Research reveals the story of Australian waterbirds the length and breadth of the Murray-Darling Basin

EIGHTEEN months ago a group of scientists started tagging and tracking Straw-necked Ibis in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Straw-necked Ibis pictured at Macquarie Marshes in NSW. 

At the time, they knew that more effective environmental water management depended on better knowledge about the movements of these birds.

What they didn’t expect was that the ibis would become more than dots on a map or the basis of integral research – they would become story-tellers, as unique individuals with their own experiences, adventures and lessons to learn.

This year, this collection of stories has increased with GPS satellite transmitters having tracked 40 straw-necked Ibis, 15 Royal Spoonbills and five Australian White Ibis.

Read the CSIRO blog - “Research reveals the story of Australian waterbirds the length and breadth of the Murray-Darling Basin.”

‘Unusually large' cyclone churns through the Antarctic sea ice

An unusually large cyclone has been buffeting the Antarctic coast this week, shifting sea ice that had already been tracking at record-low levels.

A cyclone spins in the Ross Sea off Antarctica.

While the storm in the Ross Sea is unrelated to events formed in the tropics, the cyclone is being watched closely by experts trying to understand how developments in the far south affect the wider climate in the southern hemisphere and beyond.

Read Peter Hannam’s story from today’s Melbourne Age - “‘Unusually large' cyclone churns through the Antarctic sea ice.”