Birdsong

Vivaldi is the composer most thought of as the one that imitated birdsong in his musical compositions, especially in Spring – The Four Seasons, where he used a flute concerto to imitate the song of the Goldfinch. The songs and calls of larks, cuckoos, swans, linnets, orioles, magpies, etc., have all been the inspiration for many composers down the years.

Some recent research by French scientists using AI to analyse 100,000 songs from 3,000 bird species revealed they all consisted of 8 fundamental types of sound that are used in various combinations to produce the myriad of trills, whistles and harmonies that birds use.  

Listening to (some) bird’s songs has long been recognised as having many therapeutic benefits. 

Here’s some links to some favourite local birdsongs to help cope with our grey winter days …

Grey Shrike-thrush                           Grey Butcherbird                            Golden Whistler

 

Superb Fairy-wren                     Gang-gang Cockatoo                     Brown Thornbill

Willie Wagtail                             Eastern Whipbird                           Lewin's Honeyeater

         Grey Fantail                           Australian Magpie                       Laughing Kookaburra

There are numerous online sources for downloading birdsong. Many current bird apps have excellent birdsong features to help recognize which bird goes with which song. Be careful but, many birds, not just the Lyrebird, are good imitators of other birds and many have different calls for different reasons – territorial, courting, communicating, alarm, etc.

Wood wide web - fact or fallacy?

It has been long well-accepted that trees and fungi have a mutual partnership. Mycorrhizal fungi are able to act as an extension of the tree’s root systems. The fungi help provide the trees with minerals and water from the soil and the trees supply the fungi with sugars formed from photosynthesis in their leaves. This example of beneficial mutualism between the two species has been known since 1885 when the German scientist, A B Frank discovered the relationship.

A small mycelium network on the underside of a log - Bunyip SP

After producing a number of scientific papers in 2021, Canadian forest ecologist Suzanne Simard, published ‘Finding the Mother Tree’, a book in which she proposed that the mycorrhizal fungi can be used by the trees to share resources between one another, even that the trees can ‘communicate’ with each other by sending and receiving signals via the fungi.

It has now emerged that the speed at which Simard’s hypothesis has spread, has outpaced any science underlying it – it appears that more research is needed.

Spectacular Rustgill (probably!) - Thornell's Reserve

In 2023, Professor Justine Karst and two other scientists published a paper in the journal Nature, Ecology and Evolution with the wonderful title ‘Positive Citation Bias and Overinterpreted Results Lead to Misinformation on Common Mycorrhizal Networks in Forests’, a scientist’s way of saying ‘we think you are wrong’.

Nangara Reserve

Whatever. While the debate rages, I won’t be deterred from visiting some of my favourite forests and marvelling at the amazing diversity of fungi, trees and other flora and fauna that are under threat from climate change and other man-made activities.

 

 

Winter wanderings

Being out and about in cold weather apparently burns more calories as the body works harder to maintain core temperature. Cold weather walking can also boost the immune system, stimulate deeper breathing, boost vitamin D, and improves mood. While we don’t have snow on the ground, some days it has been pretty cold lately but there is still plenty happening in our parks and reserves.

At Golden Whistler Reserve, the Nodding Greenhood Orchids are putting on a great show at present. Listen for the tchew-tchew call of the Eastern Yellow Robin and noses to the ground for some interesting fungi.

A pair of Pelicans have arrived at McNeilly Park wetlands.

Down at Bellbird Park wetland, the Superb Fair-wrens have enjoyed our mulch-spreading and a couple of Swamp Rats were undisturbed by our working bee.

So, time to rug up and check out some nature on our doorstep!