Summer rains are breathing life into the dry and dusty plains in South Australia’s outback.

Deakin University researcher Reece Pedler said bird species, including the vulnerable banded stilt, use the desert lake as a breeding ground.

Reece Pedler researchers the habits of waterbirds Photo: Researcher Reece Pedler hopes to track birds to Lake Eyre. (ABC News: Elise Fantin)

“They leave when the going gets tough and when it’s good again they fly hundreds of kilometres to move back into the area,” Mr Pedler said.

“They feed on brine shrimp and so they try to get there as soon as the rain happens.

“Even minor filling events like this result in brine shrimp and other small invertebrates hatching as the water re-wets the parched salt lake surface.”

Banded stilts do not breed at coastal locations.

“They only breed when places like Lake Eyre fill with water,” Mr Pedler said.

A project to solve the mystery around how the birds know when big rainfall events occur inland has begun.

Mr Pedler said he attached small solar-powered satellite trackers to five birds at St Kilda beach north of Adelaide just this week.

“We’re expecting that over the coming days some of them might respond to this rainfall event and fly inland,” he said.

“These birds are somehow able to sense the barometric pressure change or hear the distant thunder and they fly hundreds of kilometres overnight.”
——————————————————————————————————

Interesting.
Whenever there is a big wet out west you’ll see bugger all pelicans in the bay.
Most of them bugger off out west to feed on the fish that suddenly appear in the western rivers and lakes.
I think he’s dreaming about the thunder.
Be interesting to follow the project but these stories die quickly when the ‘golly gosh’ goes out of them unfortunately.

Peak Warming Man said:

Summer rains are breathing life into the dry and dusty plains in South Australia’s outback.

Deakin University researcher Reece Pedler said bird species, including the vulnerable banded stilt, use the desert lake as a breeding ground.

Reece Pedler researchers the habits of waterbirds Photo: Researcher Reece Pedler hopes to track birds to Lake Eyre. (ABC News: Elise Fantin)

“They leave when the going gets tough and when it’s good again they fly hundreds of kilometres to move back into the area,” Mr Pedler said.

“They feed on brine shrimp and so they try to get there as soon as the rain happens.

“Even minor filling events like this result in brine shrimp and other small invertebrates hatching as the water re-wets the parched salt lake surface.”

Banded stilts do not breed at coastal locations.

“They only breed when places like Lake Eyre fill with water,” Mr Pedler said.

A project to solve the mystery around how the birds know when big rainfall events occur inland has begun.

Mr Pedler said he attached small solar-powered satellite trackers to five birds at St Kilda beach north of Adelaide just this week.

“We’re expecting that over the coming days some of them might respond to this rainfall event and fly inland,” he said.

“These birds are somehow able to sense the barometric pressure change or hear the distant thunder and they fly hundreds of kilometres overnight.”
——————————————————————————————————

Interesting.
Whenever there is a big wet out west you’ll see bugger all pelicans in the bay.
Most of them bugger off out west to feed on the fish that suddenly appear in the western rivers and lakes.
I think he’s dreaming about the thunder.
Be interesting to follow the project but these stories die quickly when the ‘golly gosh’ goes out of them unfortunately.

I think the birds, like the aborigine, did know how to observe changes on the event horizon and start moving in that direction ASAP.

Washing machine has finished, time to head for work.

I’d try to stay away from event horizons.

Peak Warming Man said:

Summer rains are breathing life into the dry and dusty plains in South Australia’s outback.

Deakin University researcher Reece Pedler said bird species, including the vulnerable banded stilt, use the desert lake as a breeding ground.

Reece Pedler researchers the habits of waterbirds Photo: Researcher Reece Pedler hopes to track birds to Lake Eyre. (ABC News: Elise Fantin)

“They leave when the going gets tough and when it’s good again they fly hundreds of kilometres to move back into the area,” Mr Pedler said.

“They feed on brine shrimp and so they try to get there as soon as the rain happens.

“Even minor filling events like this result in brine shrimp and other small invertebrates hatching as the water re-wets the parched salt lake surface.”

Banded stilts do not breed at coastal locations.

“They only breed when places like Lake Eyre fill with water,” Mr Pedler said.

A project to solve the mystery around how the birds know when big rainfall events occur inland has begun.

Mr Pedler said he attached small solar-powered satellite trackers to five birds at St Kilda beach north of Adelaide just this week.

“We’re expecting that over the coming days some of them might respond to this rainfall event and fly inland,” he said.

“These birds are somehow able to sense the barometric pressure change or hear the distant thunder and they fly hundreds of kilometres overnight.”
——————————————————————————————————

Interesting.
Whenever there is a big wet out west you’ll see bugger all pelicans in the bay.
Most of them bugger off out west to feed on the fish that suddenly appear in the western rivers and lakes.
I think he’s dreaming about the thunder.
Be interesting to follow the project but these stories die quickly when the ‘golly gosh’ goes out of them unfortunately.

might have to pack the tent and go up for a look

Good. I was watching the rain from the non-cyclone in the gulf of Carpentaria move south over first Mt Isa and then Alice springs. Expecting that to end up in lake Eyre. Good to see the birds following it.

I doubt if the local pelicans here will abandon the council tip to fly inland.

As for how birds can tell when it’s wet inland, not too hard. One way would be to fly inland until it stops being wet. Another if there’s a cold breeze from that direction. Another way is to watch what other birds nearby, such as migrants, are doing.

How much water has gone into the inland lakes this time?

mollwollfumble said:

Good. I was watching the rain from the non-cyclone in the gulf of Carpentaria move south over first Mt Isa and then Alice springs. Expecting that to end up in lake Eyre. Good to see the birds following it.

I doubt if the local pelicans here will abandon the council tip to fly inland.

As for how birds can tell when it’s wet inland, not too hard. One way would be to fly inland until it stops being wet. Another if there’s a cold breeze from that direction. Another way is to watch what other birds nearby, such as migrants, are doing.

How much water has gone into the inland lakes this time?

a fair bit.
Lake Eyre got 182mm in a single day last week.

stumpy_seahorse said:

Peak Warming Man said:

Summer rains are breathing life into the dry and dusty plains in South Australia’s outback.

Deakin University researcher Reece Pedler said bird species, including the vulnerable banded stilt, use the desert lake as a breeding ground.

Reece Pedler researchers the habits of waterbirds Photo: Researcher Reece Pedler hopes to track birds to Lake Eyre. (ABC News: Elise Fantin)

“They leave when the going gets tough and when it’s good again they fly hundreds of kilometres to move back into the area,” Mr Pedler said.

“They feed on brine shrimp and so they try to get there as soon as the rain happens.

“Even minor filling events like this result in brine shrimp and other small invertebrates hatching as the water re-wets the parched salt lake surface.”

Banded stilts do not breed at coastal locations.

“They only breed when places like Lake Eyre fill with water,” Mr Pedler said.

A project to solve the mystery around how the birds know when big rainfall events occur inland has begun.

Mr Pedler said he attached small solar-powered satellite trackers to five birds at St Kilda beach north of Adelaide just this week.

“We’re expecting that over the coming days some of them might respond to this rainfall event and fly inland,” he said.

“These birds are somehow able to sense the barometric pressure change or hear the distant thunder and they fly hundreds of kilometres overnight.”
——————————————————————————————————

Interesting.
Whenever there is a big wet out west you’ll see bugger all pelicans in the bay.
Most of them bugger off out west to feed on the fish that suddenly appear in the western rivers and lakes.
I think he’s dreaming about the thunder.
Be interesting to follow the project but these stories die quickly when the ‘golly gosh’ goes out of them unfortunately.

might have to pack the tent and go up for a look

I’m thinking the same.

stumpy_seahorse said:

might have to pack the tent and go up for a look

Tempting. Where do you pitch a tent on a salt lake bed when the lake is in the process of filling up with water? In general and for Lake Eyre in particular.

mollwollfumble said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

might have to pack the tent and go up for a look

Tempting. Where do you pitch a tent on a salt lake bed when the lake is in the process of filling up with water? In general and for Lake Eyre in particular.

Be ideal if you have a drone with a decent camera and good range.

mollwollfumble said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

might have to pack the tent and go up for a look

Tempting. Where do you pitch a tent on a salt lake bed when the lake is in the process of filling up with water? In general and for Lake Eyre in particular.

on the back of the ute

I’ve been there.. and camped on the Coopers.. it’s beautiful

Dropbear said:

I’ve been there.. and camped on the Coopers.. it’s beautiful

I went to marree in 99 and 03, but the lake was dry then, so we didn’t go any further north

had a good look around the Marree man though

stumpy_seahorse said:

Dropbear said:

I’ve been there.. and camped on the Coopers.. it’s beautiful

I went to marree in 99 and 03, but the lake was dry then, so we didn’t go any further north

had a good look around the Marree man though

10 minutes later.. can we go now?

That was a one horse town when I was there

Dropbear said:

stumpy_seahorse said:

Dropbear said:

I’ve been there.. and camped on the Coopers.. it’s beautiful

I went to marree in 99 and 03, but the lake was dry then, so we didn’t go any further north

had a good look around the Marree man though

10 minutes later.. can we go now?

That was a one horse town when I was there

still pretty much is.
Not quite the tourist drawcard the intended it to be..

Loved the Prarie Hotel though, always call in for a drink when I’m in the neighbourhood

Dropbear said:

I’ve been there.. and camped on the Coopers.. it’s beautiful

He almost drove to Lyndhurst, till he was talked out of it.

We did spend some time talking about Lake Eyre, rain, birds and the wonder of nature, P_P.

A meteorite estimated to be 4.5 billion years old has been recovered by Perth researchers from a remote part of Lake Eyre in outback South Australia.

In a race against time, the geologists dug the 1.7 kilogram meteorite out just hours before heavy rains would have wiped away any trace of it.

The team from Curtin University had been trying to track the fall site since the meteorite was spotted by locals and five remote cameras in late November in the William Creek and Marree areas.

But on New Year’s Eve, as heavy rains brewed a downpour, the team found their needle in a haystack.

University team leader Phil Bland hand dug the meteorite from a 42-centimetre-deep hole in a remote section of the lake bed just hours before the arrival of heavy rains would have washed away any remaining clues.
———————————————————————————————-

Five remote cameras??? at Lake Eyre????

Peak Warming Man said:

A meteorite estimated to be 4.5 billion years old has been recovered by Perth researchers from a remote part of Lake Eyre in outback South Australia.

In a race against time, the geologists dug the 1.7 kilogram meteorite out just hours before heavy rains would have wiped away any trace of it.

The team from Curtin University had been trying to track the fall site since the meteorite was spotted by locals and five remote cameras in late November in the William Creek and Marree areas.

But on New Year’s Eve, as heavy rains brewed a downpour, the team found their needle in a haystack.

University team leader Phil Bland hand dug the meteorite from a 42-centimetre-deep hole in a remote section of the lake bed just hours before the arrival of heavy rains would have washed away any remaining clues.
———————————————————————————————-

Five remote cameras??? at Lake Eyre????

This guy gave a lecture at Astrofest a couple of years ago. They have a string of camera along the Nullabor from WA in to SA.

not all at lake eyre, maybe none. there is a network in the desert to photograph the night sky to catch these meteors. with more than one camera hopefully getting an image they can then triangulate the direction and maybe the impact location.

party_pants said:

Peak Warming Man said:

A meteorite estimated to be 4.5 billion years old has been recovered by Perth researchers from a remote part of Lake Eyre in outback South Australia.

In a race against time, the geologists dug the 1.7 kilogram meteorite out just hours before heavy rains would have wiped away any trace of it.

The team from Curtin University had been trying to track the fall site since the meteorite was spotted by locals and five remote cameras in late November in the William Creek and Marree areas.

But on New Year’s Eve, as heavy rains brewed a downpour, the team found their needle in a haystack.

University team leader Phil Bland hand dug the meteorite from a 42-centimetre-deep hole in a remote section of the lake bed just hours before the arrival of heavy rains would have washed away any remaining clues.
———————————————————————————————-

Five remote cameras??? at Lake Eyre????

This guy gave a lecture at Astrofest a couple of years ago. They have a string of camera along the Nullabor from WA in to SA.

Ah ha.

only a couple of months until astrofest 2016. 4th year we’ve been?

ChrispenEvan said:

not all at lake eyre, maybe none. there is a network in the desert to photograph the night sky to catch these meteors. with more than one camera hopefully getting an image they can then triangulate the direction and maybe the impact location.

Yeah, that’s an exciting thing to do and I think the meteors can be worth a lot of money as well.

ChrispenEvan said:

only a couple of months until astrofest 2016. 4th year we’ve been?

5th.

I missed the first one and I’ve been there 3 times.

yeah, i meant we’ve been 4 times. just didn’t write that. i like that we usually get a group of us going. like a pud.

:-)

ChrispenEvan said:

yeah, i meant we’ve been 4 times. just didn’t write that. i like that we usually get a group of us going. like a pud.

:-)

we will be there. we have only missed one year

jolly good.

Peak Warming Man said:

ChrispenEvan said:

not all at lake eyre, maybe none. there is a network in the desert to photograph the night sky to catch these meteors. with more than one camera hopefully getting an image they can then triangulate the direction and maybe the impact location.

Yeah, that’s an exciting thing to do and I think the meteors can be worth a lot of money as well.

not really but yeah, maybe. People do strive to take photographs for many reasons. Maybe not even with any smidgin of scientific intent but yet are indeed records.

they want these meteors for scientific purposes. they give us clues as to the early formation of the solar system. this is the reason for the cameras, to help find them. also the meteors, as can be seen in the pic, are pretty black, not through being burnt on entry, so the small ones that don’t bury themselves stand out on the salt flats. they also stand out against the other rocks in the desert. same reason we look for them in the Antarctic. erosion exposes them in the case of the Antarctic.

ChrispenEvan said:

they want these meteors for scientific purposes. they give us clues as to the early formation of the solar system. this is the reason for the cameras, to help find them. also the meteors, as can be seen in the pic, are pretty black, not through being burnt on entry, so the small ones that don’t bury themselves stand out on the salt flats. they also stand out against the other rocks in the desert. same reason we look for them in the Antarctic. erosion exposes them in the case of the Antarctic, rubs its hands all over them, covets them and draws back onto itself in a timeless dance to explore the duality of the universe and life itself

ChrispenEvan said:

they want these meteors for scientific purposes. they give us clues as to the early formation of the solar system. this is the reason for the cameras, to help find them. also the meteors, as can be seen in the pic, are pretty black, not through being burnt on entry, so the small ones that don’t bury themselves stand out on the salt flats. they also stand out against the other rocks in the desert. same reason we look for them in the Antarctic. erosion exposes them in the case of the Antarctic.

hear hear.

Peak Warming Man said:

A meteorite estimated to be 4.5 billion years old has been recovered by Perth researchers from a remote part of Lake Eyre in outback South Australia.

In a race against time, the geologists dug the 1.7 kilogram meteorite out just hours before heavy rains would have wiped away any trace of it.

The team from Curtin University had been trying to track the fall site since the meteorite was spotted by locals and five remote cameras in late November in the William Creek and Marree areas.

But on New Year’s Eve, as heavy rains brewed a downpour, the team found their needle in a haystack.

University team leader Phil Bland hand dug the meteorite from a 42-centimetre-deep hole in a remote section of the lake bed just hours before the arrival of heavy rains would have washed away any remaining clues.
———————————————————————————————-

Five remote cameras??? at Lake Eyre????

Goes by the name of “desert fireball network” if I remember correctly. Yep.

“The Desert Fireball Network (or DFN for short) is designed to provide that data. Meteorites generate a fireball as they come through the atmosphere – you may even have seen one of these yourself. The DFN is a network of digital cameras in the outback desert of Australia which capture photographs of the night sky. By making networked observations of the fireball we can triangulate its trajectory, track the rock forward to where it lands, and back, to where it came from in the solar system.

More and more cameras are being added to the DFN as the project expands. The final network will image the night sky over roughly one-third of Australia, and track whatever is coming through the atmosphere. DFN researchers will then go out and recover the meteorite.”

Several websites. Eg. http://fireballsinthesky.com.au/fact-sheets/what-is-the-desert-fireball-network/

Neophyte said:

Dropbear said:

I’ve been there.. and camped on the Coopers.. it’s beautiful

He almost drove to Lyndhurst, till he was talked out of it.

pfft it’s just up the road a bit

mollwollfumble said:

Peak Warming Man said:

A meteorite estimated to be 4.5 billion years old has been recovered by Perth researchers from a remote part of Lake Eyre in outback South Australia.

In a race against time, the geologists dug the 1.7 kilogram meteorite out just hours before heavy rains would have wiped away any trace of it.

The team from Curtin University had been trying to track the fall site since the meteorite was spotted by locals and five remote cameras in late November in the William Creek and Marree areas.

But on New Year’s Eve, as heavy rains brewed a downpour, the team found their needle in a haystack.

University team leader Phil Bland hand dug the meteorite from a 42-centimetre-deep hole in a remote section of the lake bed just hours before the arrival of heavy rains would have washed away any remaining clues.
———————————————————————————————-

Five remote cameras??? at Lake Eyre????

Goes by the name of “desert fireball network” if I remember correctly. Yep.

“The Desert Fireball Network (or DFN for short) is designed to provide that data. Meteorites generate a fireball as they come through the atmosphere – you may even have seen one of these yourself. The DFN is a network of digital cameras in the outback desert of Australia which capture photographs of the night sky. By making networked observations of the fireball we can triangulate its trajectory, track the rock forward to where it lands, and back, to where it came from in the solar system.

More and more cameras are being added to the DFN as the project expands. The final network will image the night sky over roughly one-third of Australia, and track whatever is coming through the atmosphere. DFN researchers will then go out and recover the meteorite.”

Several websites. Eg. http://fireballsinthesky.com.au/fact-sheets/what-is-the-desert-fireball-network/

Check out the locations of all 33 cameras on a map. Plenty of them near lake Eyre.
http://fireballsinthesky.com.au/maps/dfn-cameras-map/

i saw a fireball a few weeks ago

was talking to someone outside the house and he looked up, i looked where he was looking and a fireball was moving across the skey, must have lasted about 4 seconds

wookiemeister said:

i saw a fireball a few weeks ago

was talking to someone outside the house and he looked up, i looked where he was looking and a fireball was moving across the skey, must have lasted about 4 seconds

Sounds more like Putin’s chariot.

wookiemeister said:

i saw a fireball a few weeks ago

was talking to someone outside the house and he looked up, i looked where he was looking and a fireball was moving across the skey, must have lasted about 4 seconds

plenty meteors lastnight, one looked slow, might’ve been the angle was viewing it at

transition said:

wookiemeister said:

i saw a fireball a few weeks ago

was talking to someone outside the house and he looked up, i looked where he was looking and a fireball was moving across the skey, must have lasted about 4 seconds

plenty meteors lastnight, one looked slow, might’ve been the angle was viewing it at