Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The breeding season is upon us and it appears to be all systems go for our reintroduced bush stone-curlews. Let’s keep our fingers and toes crossed we see some recruitment this year 🤞🤞🤞 260
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Here’s a beaver. Beavers were extinct for hundreds of years in Scotland, with reintroductions beginning in 2009. However, ‘beavers bombers’ are believed to have illegally released them in the River Tay years before the first official release. Won’t lie though, I was stoked to see this chap 030
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Yesterday I attending a workshop on human-wildlife interactions in conservation translocations. There was a wealth of different experiences in the room, from those of us on the ground to those in policy. Ecologists & social scientists. But one thing I keep thinking about: beaver bombing. 011
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 05/09/2026The internet tells me that Sir David Attenborough described Bass Rock as one of the 12 wildlife wonders of the world, and look, hard agree here. 140
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Lots of deep ponderings this weekend. What do you do when the places that usually bring you calm, suddenly bring you grief? I hope all you nature folks are still finding moments of joy, in amongst the deep sadness. 050
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 08/07/2026It’s masked lapwing breeding time, and this is a masked lapwing exclusion zone. For everyone’s safety. 040
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Full cohort, fine-scale, and long-term tracking isn't common in wildlife reintroductions. Almost 2 years in, and every single bush stone-curlew we've released has a nifty GPS backpack on. 240
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 02/07/202614 more bush stone-curlews are now home on Milawul! Our most ambitious release yet: 30 experiment days, 200hrs of behaviour data, & a new trial releasing birds with flight feathers intact (less time on roads, faster dispersal, we hope 🤞) Sourced from partners Australia-wide for genetic diversity. 1342
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 02/06/2026A PhD means learning all sorts of new skills. Like how to build a large, temporary, cost-effective aviary. Gearing up for our next bush stone-curlew release. But first, some more behaviour experiments. 010
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 21/04/2026It’s called ✨science✨ Knee-deep in experiments over here, in preparation for another bush stone-curlew release. 010
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Random box of crap, or a fun box of experiments for the final bush stone-curlew release of my PhD? Honestly, it’s a bit of both. But I’m hoping these objects will help build on some exciting results from earlier experiments on how to maximise the success of stone-curlew translocations. 010
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 29/01/2026Thought I was looking at just two of my reintroduced bush stone-curlews. Next minute. 040
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 30/12/2025‘Tis the season for a wrap up, I suppose. It’s been a year. Sending y’all a bunch of positive vibes for the next 12 months. 120
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 12/12/2025Please enjoy this wonderfully round spotted pardalote. 060
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 12/12/2025There are five bush stone-curlews here. Laying low, looking like logs, much how I would like to hide and avoid the rest of the year. 160
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 25/11/2025Here’s a young yellow-faced honeyeater for your Wednesday morning. 091
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 29/10/2025Bush stone-curlews, but with a Mean Girls flair. 140
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 14/10/2025Our April cohort of birds have officially graduated the close monitoring phase! Having completed 6-months of living their best wild lives means that I’ll now be mostly hands off (except for following their movements via their GPS backpacks like the creep that I am) Thrive, birdies, thrive! 153
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 25/09/2025While adoption in geese (& waterfowl in general) is well known, never have I seen such an age difference! If you look closely, you’ll see two very young cape barren goslings amongst four much older ones. I’ve been watching this family all week and they certainly appear to be in harmony. 070
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 23/09/2025All geared up and ready to go. The past two weeks have been busy getting more bush stone-curlews ready for release on Milawul, Phillip Island. 0110
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 18/08/2025Here’s a superb fairy-wren living up to his name and looking superb. My days are currently being spent between appointments, tests, and slow walks in nature. I’m not mad about it. 070
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 08/08/2025Within an hour of getting off the nest, these cape barren goslings were already getting some important goose lessons. Once (still?) considered one of the rarest geese in the world, Milawul, with its fox-free status, is now a population stronghold for the species. 1142
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 26/07/2025Had the pleasure chatting with one of my favourite humans today, but this time on the stage! I love Dr Ann beyond measure. Especially when she reveals, in great detail, how alpacas copulate. 161
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 22/07/2025Alison and her family have been such wonderful champions of the reintroduction program. On some nights, up to five birds visit their property and run laps around their home - and they love it! (And no, the birds don’t keep them awake - they’ve never heard a peep!) www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...abc.net.auCurlews return to fox-free Phillip Island, 40 years after last sightingDecades after the bush stone-curlew went extinct on Phillip Island, scientists reintroduce the species and hope the eradication of foxes will enable the flock to grow in the wild again. 1217
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 01/07/2025Officially completed the first year of my PhD 🎉 it sure has been a whirlwind with two translocations done and more data than you can poke a stick at. Today is also 4 weeks until I undergo surgery for thyroid cancer 🫠 You win some, you lose some. Here’s a cake I gifted my GP today. 120
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 15/06/2025Hi friends! Tomorrow I’ll be chatting at #ICCB2025 about our bush stone-curlew pilot release on Milawul, Phillip Island. Hope to see you there! 0120
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 09/05/2025Welcome back, flame robins! Each year I struggle with the colder weather, and I like to look for the things that spark joy- like the whales that migrate past my local beach, the cape barren geese breeding, and the flame robins that come down from the high country. 181
Reposted by Paula WasiakANU Fenner School @anufennerschool.bsky.social · 14/04/2025The @coexistconservlab.bsky.social is bringing the bush stone-curlew back to the wild in SE Australia. “If successful, the reintroduction will demonstrate how we can work together to recover species from extinction and return them to their natural ecological roles across south-eastern Australia.”fennerschool.anu.edu.auBirds with backpacks released on Phillip IslandTwenty-four bush stone-curlews will be reintroduced to the wild on Phillip Island to help the species regain a foothold in Victoria, where it is critically endangered. 031
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 12/04/2025Another 24 bush stone-curlews have now been released on Milawul, Phillip Island, in an effort to establish a population here. With over thirty birds on the island, it’s likely the largest bush stone-curlew population in the state. 4305
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 09/04/2025Huge news! Our pilot reintroduction of bush stone-curlews on Phillip Island has been a success, with a 75% survival rate over 7-months post-release. This week, we’re moving onto the next phase and attempting to establish a population. 3102
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 03/04/2025One does not spend 40+ hours sewing GPS backpack harnesses for birds without making a silly video about it. 030
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 25/03/2025There are seven bush stone-curlews in this photo. Their decline in southern Australia is due to ⬇️ roosting habitat and ⬆️ in predation by invasive predators. This photo shows just how important daytime roosts are to avoid predation - overstory to hide under & woody debris to camouflage amongst. 1184
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 24/03/2025✔️ 3x GPS harnesses created (it took the entire work day). 15 to go. 230
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 06/03/2025A busy but successful week preparing for our next bush stone-curlew release. This time I’m trialling a few different treatment groups with the aim of increasing translocation success 🤞🤞 050
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 04/03/2025Here’s a southern brush-tailed rock-wallaby up in a tree. 010
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 01/03/2025There’s definitely no bush stone-curlew in this image. 160
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 15/02/2025Happy Saturday. Here’s a lovely little sacred kingfisher. 0100
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 09/02/2025What happens to snakes when they get relocated? Some very ingesting research from ANU PhD candidate, Hannah Gerke, showing translocated snakes lose significant weight and body condition. Here’s an ABC article that summarises the work. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02...abc.net.auSnakes become 'very disoriented', lose weight and get sick when relocatedHundreds of snakes are moved from backyards, inside homes and other urban areas into reserves and bushland around Canberra each year — but until now, little has been known about what happens to snakes... 000
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 03/02/2025All those spots in the sky? They’re short-tailed shearwaters returning to feed their chicks. The adults fly all the way to Antarctic waters to forage, before returning to feed their chicks - a trip that can take two week! Which, for these transequatorial migrators, is probably no big deal for them 030
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 24/01/2025There are only about 50 brush-tailed rock-wallabies left in Victoria. Within the fenced haven at Mt Rothwell, however, there are hundreds. Here’s a lovely male in the evening light. 050
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 23/01/2025It’s been a busy few days, undertaking bush stone-curlew surveys. Please appreciate this perfection in a bird. 1111
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 08/01/2025A very big thank you to Kirsty from the Weekend Birder podcast for having another chat with me, this time about the marvellous bush stone-curlew. www.weekendbirder.com/episodes/98-...weekendbirder.com98 Bush Stone-curlews - with Paula — Weekend BirderGet to know one of Australia’s most endearing birds. This episode is about the re-introduction of the Bush Stone-curlew on to Millowl (Phillip Island) and the sewing of tiny bird backpacks. 050
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 06/01/2025Two clutches and six chicks later, I fear this willie wagtail nest has finally reached its limit. 040
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 31/12/2024Two Millowl bush stone-curlews. These birds are part of our pilot release, reintroducing these birds back to Millowl/Phillip Island. They are wearing GPS backpacks with nifty solar panels to keep the devices charged - these GPS could stay on the birds for years if required! 051
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 31/12/2024Today’s productivity - one x bush stone-curlew harness. Five down, 19 to go. 141
Paula Wasiak @paulawasiak.bsky.social · 31/12/2024A swamp wallaby from Christmas Day. They might also be known as stinker wallabies but don’t let that colour your opinion of them. 120