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I’m attending the BOU conference on Avian Reproduction this week. They accepted my abstract to present a talk and it should have been my first big in-person conference presenting fody analyses, but they made it online on Zoom because of Covid. So my talk about the impacts of social networks on fody breeding success is…

No reason every post here has to be an apology for not posting PhD related content, right? This has nothing at all to do with fodies, although I do have 2 1/2 Lego fodies with more on the way. This post is about Schitt’s Creek and Lego, and about how much I love Schitt’s Creek…

While I was researching my article on the Wakashio last autumn, I spent an inspiring couple of hours chatting to Carl Jones about the background of Ile aux Aigrettes, and fodies in general. In the background of our Zoom call I could see Carl’s amazing room, which is FULL of books, prints, and wildlife memorabilia…

The winter 2020 edition of the BES member’s magazine The Niche lands today! This ridiculously handsome bird is Amarula, a male Mauritius Fody, who I photographed when I visited Mauritius and Ile Aux Aigrettes in November 2018. In my post about this on Monday, I failed to mention the title of the article or why…

Back in July of this year, the cape-sized bulk carrier MV Wakashio ran aground on a reef just off Mahébourg, on the south-east coast of Mauritius and a couple of kilometres from Ile Aux Aigrettes where my fodies live. I won’t re-hash all of the details here, but suffice to say that it was (and…

It’s been an interesting few months, globally and personally, and I haven’t had the time for this blog that I would have liked. But things are settling down (personally), at least for now, so it’s time for an update. When Covid-19 hit the UK in March, I was in the process of writing up my…

Being a scientist, or even working towards being a scientist, changes the way you think. It does for me, anyway. For example, I’m currently reading (and loving) The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. My favourite type of book- long meaty fantasy that starts with a map, female characters who DO things, lots…

Yesterday I did a talk for the Science in Reading group; a bit last-minute as their planned speaker pulled out on Monday, so there was a panicked tweet sent out asking for any female speakers available on Wednesday. Initially I didn’t think I could because I’d need a babysitter; but I managed to make it…

On Saturday we all headed to London for my stint at SoapBox Science. It was the perfect day for it- sunny and bright but not too hot. We got to Observation Point at around 1:15 and I checked in with the team and got my station set up; I was on first and it was…