Emily Rayner
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flightemily.bsky.social
Emily Rayner
@flightemily.bsky.social
58 followers 180 following 26 posts
Ornithologist, engineer and programmer. Fascinated by flight. Making Skytrap, an avian camera trap for flight and aeroecology research.
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Reposted by Emily Rayner
sandyhorne.bsky.social
Pink cockatoos in flight at Kinchega National Park, New South Wales.
January 29, 2026 at 11:31 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
rosemarymosco.com
How to get into nature.
A four-panel comic titled "how to get into nature". In panel 1, a person kneels in the woods, looking down at a red-backed salamander, and the text says "notice a living thing." In panel 2, the text says "notice some other things that live near it," and there's a starflower, springtail, ant, little wood satyr butterfly, and salamander on the leaf litter. In panel 3, covered in creatures, plants, and a colorful starburst, the text says "Notice the connections between them, discover the wider ecosystem, learn about its histories, and find yourself following links from bedrock to stratosphere, between biotic and abiotic, at scales both microbial and massive, until you’re hopelessly overwhelmed by the wonder of it all." In panel 4, the text says "Fall into a daze and let moss engulf you." The person from the first panel is still kneeling in the woods, looking happy as moss slowly engulfs them, and they're saying "This is for the best."
January 20, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
daxkellie.bsky.social
If you missed my talk but still want some tips for writing good code for scientists, my slides are here:

daxkellie.quarto.pub/a-guide-to-w...

All the links and references are there too in case you want to see more! 😀🧪🌏

#ESA2025 #rstats #quartopub
Title slide with text: A guide to writing good code for the busy scientist Black text over stripey pale brown-green background
November 26, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
ecosystemunraveller.com
Oooooooooo—seems Koala may be the closest living relative to Thylacoleo…
November 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
flightemily.bsky.social
Little pied cormorants coming in to roost at the end of the day. I’ve watched them fly this path so many times, but I don’t often get this many on skytrap all in frame at once!
A flock of 19 little pied cormorants (Microcarbo melanoleucos) flying in a flock towards their evening roost on a quite windy and overcast day.
November 1, 2025 at 10:03 AM
flightemily.bsky.social
First light on a solar/battery powered skytrap! No shortage of sunlight in FNQ for testing.
A green wildlife camera pointing at the sky adjacent to a solar panel that is powering it.
September 28, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
cameratrapsue.bsky.social
I was hoping to get images like this from Sky cam, a raven was flying over the house and this is the flight path it took.
#birds
A day photo from my sky camera, mounted on the house roof, showing the flight path trail a raven took as it flew over the house. The raven is seen in black as it makes a loop. The sky is a pale blue color and there are some tree tops in the bottom left corner and just a hint of a tree top nearing the center bottom of the frame.
September 15, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
joelpick.bsky.social
🚨Introducing the @sortee.bsky.social Guidelines for Data and Code Quality Control in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology🚨 doi.org/10.32942/X24...

Increasingly E&E journals are recruiting data editors. We provide standardised guidelines for journals with data editors and those wanting to recruit them 🧵
The SORTEE Guidelines for Data and Code Quality Control in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
doi.org
August 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
sandyhorne.bsky.social
And while I've got cockatiels on my mind, here's another photo, taken in my friend's backyard.
Remember this, @boyfrombruce.bsky.social ?
August 15, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
sandyhorne.bsky.social
Some osprey action shots from last month at Juanita Bay Park, Seattle.
August 15, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
ecosystemunraveller.com
Morning all. #FriYay
August 14, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
euanritchie.bsky.social
Also, when reading, reviewing and commenting on the work of others, be kind and constructive, always.
debbieohi.com Debbie Ridpath Ohi @debbieohi.com · Aug 14
Rejection and criticism are part of publishing process, before AND after publication. Work on developing a thick skin early on and you'll not only enjoy the journey more but also increase your chances of longterm success.
#WriterSky #KidLit
Four-panel comic titled “Will Write For Chocolate” by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. A person sits behind a desk reading a manuscript while another person, Eliza, peeks from behind a couch. The reader says, “Eliza, I can’t critique your book with you lurking there.” Eliza replies, “OK, OK, I’m going to the kitchen to make lunch…” She disappears, and the reader continues taking notes. In the final panel, Eliza pops back up yelling, “I knew it! You hate my book, don’t you? Just come out & tell me! I can take it!!!”
August 14, 2025 at 10:40 PM
flightemily.bsky.social
Red Wattlebird flight silhouettes
A series of silhouettes lined up head to tail that depict a Red Wattlebird flying overhead at approximately 0.016s intervals.
August 15, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
laurahelmuth.bsky.social
Sex-reversal in birds (genetically male/female but appear female/male) is surprisingly common. Best detail: A genetically male bird called a laughing kookaburra had recently laid an egg. (1/2)

By @phiejacobs.bsky.social on @science.org
‘Sex reversal’ is surprisingly common in birds, new study suggests
Survey of five Australian avians finds numerous discordant individuals, including a genetically male bird that had laid an egg
www.science.org
August 13, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
birdlifeoz.bsky.social
It’s #NationalScienceWeek! 🐦

Our HANZAB encyclopaedia is now online & free – covering every bird ever recorded in Aus, NZ & Antarctica. Updated with the latest taxonomy & threat statuses, it’s a game-changer for bird lovers & researchers alike

🔗 hanzab.birdlife.org.au

#BirdLifeAustralia #Birds
August 12, 2025 at 12:19 AM
flightemily.bsky.social
Silhouettes of a Little Corella motion tracked past a skytrap. In this moment, this individual is flying with a wingbeat frequency of 4.5Hz - pretty close to expected scaling for a bird of that mass!
A sequence of silhouettes of a Little Corella flying extracted from a video. Video taken from beneath the bird by a skytrap bird camera trap.
August 11, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
adammorton.bsky.social
Eight bat researchers mostly from Asia and Africa refused entry into Australia to attend global scientific event
- @petrastock.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Eight bat researchers mostly from Asia and Africa refused entry into Australia to attend global scientific event
Organisers say move will damage nation’s scientific standing as government refuses to comment on why group of scientists were refused entry
www.theguardian.com
August 9, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
kwasiscientific.bsky.social
The first paper from my postdoc is finally out! In collaboration with @kaitlyngaynor.bsky.social and Amy Angert, we outline how behavioral plasticity influences animal species’ distributions and can improve our understanding of range shifts under climate change! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Linking individual animal behavior to species range shifts under climate change
Climate change has led animal species to shift their ranges to greater elevations, latitudes, and depths, tracking their preferred abiotic niche. Howe…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 17, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
carlao.bsky.social
I'm so happy with this paper that I forgot to post its link!!! :) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
August 6, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
carlao.bsky.social
I've been on attenuation models for some time, and it is always nice (and hard) to write papers between physics and ecology. I have actually developed a new attenuation model for this one! Have been working with physicists on a second paper using birds from Amazonia.❤️ To be continued!
#bioacoustics
August 6, 2025 at 2:40 AM
flightemily.bsky.social
Red Wattlebird landing next to skytrap 5. If Silver Gulls are my most trapped species, this is one of my most trapped individuals. Slowed to about 20%.
August 4, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
enjohnston.bsky.social
Love this.

"Standing tall against fossil fuels, rising up out of the ocean like a middle finger to CO2...motherfuckin' wind farms!"
davidho.bsky.social David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Jul 30
Motherfucking wind farms…
July 30, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
jarodkanderson.bsky.social
Birds are dinosaurs who shrugged off a couple apocalypses. Some eat bone marrow. Some drink nectar. They outswim fish in the sea. They smile politely at gravity’s demands. ‬

‪I am grateful to see them. I am grateful to feed them. I am grateful to know them.‬
July 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
tasbiophiliac.bsky.social
🚨Arooga arooga! 🚨

Excited to share the cover of my very first picture book: "Bear to the Rescue"! 🐨🐶📘🔥

Co-written with Romane Cristescu, and illustrated bySylvia Morris, our book tells the true story of Bear as he goes from being a bit "too much" to saving koalas after the 2020 mega fires 🔥
Book cover for a book called "Bear to the Rescue" by Romane Cristescu and Nic Gill, Illustrated by Sylvia Morris. Book cover shows watercolour image of a smiling, blue-eyed, grey and white dog wearing a blue jacket and black and red protective boots, standing in front of a burnt out etree with a koala and her joey sheltering in the uppermost branches. The background air is a pinkish colour, and there are dead yellow leaves scattered on the ground, but the overall impression is one of hope.
July 31, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Reposted by Emily Rayner
adriftlab.bsky.social
Research findings:
💩 #Shearwater guano is rich in phosphorous & potassium
🌴There is evidence the #birds "fertilized" the soil
🐧 Many seabirds are in decline, including LHI's shearwaters
💩 Islands experience a reduction in nutrients from “lost” guano
🌴Likely results in vegetation changes over time
July 29, 2025 at 12:08 AM