Tony Gaston

@ArcticEcology I'm not sure that the existence of a consensus is proof of anything. At one time there was a general consensus that the sun went around the earth - and there was definite evidence for that hypothesis. A relief for the authors of bird guides and local lists, though.

Impressed to see how similar modern reconstructions are, compared to the chaos a decade or two ago. Charadriiformes still part of a large waterbird clade with most of the aquatic orders.

@virinderCC Hi, Virinder. Nice to hear from you after so long. What are you up to now? All the best

@Knomealone Many thanks for sharing Tony and great to see that you are still reporting on birds of Delhi ridge! Interesting findings in the comparison between early 1970s with 2018-22. With the tree centric approach habitats like Dry scrub and open area are impacted though important.

A little evidence for changes in Delhi's birds since the 1970s - not all bad... indianbirds.in/in-press/

@Rainmaker1973 27

Can you find the missing number?

I am leaving X/Twitter for good. I apologise to anyone who may be saddened by my departure

@davow22 @acoyne No significant decline for cons but higher variability

@acoyne Based on that graph it appears to me that both major parties have been on a similar straight line decline. Perhaps more and more of us have become non partisan due to our disgust with all of them? I certainly couldn’t make a voting decision tomorrow

Longer than that...

@WBSSTL She thinks its bird poop and she's cleaning up...

We recently acquired new wool for Sofia! Since it was fresh from the sheep, we washed it before giving it to her to ensure it was free from potential parasites and chemicals. She took her freshly laundered wool straight out of her nest box and over to the grass to play with it.

@AEDerocher Not looking good for seals in the Gulf of St Lawrence either, with temps there even further above normal

Hudson Bay is warm! Current sea surface temperature is 4-5 C above normal. That's a lot of heat to dissipate before polar bears see enough sea ice to begin their autumn migration. Of course, a cold snap could change things quickly (we hope). From: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/product/5km/in…

🎉This #WorldMigratoryBirdDay we are launching 6 brand new ocean flyways! 😮 We are completely in awe of seabirds and hope you will be too! 🌊 By creating new ocean #BirdLifeFlyways, we can bring people together to save seabirds. ➡ birdlife.org/globalflyways/

@daveliverbirder @MarkAvery Ha, ha

Having been knocked sideways with covid for a few days it’s good to know I’ve got no lasting brain fog when I found this beautiful winter plumaged Ptarmigan on #patchbirding

@daveliverbirder @MarkAvery Check it out: marineornithology.org

Not to alarm you, but... Things will get worse before they get better see "Many scientists don’t want to tell the truth about climate change.", Barbara Morin, WBur, Cognoscenti. (cant post the link because of media rules in Canada) wbur.org/cognoscenti/20…

The first global temperature data is in for the full month of September. This month was, in my professional opinion as a climate scientist – absolutely gobsmackingly bananas. JRA-55 beat the prior monthly record by over 0.5C, and was around 1.8C warmer than preindutrial levels.

Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change? | @drsimevans @tomoprater #CBarchive Read: bit.ly/3PYlcGI

I appear to be amongst birders.

Look at the lack of wear! Is that band really 40 years old? I gotta wonder

@MarkAvery Curses, our Brunnich's Guillemot record bested! And look at the state of that band! Well done whoever manufactured that - 40+ years and zero wear as far as I can see. Did this bird ever breed, I wonder? Maybe that's the secret to its longevity!

@acoyne Speaking from Ottawa, the city is covered in construction work. If we want to increase the rate of house-building, who is going to do it? I am not sure the workforce could cope with much expansion on the current rate unless we prioritize immigration of construction workers.

Gary Mason: The part of our housing conundrum politicians don’t want to talk about theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl…

Also of interest theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

@Ant_Partnership Any chance the instrument could be wrong?

This is the face of an oceanographer that maps the #Antarctic continental shelf. Seals with sensors are rewriting previous estimates of the ocean depths. In the most extreme case “they were diving 1,000m deeper than what we thought was the ocean floor.” ➡️antarctic.org.au/seals-uncover-…