#naturalists — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #naturalists, aggregated by home.social.
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India Safari Tours: The Ultimate Guide to Wildlife Adventures in India for 2026-27
India is one of the world's most exciting wildlife destinations. From tracking majestic Bengal tigers through ancient forests to spotting one-horned rhinos in grasslands and Asiatic lions in their last natural habitat, India offers safari experiences unlike anywhere else on Earth. If you're planning a safari trip to India in 2026-27, this guide covers the best parks, safari experiences, travel tips, and how to choose the right itinerary for an unforgettable wildlife journey. Why Choose […] -
Is It Ethical to Go on a Safari in India? A Responsible Traveler’s Guide to Wildlife Tourism in 2026
India is one of the world’s most iconic wildlife destinations, home to Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, leopards, rhinos, and over 1,300 bird species. Naturally, a safari in India is high on many travelers’ bucket lists. But as awareness around sustainable travel grows, a critical question arises: Is it ethical to go on a safari in India? Yes, if done responsibly.This guide breaks down the ethics of India safari tours, what to look for, what to avoid, and how to ensure your trip supports […] -
Slides from my talk last night to the Field #Naturalists Association of #Canberra:
"Lessons from #Malaise trapping in Aranda"
As with most of my talks, there are few notes, but the gallery of amazing #insects may mean something to some of you.
#entomology #taxonomy #DNAbarcoding #biodiversity #OnceAndFutureKing #Hymenoptera #Lepidoptera #Strepsiptera #Hemiptera #Collembola #Araneae #wasps #moths #springtails #spiders
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Why is #JavaScript so popular? I hate everything about it.
I'm speaking at the #Canberra Field #Naturalists meeting at #ANU next month on #Malaise trapping and the #insects and other #invertebrates that surround us without our noticing them.
I expect most of my slides to be arrays of four or six #microscope images with a header (probably a family name in most cases) and captions for each image.
I don't want to lay out all these images in #LibreOffice (or any similar presentation tool) because I'm a perfectionist and getting it all tidy will take forever.
So, I decided to try out #Slidev, #Marp and other #Markdown-based presentation tools. The Markdown part is very appealing, but they all lean hard into JavaScript. That would be fine so long as I don't have to think about that side of things.
Slidev's AppleBasic theme seemed to be the best starting point, so I started hacking it to add som extra gridded image views. Plain image grids were not too challenging, but I really want captions for each image, so I started trying to understand how the templates use the forest of underlying JS libraries and CSS artefacts to produce the displayed slides.
Frankly, the whole thing is so opaque and would take me much longer to understand than preparing multiple presentations by hand would.
Then I realised I can use #montage on the command line to produce the kind of layouts I want, and I can script #exiftool to extract and prepare the captions which will save time.
So, my new plan is to write a #Python script that processes a #YAML file listing all the slides, titles and image paths. It can generate PNG images that are close to the target 1920*1080 size (give or take a little). I'll then use LibreOffice for a couple of more text-oriented or irregular slides, export those and combine all the images into a PDF.
I'm sure this will be way faster than battling Node.js. Not sure why I felt I had to write it up.
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We are just one week away from Let’s Get Quizzical: Trivia, #Bioblitz & Food by the Gorge, happening on Saturday, August 30, 2025, from 11 AM to 5 PM at #GorgeEsquimaltPark - right outside the Gorge Nature House.
This exciting, #free #FamilyFriendly event is packed with activities for all ages:
🧠 Sustainable Smarts #Trivia – Three rounds of engaging trivia with fantastic #prizes from local favourites like HAVN, Axe & Grind, and Quazar’s Arcade + some of Esquimalt's finest, Warm Gift Shop, Errant Empire, and 4Cats Esquimalt!
🌿 Bioblitz #CommunityScience – Join guided walks and help document local plants, bugs, birds, and more on iNaturalist.
🐞 #BugWalk & #PlantWalks – Led by the #GWAS team to connect you with the biodiversity of our beautiful #GorgeWaterway.
🎟️ Passport to Science Wrap-Up – Explore hands-on science with our friends from Passport to Science, Victoria Bug Zoo, Centre of the Universe, and more!
And, of course… delicious food all day long:
🍦 Hazel’s Ice Cream – Serving cold treats and smiles.
🌯 Greek on the Street – Flavour-packed eats and street-side classics.
🥗 Naked Dressings – Fresh, healthy bites made with love.Whether you are coming for the science, the food, the trivia, or simply to enjoy the community atmosphere, there is something for everyone. So, choose your favourite method of Active Transportation and come get quizzical on Saturday, August 30!
Support Your Local #NatureHouse
This #fundraiser helps support much-needed improvements to the Gorge Nature House, enabling us to continue providing #environmental #education and #CommunityPrograms for years to come.Mark your calendars, bring your friends and family, and come celebrate the Gorge with us!
Learn More →
http://triviabythegorge.eventbrite.comUnable to make the event but still want to support the cause?
No problem – Donate today!
https://www.gorge.ca/donate?link_id=14&can_id=885c887d51f4f2992844bbc18a1523b7&source=email-one-week-until-lets-get-quizzical-trivia-bioblitz-food-by-the-gorge&email_subject=_-one-week-until-lets-get-quizzical-trivia-bioblitz-food-by-the-gorge-_&&#Saanich #VictoriaBC #Esquimalt #YYJ #Songhees #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #Nature #HandsOnLearning #CitizenScience #YYJParks #AllAges #InclusiveEvents #AccessibleEvents #FreeEvent #FunAtThePark #Naturalists #LearnAboutNature #CommunityEvent #CommunityBuilding