Looking for experience in conservation? Skomer is recruiting the 2019 long term volunteers. Early season vols helping with seabird monitoring and late season vols getting involved with seal pup monitoring. Deadline 25/01/19, see website for details welshwildlife.org/jobs/skomer-is… WildlifeTrustSWWales 🦡🐬

Come to the European Vulture Conference in Portugal this October - we have some great keynotes lined up + many interesting abstract submissions so far. Submit yours by 27th May - regular presentations, speed talks or posters. More info here: eventbrite.com/e/european-vul… #ornithology

Seeking historic records of #seabird mass mortalities (winter wrecks) around the world but particularly in the North Atlantic to aid my MSc research. If possible, please provide: 1. Date 2. Location 3. Number dead 4. Species Please RT!

It's online now in Journal of Animal Ecology ! Estimates of energy expenditure in free-living animals using accelerometers - led by Rory Wilson and us at SLAM. #movecol besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/13…

One of our current pro-VCs Hilary Lappin-Scott also on bluesky unveiling a picture of Prof. Florence Mockeridge, our first female pro-VC back in 1932. Nice to know women have had a strong hand in shaping STEMM Swansea University for almost 100 years

Our @elife ms on auk landings is out doi.org/10.7554/eLife.…! It brings together airflow modelling round @Skomer_island by Andrew Ross & Moving animals, probabilistic models from Andy Neate @swanseaUni & data from @Emma_Owl_Cole 's MRes Biosciences, Swansea University. European Research Council (ERC) #ornithology

2/3. We assess the ability of auks to land at cliff nests & show birds cannot land in strong winds, most likely as wind reduces flight control. Runway size also matters; bigger ledges have more airspace for manoeuvring & better chances of landing. #ornithology BES Movement Ecology

3/3. 60% of attempts to land at cliff nests fail in a strong breeze, 80% in near-gale winds. Razorbills (open circles) are better at landing than guilles (closed circles). Strong winds impose costs on both spp, as adults make multiple landing attempts to provision young. #flight

Our Methods in Ecology and Evolution paper is out today! We use #ComputationalFluidDynamics (#CFD) to design & position #biologging devices for minimal #drag, & provide a step-by-step guide for ecologists. Interdisciplinary collaboration w/SLAM & @ZienkiewiczCtr besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/20…

We are having such fun calibrating SLAM daily diaries with the help of the awesome predator team at London Zoo (can you spot the collar?)

Do wild animals care about slipping, tripping, falling, and other locomotor accidents? Our new ideas & perspectives piece in Ecology Letters discusses when and why the answer is "yes" doi.org/10.1111/ele.13… Jessie Buettel Barry Brook D.E.E.P. Group SLAM 1/11

We define locomotor accidents as errors in movement that lead to physical instability and a temporary loss of movement control. Think slipping on a patch of ice while you're walking along a footpath 2/11

The likelihood of having an accident depends in part on features of the physical landscape the animal is moving through. Things like surface narrowness, incline, compliance, frictional properties, penetrability, and topography can all affect the likelihood of accidents 3/11

Of course, morphology matters a lot too! Animals typically have evolutionary adaptations (e.g. claws, foot or toe pads, body shape and size, etc) that help them move around their habitat, which also make them less likely to have accidents on certain landscape features 4/11

The speed an animal moves matters as well. Animals are more likely to have accidents when travelling at high speeds, as they have less control over their movement and less time to react to changes in the landscape and adjust their movement accordingly 5/11

Some accidents are trivial and have no discernible impact on the animal. Others can be more severe, potentially resulting in injury or even death, and these are accidents we would expect animals to try their best to avoid 7/11

Why should we care? Understanding what makes particular areas of the landscape suitable or desirable for different animals is critical - not only for insights into theory, but also for the application of said theories into conservation efforts like habitat restoration 11/11

A belated link to study led by @EleanorRose30 on the effect of collar fit & weight on acc metrics

Congratulations Richard & team!! The first of a flurry to come from him showing the ecological insight from angular velocity, magnetometers & dead-reckoning, watch this space!