DRB Presents: Andrew Crawford from the West Australian Seed Centre talking about Safe guarding seed: a modern day Noah’s ark
Western Australian vertebrate palaeontology has had a slow and bumpy ride from the first staggered descriptions in the early 1900s, to the world famous Nullarbor cave megafauna discoveries at the turn of the century. All these discoveries would not have been possible without members of the public pointing out ‘large bones’ or ‘giant footprints’ to museum or university scientists. The Swan Coastal Plain has several fossil deposits detailing the past faunal diversity of Perth and surrounds, stretching from Jurien Bay to Rottnest Island.
This talk will cover how the public can collect fossils responsibly (permits, safety etc.), where locals may find ‘subfossils’ in the Perth hills, some of the basics for identifying native animal bones, and where to send the ‘weird’ ones.
Charles is a member of the DRB Nats and writes the following about himself and his talk:
As a nature nerd with a lifelong passion for just about anything to do with the environment, one of the best ways I’ve found for discovering new and interesting things is to go spotlighting, that is, going out at night with a torch and seeing what you can find. The bush is a totally different place at night, and there is a whole host of new and interesting things to be found, some of which I’ll be running through in February.
DRB Presents: James (Jimmy) Lamb talking about Wildlife in the Perth Hills, Wheatbelt and Australia
DRB Presents: Eric McCrum talking about his book: "The Nature of the Jarrah Forest"
This is an interactive talk on the practise of forest therapy, exploring the evidence and how it impacts on mental and physical wellbeing along with the pro conservation benefits.
Come and learn fascinating facts about our local birds and how to identify the ones that hide out in the Broz Park wetlands, an easily accessible area in nearby Helena Valley.
The Broz Park wetlands are the focus of an environmental restoration project undertaken by the Shire of Mundaring to improve and protect the health of the wetland and its wildlife. Our speakers tonight have surveyed the birds of the wetlands in a series of 43, one-hourly visits over the last year. They know the birds and the area well! Seldom does a visit go by without their seeing or discovering something of interest.
Yvonne will be giving a presentation on raptors, including bringing real live birds of prey.
The birds cannot be released back into the wild because of some injury or their over-conditioning to human company. But these are only a small part of the work of the Western Australian Birds of Prey Centre; most of their clients are rehabilitated then released back into the wild.
DRB Presents: Brenton von Takach speaking about Perils and prospects: Population ecology, genomic structure, and conservation of quolls in the face of cane toads and other threats
DRB Presents: Diana Papenfus talking about her trip to Central Australia
DRB Presents: Daniel Heald, WAISS - talking about WA's Unusual Insects
DRB Presents: Paul Doughty from WA Museum talking about “Thar be dragons! Agamid lizards of WA”