Helen Mylne
@helephantmylne.bsky.social
How long do monkeys live? 🐒 Turns out we don't really know! Postdoc in Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at UoExeter modelling primate lifespans. Also elephant social network analyst 🐘 running entirely on sugar and a love of African wildlife 🌍
Happy #FieldworkFriday! Don't even remember taking this photo but it was on my camera so I must have done.....
Enjoy! 😂
Enjoy! 😂
November 14, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Happy #FieldworkFriday! Don't even remember taking this photo but it was on my camera so I must have done.....
Enjoy! 😂
Enjoy! 😂
What are you looking at? 👀🦓
Happy #FieldworkFriday, and today I'm posting zebras for Jo other reason than that zebras are cool 😎
My only question: why isn't everything zebra striped?! It's thermoregulatory, it's camouflage, it's protection from biting flies... Why can't I be stripy?!
Happy #FieldworkFriday, and today I'm posting zebras for Jo other reason than that zebras are cool 😎
My only question: why isn't everything zebra striped?! It's thermoregulatory, it's camouflage, it's protection from biting flies... Why can't I be stripy?!
October 17, 2025 at 12:08 PM
What are you looking at? 👀🦓
Happy #FieldworkFriday, and today I'm posting zebras for Jo other reason than that zebras are cool 😎
My only question: why isn't everything zebra striped?! It's thermoregulatory, it's camouflage, it's protection from biting flies... Why can't I be stripy?!
Happy #FieldworkFriday, and today I'm posting zebras for Jo other reason than that zebras are cool 😎
My only question: why isn't everything zebra striped?! It's thermoregulatory, it's camouflage, it's protection from biting flies... Why can't I be stripy?!
This week on #PhotographyFriday is a bad photo taken through my friend's binoculars.... But I saw an Osprey at the Otter Estuary! 😁 This handsome juvenile male has come down from the Tweed valley in Scotland, at the start of his migration, and seems very content in Devon 🦅
October 3, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This week on #PhotographyFriday is a bad photo taken through my friend's binoculars.... But I saw an Osprey at the Otter Estuary! 😁 This handsome juvenile male has come down from the Tweed valley in Scotland, at the start of his migration, and seems very content in Devon 🦅
It's #FieldworkFriday! One of the things that I don't post much about is the people I've worked with. In the Australian outback, we went more than a little insane while watching the babblers, but the craziness was so much fun that I made friends I will never forget ❤️ @babblingbirds.bsky.social
September 5, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It's #FieldworkFriday! One of the things that I don't post much about is the people I've worked with. In the Australian outback, we went more than a little insane while watching the babblers, but the craziness was so much fun that I made friends I will never forget ❤️ @babblingbirds.bsky.social
Somehow it's already #PhotographyFriday again... Not quite sure where this week has gone!
This one is from last Sunday, when I finally made it up to #Dartmoor for probably the first time since Covid! Sheep following an old mining cart track in front of Haytor Rocks, amongst the heather and gorse 🐑
This one is from last Sunday, when I finally made it up to #Dartmoor for probably the first time since Covid! Sheep following an old mining cart track in front of Haytor Rocks, amongst the heather and gorse 🐑
August 29, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Somehow it's already #PhotographyFriday again... Not quite sure where this week has gone!
This one is from last Sunday, when I finally made it up to #Dartmoor for probably the first time since Covid! Sheep following an old mining cart track in front of Haytor Rocks, amongst the heather and gorse 🐑
This one is from last Sunday, when I finally made it up to #Dartmoor for probably the first time since Covid! Sheep following an old mining cart track in front of Haytor Rocks, amongst the heather and gorse 🐑
All of my usual #FieldworkFriday photos come from old trips, but this one is just from my own garden last weekend. I made the mistake of hand-digging a new flowerbed in a heatwave 🥵 and then planting it with plants that all like different soil types... But they have survived 5 days so far! 🏵️🌹🌸🕷️🐌🌿
August 22, 2025 at 11:50 AM
All of my usual #FieldworkFriday photos come from old trips, but this one is just from my own garden last weekend. I made the mistake of hand-digging a new flowerbed in a heatwave 🥵 and then planting it with plants that all like different soil types... But they have survived 5 days so far! 🏵️🌹🌸🕷️🐌🌿
I'm cheating for #FieldworkFriday because it's not my photo... I'm officially Dr Mylne! 🎓🎉
Thanks again to Dan Franks, @cmbeale.bsky.social, @anthropocenebio.bsky.social, @elephantkate, Julia Ferrari, Jakob Bro-Jorgensen, and Uni of York for all your support and guidance ❤️
#graduation #longboi
Thanks again to Dan Franks, @cmbeale.bsky.social, @anthropocenebio.bsky.social, @elephantkate, Julia Ferrari, Jakob Bro-Jorgensen, and Uni of York for all your support and guidance ❤️
#graduation #longboi
July 25, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I'm cheating for #FieldworkFriday because it's not my photo... I'm officially Dr Mylne! 🎓🎉
Thanks again to Dan Franks, @cmbeale.bsky.social, @anthropocenebio.bsky.social, @elephantkate, Julia Ferrari, Jakob Bro-Jorgensen, and Uni of York for all your support and guidance ❤️
#graduation #longboi
Thanks again to Dan Franks, @cmbeale.bsky.social, @anthropocenebio.bsky.social, @elephantkate, Julia Ferrari, Jakob Bro-Jorgensen, and Uni of York for all your support and guidance ❤️
#graduation #longboi
This week on a slightly late #FieldworkFriday, I present a blueberry. Enjoy 😁
Blue waxbills are one of my favourite birds in southern Africa for the simple reason that they're just so cute!
Blue waxbills are one of my favourite birds in southern Africa for the simple reason that they're just so cute!
July 11, 2025 at 3:59 PM
This week on a slightly late #FieldworkFriday, I present a blueberry. Enjoy 😁
Blue waxbills are one of my favourite birds in southern Africa for the simple reason that they're just so cute!
Blue waxbills are one of my favourite birds in southern Africa for the simple reason that they're just so cute!
June 20, 2025 at 9:50 AM
I'm generally quite bad about posting non-mammals, so for a little change, here's a snake for #PhotographyFriday 🐍 photo from Botswana (I think...), but I honestly can't remember what this one is so if anyone knows, much appreciated!
May 30, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I'm generally quite bad about posting non-mammals, so for a little change, here's a snake for #PhotographyFriday 🐍 photo from Botswana (I think...), but I honestly can't remember what this one is so if anyone knows, much appreciated!
This #FieldworkFriday I'm reading about ageing monkeys from their #tooth wear, so here are some worn out #elephant teeth. No idea how old he was though!
Eles get 6 sets of teeth in their life, after which they stay where the food is softest until they die, creating the infamous "elephant graveyard"
Eles get 6 sets of teeth in their life, after which they stay where the food is softest until they die, creating the infamous "elephant graveyard"
May 16, 2025 at 12:01 PM
This #FieldworkFriday I'm reading about ageing monkeys from their #tooth wear, so here are some worn out #elephant teeth. No idea how old he was though!
Eles get 6 sets of teeth in their life, after which they stay where the food is softest until they die, creating the infamous "elephant graveyard"
Eles get 6 sets of teeth in their life, after which they stay where the food is softest until they die, creating the infamous "elephant graveyard"
Successful viva and I am #PhDone 🎉 so long York, it's been a lot of fun 🍾🦆 #rosesarewhite #longboiforever
May 8, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Successful viva and I am #PhDone 🎉 so long York, it's been a lot of fun 🍾🦆 #rosesarewhite #longboiforever
Happy #FieldworkFriday! Let me present one of few photos I've ever taken of a maribou stork in which they don't look utterly disgusting: the silhouette! Hands down the ugliest of the ugly 5!
May 2, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Happy #FieldworkFriday! Let me present one of few photos I've ever taken of a maribou stork in which they don't look utterly disgusting: the silhouette! Hands down the ugliest of the ugly 5!
A slightly late #PhotographyFriday but here is a non-work update: I went #skiing for the first time in my life ⛷️ definitely a good break, because it took so much concentration to stay upright that I couldn't think about work at all! 😅
Remember to take work breaks folks!
Remember to take work breaks folks!
April 12, 2025 at 9:30 AM
A slightly late #PhotographyFriday but here is a non-work update: I went #skiing for the first time in my life ⛷️ definitely a good break, because it took so much concentration to stay upright that I couldn't think about work at all! 😅
Remember to take work breaks folks!
Remember to take work breaks folks!
This week on #PhotographyFriday, I am simply sharing my excitement that the amaryllis I have been lovingly tending to for 2.5 years has FINALLY decided to flower, after shedding all of its leaves then making possibly the most pathetic attempt at replacing them ever.
Enjoy 😁🌺
Enjoy 😁🌺
March 28, 2025 at 12:26 PM
This week on #PhotographyFriday, I am simply sharing my excitement that the amaryllis I have been lovingly tending to for 2.5 years has FINALLY decided to flower, after shedding all of its leaves then making possibly the most pathetic attempt at replacing them ever.
Enjoy 😁🌺
Enjoy 😁🌺
I have spent this week searching a lot of papers on #baboons, so for #FieldworkFriday here is an old favourite photo of mine from the Zambian side of Mosi-Oa-Tunya (aka, Victoria Falls) 😁 Beware indeed!
March 7, 2025 at 1:34 PM
I have spent this week searching a lot of papers on #baboons, so for #FieldworkFriday here is an old favourite photo of mine from the Zambian side of Mosi-Oa-Tunya (aka, Victoria Falls) 😁 Beware indeed!
Today I learnt that #echidna feet are "backwards". This must be something I once knew, having seen several during my masters fieldwork on birds, but clearly this was not information that my brain deemed worthy of remembering.
My brain was wrong: it's awesome.
Anyway, happy #FieldworkFriday 🤗🦔
My brain was wrong: it's awesome.
Anyway, happy #FieldworkFriday 🤗🦔
February 28, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Today I learnt that #echidna feet are "backwards". This must be something I once knew, having seen several during my masters fieldwork on birds, but clearly this was not information that my brain deemed worthy of remembering.
My brain was wrong: it's awesome.
Anyway, happy #FieldworkFriday 🤗🦔
My brain was wrong: it's awesome.
Anyway, happy #FieldworkFriday 🤗🦔
Happy #PhotographyFriday! End of my first week as a postdoc in @crab-exeter.bsky.social and safe to say I think I've landed on my feet here 😁 some sun would be nice though.....
February 21, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Happy #PhotographyFriday! End of my first week as a postdoc in @crab-exeter.bsky.social and safe to say I think I've landed on my feet here 😁 some sun would be nice though.....
I'm #PhDone! 🎉 Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me through to this point: Dan Franks, @cmbeale.bsky.social, Elephants for Africa and Uni of York. You've been amazing 🐘🦆🦢
Clicking that submit button was terrifying but I'm so excited to move onto the next step: postdoc here I come! 🎉🐒
Clicking that submit button was terrifying but I'm so excited to move onto the next step: postdoc here I come! 🎉🐒
February 10, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I'm #PhDone! 🎉 Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me through to this point: Dan Franks, @cmbeale.bsky.social, Elephants for Africa and Uni of York. You've been amazing 🐘🦆🦢
Clicking that submit button was terrifying but I'm so excited to move onto the next step: postdoc here I come! 🎉🐒
Clicking that submit button was terrifying but I'm so excited to move onto the next step: postdoc here I come! 🎉🐒
Well I was hoping that this #PhotographyFriday would be a picture of me submitting my thesis..... Maybe next week!
Instead, here is one of my favourite photos from my fieldwork: #elephants in a lightning storm! (Actually a still from a video because I couldn't get it in a photo...)
Instead, here is one of my favourite photos from my fieldwork: #elephants in a lightning storm! (Actually a still from a video because I couldn't get it in a photo...)
January 31, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Well I was hoping that this #PhotographyFriday would be a picture of me submitting my thesis..... Maybe next week!
Instead, here is one of my favourite photos from my fieldwork: #elephants in a lightning storm! (Actually a still from a video because I couldn't get it in a photo...)
Instead, here is one of my favourite photos from my fieldwork: #elephants in a lightning storm! (Actually a still from a video because I couldn't get it in a photo...)
#FieldworkFriday time!
African Fish Eagle flying over the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana, on a day that was really trying to be stormy but wet season hadn't quite broken yet
African Fish Eagle flying over the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana, on a day that was really trying to be stormy but wet season hadn't quite broken yet
January 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
#FieldworkFriday time!
African Fish Eagle flying over the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana, on a day that was really trying to be stormy but wet season hadn't quite broken yet
African Fish Eagle flying over the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana, on a day that was really trying to be stormy but wet season hadn't quite broken yet
On this third day of the past 2 weeks in which I am trying to finish my PhD thesis with a migraine, please enjoy this picture of Corn Cob the Flying Banana, who did not like his own reflection 😅
My head feels like I too have been slamming it against a window for the past 2 days 🤕
Happy Tuesday.
My head feels like I too have been slamming it against a window for the past 2 days 🤕
Happy Tuesday.
January 21, 2025 at 7:24 PM
On this third day of the past 2 weeks in which I am trying to finish my PhD thesis with a migraine, please enjoy this picture of Corn Cob the Flying Banana, who did not like his own reflection 😅
My head feels like I too have been slamming it against a window for the past 2 days 🤕
Happy Tuesday.
My head feels like I too have been slamming it against a window for the past 2 days 🤕
Happy Tuesday.
It's #FieldworkFriday! 🥳
Please enjoy this particularly pretty (and unedited!) sunset from the Makgadikgadi Pans 🌄 honestly don't know how it's been 2 over years since I was last in Africa. Writing a thesis in the cold UK just isn't quite the same... Only 2 weeks to go until PhD submission! 😱
Please enjoy this particularly pretty (and unedited!) sunset from the Makgadikgadi Pans 🌄 honestly don't know how it's been 2 over years since I was last in Africa. Writing a thesis in the cold UK just isn't quite the same... Only 2 weeks to go until PhD submission! 😱
January 17, 2025 at 12:10 PM
It's #FieldworkFriday! 🥳
Please enjoy this particularly pretty (and unedited!) sunset from the Makgadikgadi Pans 🌄 honestly don't know how it's been 2 over years since I was last in Africa. Writing a thesis in the cold UK just isn't quite the same... Only 2 weeks to go until PhD submission! 😱
Please enjoy this particularly pretty (and unedited!) sunset from the Makgadikgadi Pans 🌄 honestly don't know how it's been 2 over years since I was last in Africa. Writing a thesis in the cold UK just isn't quite the same... Only 2 weeks to go until PhD submission! 😱
Happy New Year and happy #PhotographyFriday!
Spent New Year's Day with my family in Scotland where we had a reasonable snow shower, leading to an oddly monochromatic but quite dramatic walk through the heather moors. Did see hares and black grouse which was a good start to the annual species list!
Spent New Year's Day with my family in Scotland where we had a reasonable snow shower, leading to an oddly monochromatic but quite dramatic walk through the heather moors. Did see hares and black grouse which was a good start to the annual species list!
January 3, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Happy New Year and happy #PhotographyFriday!
Spent New Year's Day with my family in Scotland where we had a reasonable snow shower, leading to an oddly monochromatic but quite dramatic walk through the heather moors. Did see hares and black grouse which was a good start to the annual species list!
Spent New Year's Day with my family in Scotland where we had a reasonable snow shower, leading to an oddly monochromatic but quite dramatic walk through the heather moors. Did see hares and black grouse which was a good start to the annual species list!
Happy #PhotographyFriday! As it's Christmas, this one is not of fieldwork, but of my cat, who has been "helping" with the Christmas dinner and leftovers over the last couple of days.... Here he was being told off for repeatedly sitting on the Christmas cake! 😂🎂
December 27, 2024 at 12:06 PM
Happy #PhotographyFriday! As it's Christmas, this one is not of fieldwork, but of my cat, who has been "helping" with the Christmas dinner and leftovers over the last couple of days.... Here he was being told off for repeatedly sitting on the Christmas cake! 😂🎂