Clare Hawkins
LightNews LightNews
banner
clawkins.bsky.social
Clare Hawkins
@clawkins.bsky.social
3K followers 630 following 260 posts
Conservation biologist in lutruwita/Tasmania 🌍🌏 Coordinates citizen science to monitor threatened species: NatureTrackers & more with the Bookend Trust & the University of Tasmania https://naturetrackers.au/
Posts Replies Media Videos
clawkins.bsky.social
In Hobart this Sunday? Your ears are very much needed for this special BITTERN QUEST!
Help check CallTrackers' haunting recordings from around Tasmania—tentatively identified as likely the 'boom' of an Endangered Australasian bittern—in order to...
#nationalscienceweek #citizenscience #bioacoustics
A small raft is being punted by someone dressed as a squire; on the raft is a life size model of a horse, entirely covered in red and white squared cloth, and ridden by an armoured knight. They on a calm river and floating past some promising looking bittern habitat (reeds) Photo: Jim Whitehead
August 13, 2025 at 10:39 PM
clawkins.bsky.social
—by Cradle Coast Authority’s NRM + Devonport City Council, under the Aus Govt-funded Urban Rivers & Catchments Program.
As the habitat improves, will #CallTrackers start to record the haunting curlew call & the bittern's boom?
Now we can find out.
#acoustic #conservation 🧪🌏🪶🌿🦇🎙️
📷 Elaine McDonald
Flying far eastern curlew against a plain pale grey sky.
August 7, 2025 at 4:48 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Far eastern curlews have declined rapidly, facing disturbance, pollution & habitat loss in China, Russia, SE Asia, Aus & NZ— & on their migration routes between these. It's our largest shorebird; & check that incredible bill!
Hence restoration efforts at the Mersey estuary—
#WildOz
📷 Jenny Ostenfeld
August 7, 2025 at 4:48 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
This season, we can announce a new call recogniser in the software: for Critically Endangered FAR EASTERN CURLEWS, seen but rarely heard in #Tasmania.
It recognised calls from our 1st recordings near curlews, at dusk & dawn.
Where else will #CallTrackers detect them?
#news 🧪🌏🪶🌿🎙️
📷 Elaine McDonald
Far eastern curlew on low wetland vegetation in Tasmania, showing off its immensely long, slightly downward curved bill.
August 7, 2025 at 4:48 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
These annual #volunteer -run surveys across Tasmania, using recorders borrowed from libraries, can help track changes in these species' distributions & numbers.
We can even head back in time, to pick out calls of species that the Acoustic Pipeline can now recognise, from stored recordings...
🧪🌏🪶🌿🦇🎙️
August 7, 2025 at 4:48 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
If you contribute to CallTrackers' annual surveys for #Tasmania 's 'noisy but elusive' species (like bats & the Endangered Australasian bittern)—you get to use @btobirds.bsky.social's Acoustic Pipeline software. Increasingly accurately, this can flag likely calls of these species...
#citsci 🧪🌏🪶🌿🦇🎙️
Small, green wildlife acoustic recorder set up at Moulting Lagoon, Tasmania, to record ultrasonic and audible sounds made by wildlife: recorder on stake in foreground; dunes, sand and sea in background Australasian bittern, facing camera, well-hidden in green reeds with upward-pointing dull yellow bill, yellow eyes looking forward, beige and white feathered breast. Photo: Helen Cunningham
August 7, 2025 at 4:48 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Learn all about it for #NationalScienceWeek! Every Sept-March, you can help monitor wildlife across #Tasmania & learn more about your more elusive neighbours, by borrowing #CallTrackers’ state-of-the-art recorders from various libraries.
Find out more in a workshop: naturetrackers.au/news/spring-...
August 5, 2025 at 7:40 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Tasmanians! Getting into the massive #NationalScienceWeek buzz? Maybe you've already booked into a 'Discover CallTrackers' acoustic monitoring workshop, or 'Bittern Quest'? Details in #NatureTrackers' calendar—see August: naturetrackers.au/about/events...
But ALSO...

#CitSci #STEM #Tasmania 🧪🌏🌿🎙️🪶🦇
August 3, 2025 at 3:11 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
…but maybe just leave it to the velvet worms? 😆
Picture of a Tasmanian velvet worms Ooperipatellus decorata, recorded from Balfour by Simon Grove on iNaturalist. It is very regularly patterned in diamonds & stripes of grey-blue, olive green and cream.
July 20, 2025 at 12:00 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Nearly home - about to hop on the overnight ferry as the next leg of my #FlightFree #BirdNerdRoadie trip from #ICCB2025 in Meanjin/Brisbane to Tasmania, & farewelled by a beautiful black-shouldered kite… 🪶
(almost never seen in TAS)
A small far-off raptor hangs stationary above sea, bushes and a street light in a cloudless pastel post-sunset sky Can just spot a small raptor in the too right corner above silhouettes of fences, street lights, signs & a spiralling, spiky sculpture against a fading pink sky Black-shouldered kite hanging in a blue cloudless sky, looking down near the photographer. Dark shadowed wings, pale grey head & body, dark streak across eye, fanning mid grey tail. A footpath lined by railings and the sea to the right, in the foreground, heads to the Geelong ferry terminal, with the red and white Spirit of Tasmania ferry ready for passengers, in front of a pale sunset.
June 23, 2025 at 8:16 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Waiting at Brisbane Roma St Station to start the first leg of my #NatureNerdRoadie trip home to Tasmania, & realising I’ve never wondered how long-billed birds drink out of shallow puddles…
#WildOz
🌿🪶
June 21, 2025 at 5:26 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
A plenary of huge encouragement to get the #ICCB2025 conference started from Queensland Chief Scientist & QUT Professor Kerrie Wilson.

#conservationscience 🌏
June 15, 2025 at 8:07 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
It’s so great to arrive in the Brisbane sunshine. I’m looking forward to the start of #ICCB2025! *Please* come on Monday pm to discuss #citizenscience approaches to population monitoring. We have a range, for different contexts - including extras which wouldn’t easily fit on the poster…
‘#ICCB2025 I'm presenting at the International Congress for Conservation Biology 2025 Meeanjin Brisbane, Australia | 15 - 19 June’ (in front of the beautiful blue/green Aboriginal graphic design for ICCB2025 with places and lines, fish & turtles) ‘Mon Jun 16, 04:30 PM (103) Approaches to Keep Long-term Track of Species Conservation Effectiveness across Tasmania • Great Hall 3 & 4 Type: Poster Session’ (from the ICCB app)
June 15, 2025 at 1:47 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Departed Hobart for my next #naturenerdroadie trip yesterday - excited to be on my way to the #ICCB2025 in Brisbane. Great sunrise/full moon as I walked from the ferry to N Geelong station this morning!
First leg: Clare grinning for a selfie in front of the Hobart to Launceston bus Sunrise on a near cloudless morning across the water on the way out of the Spirit of Tasmania ferry terminal, with two intriguing wooden structures in the water in the foreground - some sort of moorings? They look to be long out of use. Magpies singing in the cold, atop a pole at North Geelong station. Far off silhouette of spotted dove on a wire above trees, below full moon, in front of pink sky.
June 12, 2025 at 10:29 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Chasing up the last few #WhereWhereWedgie records & reminiscing over some good survey days, eg these views of battling Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles at the start of one of my 10-minute scans.
(After landing out of sight, both eventually flew off in opposite directions).
#Tasmania #citizenscience 🌿🪶
Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles coming close together in flight against a blue-grey sky Still against the sky, the eagles' talons come into contact, with one bunching its wings, the other flying on its side. Eagles still locked together, tumbling towards the ground (between two trees on a dry hillside paddock) The two eagles are still locked together, still tumbling awkwardly, soon to hit the ground
June 11, 2025 at 10:30 PM
clawkins.bsky.social
Final day of #WhereWhere?Wedgie surveys today! 48 teams are heading out. Follow everyone’s progress as it unfolds on the Results Map… webapp.naturetrackers.com.au/map_results

📷 from a wet morning’s survey yesterday - Michael Dempsey

#citizenscience 🌿🪶🧪 #Tasmania #conservationscience
Silhouette of Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle perched on a thin horizontal branch off the top of a dead tree, against a grey sky
May 25, 2025 at 1:54 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Final deadline today! We're about to take off!!
In #Tasmania?
See naturetrackers.au/projects/whe... for what the surveys involve; then the #WhereWhereWedgie booking map – can you turn a yellow square (booked for 1 day) to orange (booked to the desired 2)?

📷 Peter Allen

#Conservationscience 🌏🪶🧪🌿
An especially dark Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle takes off from a thin dead branch, against an out of focus blue hillside
May 21, 2025 at 3:13 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
It takes place annually, Fri-Sun mid- & end-May. Do a morning's set of surveys, or make a weekend adventure of it.
Find out all about it, *book your survey square* on #CitizenScience Day, & prepare for a fun, interesting day surveying!
📷 Kat Stuart; Chris Grove; Arthur Clarke; Kelsey Picard
📷 Kat Stuart - taken during Where? Where? Wedgie! surveys. Three people stand near the edge of a broad river, backs to the photographer, pointing and looking at the sky. 📷 Chris Grove - taken during Where? Where? Wedgie! surveys. A man and a woman wearing woollen beanies grin at the camera, with a seashore in the background; the man is holding a camera, showing on its screen that he's just photographed a soaring eagle. 📷 Arthur Clarke - taken during Where? Where? Wedgie! surveys. A man and a woman wearing broad-brimmed hats and outdoor clothes stand in a field full of black cattle who are looking on curiously. The people face in opposite directions, looking at the sky. The man has an orange backpack, and the woman is holding a camera. 📷 Kelsey Picard - taken during Where? Where? Wedgie! surveys. A man and a woman are sitting in a double kayak on a bright day in open water. They are wearing life jackets and smiling at the camera. The man, behind, holds a paddle, while the woman, in front, holds the camera for the selfie and a pair of binoculars in the other hand.
April 13, 2025 at 2:00 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Not in Tasmania? Please help spread the word to those who are. More surveys mean we can discover more, with more certainty, with the survey data 🦅

naturetrackers.au/projects/whe...

#CitizenScience #Tasmania #WhereWhereWedgie #eagles #populationmonitoring #threatenedspecies #conservation
March 30, 2025 at 2:56 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
...& you'll make a difference to nature conservation. Several species are threatened, and it's just as important to know if they aren't around.
Where will you choose your adventure? Check you know what's involved, then book your spot: naturetrackers.au/projects/whe...
#Tasmania #CitizenScience
A map of some of the Tasmania-wide 4 km x 4 km survey squares – designed to get an annual snapshot of eagle abundance across the state.
March 30, 2025 at 2:56 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Bookings for #WhereWhereWedgie 2025 surveys are now open. If you're in #Tasmania for any or all of 9-11 & 23-25 May, consider booking a survey square today.
There's a good chance you'll spot a bird of prey; in any case, you'll definitely have a memorable, rewarding day...
📷 @drdevildave.bsky.social
A warmly dressed women in the right foreground of the photo points her binoculars over a wide landscape of river, fields and far-off mountains under a blue sky filled with white, puffy clouds. Taken during Where? Where? Wedgie! 2020
March 30, 2025 at 2:56 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
What is a citizen scientist?
Subconscious feelings that we aren't one abound ("I'm a pro";"I'm not a scientist").
But how about 'A potential, amateur, or professional scientist, often learning from & collaborating with others, volunteering their time to conduct scientific work'?
#CitizenScience 🌏🧪🪶🌿
Soaring Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle, primary feathers and wedge tail sharply silhouetted against a pewter sky, photographed during a Where? Where? Wedgie! 2024 survey by Keith Martin-Smith
March 30, 2025 at 2:56 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
Shifting Baseline Syndrome is a human quirk preventing us from noticing gradual population declines, & one of many reasons that long term species monitoring is a good idea!

This #WorldWildlifeDay - consider getting involved with #citizenscience to address this -
eg in #Tasmania: naturetrackers.au
A person strolls along a path surrounded by sea containing - as they move further along - decreasing numbers of fish; there's a sign out to sea saying 'Normal'. https://fritsahlefeldt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/slg0066-shifting-baseline-syndrome-frits-ahlefeldt.jpg
March 3, 2025 at 11:20 AM
clawkins.bsky.social
They’re in their own phylum; they’re skilled predators with complex brains; some are social; some protect their eggs & young, which may also be live-born; & they’re *cool* movers!
Velvet worms (Onychophora): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onychop...

#tasmania #velvetworm #wildoz
February 9, 2025 at 11:57 PM
clawkins.bsky.social
We have 2 months left before the end of the season, and we're currently quite short of surveys.
Read what's involved, then book a square and a recorder: naturetrackers.au/projects/cal...
Questions? Just give CallTrackers HQ a hoy.

#CallTrackers #NatureTrackers #bioacoustics #citizenscience
Small green acoustic recorder set up on a light, portable pole, with forest and a creek surrounded by wetland (leading into Tooms Lake) behind.
February 2, 2025 at 3:02 AM