way home When out foraging, the worker harvester ants will leave a scent trail along their way so that they can track their way home again. This trail is produced from the poison gland and is also made so that they do not have any aggressive interactions with other competing ants. This scent trail is also used by other ants in the colony when some workers return with food. This means that a large amount of food can then be collected as all of the workers cooperate to improve their maximal returns. Harvester ants as well as other ants, bees, wasps and the only two known mammals that are truly eusocial (naked mole rat and Damaraland mole rat) have truly incredible social structures that allow them to increase the fitness of the colony. I hope that this article has made you excited about ants, as learning about it did for me - especially how ants with the same genetic make up can manifest into such different morphological groups! © ![]() As you may know, I have just returned from a 12 day field trip in Mallorca with uni. I had an absolutely brilliant time and got to see all the beauty of the island. We stayed in Palma which is the capital but travelled a lot around the North/North-West of the island and saw loads of endemic species (only present in this geographical area). I just wanted to give you a summary of what I got up to and then I will definitely do some more posts about some of my favourite species I saw there! We had 4 main field trip days and 5 days of project work (including a presentation on the final day), a much needed day off and 2 travel days. Oakwood, Botanical Garden and Gorg blau This was a super fun day but we were out for 12 hours and did a lot of scrambling so I was so glad for a big buffet dinner when we got back! We first visited an oakwood in Bunyola where we studied the species present and how the level of disturbance has changed over time. Also, we saw the climbing variant of Smilax aspera here. We then travelled to Sóller Botanical gardens to look at some more endemic species, had a taste of some carob pods and looked at the skeleton of Myotragus in the museum: an extinct cave goat that was an endemic on the island. On to the reservoir of Gorg blau and then down the most incredible windy road in Sa Calobra to the beach where the water source of the reservoir used to run to. Formentor Peninsula This is the most Northerly point in Mallorca and had incredible views, and a lot of goats! First we looked at a few 'hedgehog' plants which have adapted to all the goats by reducing their leaves and/or producing prickles to prevent grazing. The Balearic endemic subspecies of Smilax aspera is present here and it is incredible how different it looks from the climbing variety! We walked down the path from the lighthouse to look at some more species up the side of the cliff. This 'walk' (I was pretty much crawling) up the side was good fun but hard work - especially when you couldn't hold onto the plants as they were all hedgehog plants! We saw the Mallorcan peony at the top which was so pretty and of major conservation status there as it is now limited to the north-western and north-eastern areas. Boquer Valley Here we studied dioecy (separation of sexes on individual plants) in Pistacia lentiscus which showed a female bias and then the species-area relationship by turning over rocks and looking at the species present. The prediction is that the larger the rock, the greater variety of species present. We found geckos, spiders, a scorpion endemic to the Balearics and loads of other interesting creatures! It also meant we got to walk down to the bottom of the valley and spend some time at a stunning beach!! Albufera Nature Reserve and Hermann's Tortoises The morning was spent birdwatching at Albufera nature reserve so that we could try to spot the three birds of high conservation status (red-knobbed coot, red crested pochard and purple swamphen). We spotted (with the help of some keen twitchers) the red crested pochard as well as an osprey, cormorants, a European pond terrapin and loads more beautiful birds! It's definitely worth a visit. We also visited a nature reserve for the western Mediterranean Hermann's Tortoise to complete a mark release recapture experiment which the uni do every year on the trip. This is normally completed by marking the individuals collected but as these tortoises have a unique stomach pattern, we used this to distinguish them. From this, we can estimate the population. We determined this as approximately 214 individuals. I also got a tortoise named after me as nobody had found that one before! Project work For our project, my group studied cyanogenesis (production of cyanide toxin upon tissue damage) in 3 legumes and the effect of this on grazing by snails. I'm currently writing a report on this study but we found some interesting results and it was good fun completing it - even if we did have to grind up 90 samples of plants! So finally here's some of my favourite photos from the trip and I look forward to showing you more! © A slightly early blog post but I am away in Majorca on a field trip with uni for the next 2 weeks so won't be able to post when I'm there! I will definitely have loads to write about when I get back and am especially excited about finding trapdoor spiders, which I never thought I'd say about a spider! After the saddening death of the last male northern white rhino, it has come to light again that giraffes too might be on a rapid decline as part of a 'silent extinction'. It might surprise you to hear but there are in fact 4 species of giraffe with a total of 9 subspecies. They are; Southern giraffe and it's 2 subspecies Angolan and South African giraffe; Northern giraffe with 3 subspecies Nubian, Kordofan and West African giraffe; Reticulated giraffe and Masai giraffe. Of these subspecies, 5 have decreased, 1 is stable and 3 are increasing shown from surveys over the last 30 years. The overall results are a 36-40% decline and shockingly for the Nubian giraffe, numbers have decreased by 95%. It is shocking how rapidly the numbers of giraffes are declining yet they are a species that many people are unaware of as being listed, 'vulnerable' on IUCN red list of threatened species. It is again because of human activity - notably poaching, war and habitat disturbance. The killing of Kordofan giraffes for a part of their tail in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is used for dowry as a gift from a man to his bride's father when asking to marry her. They may also be used as a sign of good luck. Illegal trade of the marrow of giraffes that is thought to cure AIDs is also a major issue, as is the killing of them for their meat due to the shear amount that one kill would provide.
A solution? Of course there is a solution, but this is difficult to establish due to these ongoing traditions and the need to make money by growing crops; reducing their habitat, or by the shooting and selling of giraffe parts. Habitat management in African, and major conservation efforts by zoos all over the world are in place to help prevent the extinction of this species. Previously in Niger in 1996, the West African giraffe had only 50 left in this country so strict poaching regulations, education about the species and an introduction of a 'micro loan' that allow them to put money towards business were put in place and by 2009, there had been a 400% increase in the population - absolutely incredible considering how close this subspecies came to extinction! This provides so much hope for their future and hopefully all African countries that have giraffes present can take this example and use in their own efforts for conservation. © ![]() Canada Geese are a non-native species of goose in the UK and one that many people despise, and are possibly scared of. They are now classed as a pest and so with a licence, culling of them is allowed. As you may be able to guess, I am particularly against culling because I think we should just let nature take it's cause but why are so many people a hater of the Canada goose? The Canada Goose is a good-looking bird; you cannot deny that but similarly with pigeons, it's a bird that is very commonly seen so I think the appreciation of them has dramatically reduced from when they were first found in the UK. People are commonly wary of geese because they have seen them being 'aggressive' but I have never known of this unless the goose is being threatened or when protecting their territory, food or young. I'd say that it's humans that need to learn when to back off and leave the poor birds alone so they don't feel like they have to defend themselves. I mean try and think like you are a goose and you've got a 5 year old running at you at full pelt, I don't think you'd feel too safe either! Now as well as this, many of the parks in the UK are getting worried about people slipping over on their poo because of the high volume that they excrete. Regent's park in London has decided that they are going to fence off the boating lake to prevent access to these birds so that the slip hazard isn't present for humans. I mean seriously, can people not just be more careful where they are walking? This will be incredibly stressful for the geese and will probably result in a large amount of deaths. And at the end of the day, they will just end up going to another pond so this doesn't solve the 'problem'. You know, people keep complaining about how awful the problems of climate change and other human infliction are to wildlife but when it comes down to it, most still put themselves first. At the end of the day, slipping over in some geese poo would probably just give you something to laugh about in the future but stopping geese from returning to a site that they've been coming to for years will seriously affect their survival. It is in these lakes that the geese undergo their annual moult during which they are unable to partake in other energy expensive actions such as nesting and migrating. If they cannot find an alternative safe place to do this in where they are free from predators then they will be unable to get rid of their worn out feathers which is essential to them. A telegraph article shows that Regent's park, park manager said that the number of geese present there is dangerous to the public. But surely he can't seriously be suggesting that geese are more of a problem to humans than we are, or will be to them?! If their presence in the park is 'dangerous', how about we stop visiting instead? So really, I don't believe that Canada geese are a pest but that humans again, are under the impression that we should have a higher rank than they do so stop them from living a natural life. Let me know what you think in the comments! © |
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