Sarah Dal

Seabirder, working to improve the lot of our coastal birds, particularly large gulls.

Also:
#birds #birding #nature
#drones, uav
#GIS
#lgbt
#blackcat #blindcat
#familyhistory
#Geordie
#trains

#teamgull

Public Key

npub14xl6xlq96rnvnhdx4l9538mpjr3y4hm2ylvlrc6j42dn4dhnaues9tqwpj

NIP-05 Address

sarahdalgulls_at_ecoevo.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs2n0ar0szapekfmkn2lj6gnasepcj2ma4z0k03udf24xe6kme77vcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qz9nhwden5te0wfjkccte9ehx7um5wghxyctwvsv6864l

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

relay.nostr.band

Author Public Key

npub14xl6xlq96rnvnhdx4l9538mpjr3y4hm2ylvlrc6j42dn4dhnaues9tqwpj

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Last Notes

2025-06-02 07:12:59

Blue Labour group urges ministers to ‘root out DEI’ to win over Reform voters
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/02/blue-labour-group-urges-ministers-root-out-dei-win-over-reform-voters

2025-05-25 07:26:40

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@nprofile…g2yn i posted something about how i was leaving and other folk really need to think about it, and got some really angry replies which i wasn't expecting, like I'd personally insulted them by insulting twitter

2024-09-02 19:47:31

Birds of Conservation Concern 5 - the UK "Red List" - seabird update has been published today. Predictably: depressing news
https://www.channel4.com/news/exclusive-threat-of-losing-certain-bird-species-altogether-new-data-shows
#seabirds #BoCC5 #RedList

2024-08-12 19:39:49

How To Get Your Organisation Off Twitter/X
https://www.ned-potter.com/blog/how-to-get-your-organisation-off-twitter-x

2024-08-07 18:34:47

because I have no social life, and because with GIS all things are possible, I was trying to locate the most remote postbox in the UK.
I got postbox locations from OSM, but it's not that simple - Post Office data was aquired through a FOI request, but the data released isn't very precise and trademarked, so there's a good OSM project to clean up and verify it all https://osm.mathmos.net/postboxes/
Once I'd figured out how to use https://overpass-turbo.eu/ I got the locations of all postboxes in a CSV #GIS

2024-08-03 11:50:01

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@npub1fjv…x8tc Hi Bob, just wanted to say how much I enjoy your posting and seeing all of your palaeoart - thank you for sharing it!

2024-07-28 10:28:38

This is a nail biting story very well presented and John is very lucky, but he also sounds very unprepared, which he sort of acknowledges at the end? He didn't even have a map, hadn't left a route with anyone?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/qxsmv10bx7/missing-in-the-wild-and-praying-for-survival
I was talking about this with a friend who's just done the SUW on her own, I can't imagine not taking a moment before setting off and thinking "what if the worst happens? Will I be ok?"

2024-06-30 07:24:21

Ambitious Nature Center Squeezes 25 Informational Placards Out Of Sad Little Marsh
https://www.theonion.com/ambitious-nature-center-squeezes-25-informational-placa-1851551248

2024-06-25 17:18:10

Way back at the start of my career, I spent a day with the rangers on the Farnes, lads who spent the day telling me that women could never work out there because, amongst other things, can you imagine them trying to ring puffins?? Reaching down a filthy burrow covered in ticks? They'd break a nail! They'd never cope!
I was too young and shy to tell them to fuck off, but today I got to reach down several filthy burrows and ring a handful of puffins and pufflings. A gift to my 20 year old self!

2024-06-11 16:28:41

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@npub12rk…uvf3 I've not looked into it for a while, I don't think there is a proven consensus, one theory was that it helps them avoid poking each other in the eye during long dark winters!

2024-06-11 09:15:31

"Spatial and within-season variation in the diet of a declining seabird described through digital photography and citizen science" aka the Puffarazi Project, where the public submitted photos of puffins carrying food, allowing a detailed look at diet for the species across the UK!
https://ace-eco.org/vol19/iss1/art17/
https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/public-photography-contributes-to-puffin-population-study

2024-06-05 17:14:12

Hopes Farne Islands are clear of bird flu as puffin census gets underway
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c900114d0n4o
#HPAI #Northumberland

2024-05-26 07:13:19

Question order does matter: IPSOS try the Yes Prime Minister poll
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/yes-prime-minister-questionnaire-design-matters

2024-05-19 08:01:04

Are we all aware that there's swans in the moat at the Bishop's Palace in Wells that ring a bell for food
https://youtu.be/HJkEjlXYweg

2024-04-16 06:04:40

Mini rope bridges built in Forest of Dean to help dormice
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-68788690

2024-04-08 10:46:54

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@npub1vs8…54zy and it's a really pressing matter
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/06/extreme-us-anti-abortion-group-ramps-up-lobbying-in-westminster

2024-03-28 13:25:19

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@npub1hqx…944s I'm impressed they're on mastodon! even if they've not posted anything

2024-03-26 07:23:13

Swarovski have recently developed binoculars that incorporate AI to identify the bird you're looking at, as you look at it. Birders are complaining that it'll just encourage people to "mindlessly tick off birds" like that's not what 50% of "birders" do anyway
https://www.swarovskioptik.com/us/en/outdoor/press-releases/ax-visio-beyond-seeing-01-08-2024

2024-03-23 20:01:21

This is glorious - the Northwoods Frog Chorus, a phenology of frog calls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsiVH7Bg0tQ
From https://www.cablemuseum.org/school-field-trips/museum-mobile/museummobile-spring-programs/first-grade-spring-a-northwoods-frog-chorus/

2024-03-22 08:21:46

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@npub14k2…ed68 @npub1687…0dg3 I'm a massive fan of ODM! You'll find a load of people on mastodon to help with any queries

2024-03-21 10:17:11

There's some bird data I could really use, but all the references I can find to it point to a wikispaces site - wikispaces closed down in 2018 and I don't know here they went!

2024-03-20 20:36:59

Controlled experiment finds no detectable citation bump from Twitter promotion
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292201
From Bsky: "Multi-year controlled #SciComm experiment finds that tweeting about published papers does NOT lead to an increase in citations of those papers"
https://bsky.app/profile/whysharksmatter.bsky.social/post/3ko5i6ggwg32x

2024-03-09 21:17:53

Common Barking Gecko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6UCmNoEEls

2024-01-27 08:57:54

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@npub1ju5…typd it's a lovely pic! #Gulls

2024-01-12 17:49:36

Completely missed this - AONBs are now called "National Landscapes" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c983y8dq4lyo
https://national-landscapes.org.uk/

2024-01-10 20:42:22

Smooth jazz and loons, the perfect match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PibLEinJws
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/111/733/591/256/056/194/original/8560981e9bbec79c.jpg

2024-01-08 08:40:07

Step On Fresh Snow, embroidery by Narumi Takada
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLoF2aYHpSU/?igsh=dzA4dnVvZWR3djMx
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/111/719/426/997/808/881/original/eb3b96d3bf84092f.png

2024-01-04 09:16:10

Mastodon how to:
1. Follow people. Follow follow follow. Your feed doesn't get busy until you are following about 200 people. When you see a post you like, follow whoever posted it. Do this for all posts - you can always unfollow later
2. Hashtags. put hashtag your posts and look for hashtags you are interested in, then repeat 1 - follow people who post on those hashtags. Remember to use #CamelCase & capitalise each word, helps people who use screenreaders

2023-12-31 17:32:51

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@npub14k2…ed68 she's abdicated?? Was that unexpected?

2023-12-21 10:30:59

A great long read from @npub1hyk…3p33 on what's entering the public domain this year, and why
https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/20/em-oh-you-ess-ee/#sexytimes

2023-12-06 08:43:13

This is horrific - the new spousal visa limit applies to renewals as well. The current household income limit is £18,700 and it's being increased to a ridiculous £38,700. I can't fathom what damage this will cause to families and businesses
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/foreign-spouse-visa-uk-migration-crackdown-b2459168.html

2023-11-27 09:02:54

First confirmed HPAI in albatross species https://falklands.gov.fk/agriculture/avian-influenza
https://falklands.gov.fk/agriculture/avian-influenza - scroll to 20 November, Black-browed Albatross
#HPAI #Seabirds

2023-10-18 19:50:25

How storms are named - I knew the UK Met office, Met Eireann and KNMI pick the names, but I didn't think they were anything other than randomly chosen
https://www.rmets.org/metmatters/storm-names-202324-announced

2023-10-04 08:47:01

Echidnas communicating with each other recorded for first time
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-02/echidna-sounds-recorded-for-first-time-by-curtin-university/102917730

2023-09-26 21:47:12

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@npub1hqx…944s that's incredibly powerful, wow

2023-09-26 09:33:49

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@npub1a0g…ae8f you post such fantastic videos! Thank you, they brighten my morning!

2023-09-19 08:17:22

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@npub1xes…sfk6 I thought so - I'd not been keeping up, but it does feel like a very "all chemicals are bad" which stops us from using vital tools. I think the bee issue is a big one too. It's infuriating

2023-09-19 07:55:26

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@npub1xes…sfk6 agree - is it a knee-jerk "all herbicides are bad"? or is there a genuine ecological reason to not use glyphosate in UK urban areas?
I used to spray off a few cm wide strip around the base of an electric fence to protect rare breeding birds, so grass would short out the fence. Got absolutely slaughtered for it when concerned members of the public found out 😬

2023-09-16 14:49:58

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@npub1285…kkg3 the only slight positive is that the payments are all a big ponzi scheme so at least we can laugh at that

2023-09-16 14:46:52

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@npub1285…kkg3 "support facism by seeing terrible things designed to make you miserable and angry!" Whyyyy are people still there

2023-09-16 14:41:50

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@npub1285…kkg3 same, I do not understand how anyone can put up with it, whether I check out a link I get sent I always end up managing to see something else upsetting or enraging. I'm so glad I left

2023-09-12 07:13:49

I feel sometimes like we're stuck in a steampunk-esque world, except instead of a world where we never invented the internal combustion engine and are stuck with coal and steam for everything, we didn't invent something else at the right time, and we're stuck in a world of oil and petrol

2023-07-28 10:10:06

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@npub1a0g…ae8f absolutely love this, subsongs are my favourite bird behaviour, I once saw a blackbird having a quiet sing to himself while he was turning over leaves looking for food

2023-07-05 11:58:31

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@npub1xes…sfk6 @npub1tsj…emjj all suggestions are helpful! ecoevo might very well be the best place, but it's good to hear that from someone other than my brain!

2023-07-05 10:46:48

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@npub1xes…sfk6 @npub1tsj…emjj that's what I thought! Just wasn't sure if there was a more appropriate one for an EU Life project

2023-07-05 10:26:28

I think I need to start a Mastodon account for our project at work; it's big on twitter and public engagement/social networking is an important part of the project. It's an EU Life Project @npub1tsj…emjj (one of the final UK ones 😔) can anyone suggest an instance?
The Twitter is http://twitter.com/projectlote
The project is about improving habitats and long-term resilience of English coastal habitats to benefit breeding species
#EULife

2023-07-03 10:57:14

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@npub1xes…sfk6 also - the study is looking at lowland Britain, where I think adders are less common? So there may be an affect as pheasants disperse away from their release sites, that the study wouldn't show

2023-07-03 10:54:28

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@npub1xes…sfk6 apparently not "We found no significant differences or relationships for reptiles" (the paper is open access I think, if you want to take a look)

2023-07-03 09:21:34

"Large-scale correlations between gamebird release and management and animal biodiversity metrics in lowland Great Britain"
In the areas (1km2 grid square) where pheasants and partridges are released:
more carrion crows
more grey squirrels and rats
fewer round beetles
fewer foxes..
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.10059
#GameBirds #Ecology #Conservation

2023-06-29 19:33:00

Today's colony visit was to an interesting one, a visit to one half of England's biggest gull colony in the Bowland Fells (https://www.explorebowland.co.uk/).
in 2018 about 15,000 pairs of gulls nested across two hillsides, and it's one of the most productive colonies in the country. (Lying mostly on grouse moors, it shouldn't take you too long to think about why that might be..)
#TeamGull #Gulls
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/110/629/154/994/525/783/original/ac218431a6fe047e.jpeg

2023-06-19 12:44:42

Some much-needed good news - I'm hearing reports of eider duck creches with hundreds of birds in them, about 1,000 ducklings in total, on Morecambe Bay.
Presumably these have come from Chapel Island, an isolated rock out in the bay that hosts hundreds of Eider nests. For the past few years it's been suffering fox predation but looks like it's avoided it this year!
#eider #ducks
https://cdn.masto.host/ecoevosocial/media_attachments/files/110/570/942/080/887/686/original/26aee0cdeb4481f5.jpeg

2023-05-19 19:53:57

Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same.
Scientists think a traumatized orca initiated the assault on boats after a "critical moment of agony" and that the behavior is spreading among the population through social learning.
https://www.livescience.com/animals/orcas/orcas-have-sunk-3-boats-in-europe-and-appear-to-be-teaching-others-to-do-the-same-but-why