What The Duck?!

It was a perfect night. But this duck had other ideas.
The scene: A perfect, wonderful, windless night at a wetland.
You couldn't ask for better conditions. The sun sets and the insects hum and eventually you hear a boobook and it's lovely… except one very loud duck keeps on yelling periodically the whole way through.
It's like the thing KNEW I was recording. It goes on for hours.
Anyway, I've got a passion project at the ABC.
A podcast called Nature Sounds by Ann Jones.
It's all these looooong form sounds scapes. The idea is that you can use them to relax, or go to sleep, or drown out your colleagues or whatever.
You can find it on the ABC listen app or any other podcast app. I promise this screaming duck didn't make the cut. 
RECORDING: Ann Jones
MASTERING ENGINEER: Isabella Tropiano

This flower takes needy to a whole new level! 
It was almost extinct. That was, until 2015, when a woman called Julie took it upon herself to make sure we didn’t lose the species altogether, and as it happened (baby) Ann Jones went along with a microphone. 
Now, it’s 10 years on, and Ann is older, greyer and more closely resembles a bearded orchid. But, given she hasn’t been made redundant yet, we can revisit the forest to ask – was all that effort worth it? Did the orchids survive? 
Featuring:
Julie Radford, Threatened species ecologist in Central Victoria
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Sarah Prosser, Producer
Mastering Engineer: Tegan Nicholls
This episode of What the Duck was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung people. 
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

You probably have a daddy-long-legs in your house right now.
But when is having a weird housemate in the corner ACTUALLY a good thing? Dr Ann Jones investigates.
Featuring:
Dr Samantha Nixon, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Dr Lizzy Lowe, Invertebrates Australia.
Thanks also to Dr Bernhard Huber, Arachnid Curator at Museum Koenig for helping us get the facts right.
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer.
Petria Ladgrove, Producer.
Additional mastering: Hamish Camilleri.
This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in 2023 and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Kaurna people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Flies have rhythm and choreography, could their moves make the next TikTok dance fad?
Dune flies groove to their own beat in dance-circles and hoverflies use rhythmic movements in mating.
Researchers found the dancing dune fly’s repertoire has specific moves for impressing a female and others for rival dance battles.  Pretty fly for a dune fly.
In Costa Rica the male red hoverfly rhythmically squeezes and strokes his mate during copulation.
They also have a pattern of coupling and uncoupling as many as 17 times during the act!
Featuring:
Dr Keith Bayless, research scientist, National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO
Professor William Eberhard, emeritus scientist, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; emeritus professor, Universidad de Costa Rica
Further reading:
Genital behaviour in Menidon falcatus (Diptera, Syrphidae) and the possible significance of repeated, rhythmic movements
Courtship choreography is stabilized among genetically isolated populations
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Tegan Nicholls, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?!  was recorded on Ngunnawal Country and produced on the lands of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Live from the World Science Festival Brisbane What the Duck?! is playing a game and you get to decide: duck, marry, avoid, or friendzone.
You'll hear about the natural world's romance, reproduction, and relationships
Once you've listened you can email whattheduck@abc.net.au to vote for how you would categorise snakes, birds, insects and mammals.
Featuring:
Dr Chstina Zdanek, Australian Reptile Academy
Dr Cesar Puechmarin, wildlife veterinarian and podcaster
Dr Bryan Lessard, entomologist
Jacinta Bowler, ABC Science journalist
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
Recorded by Steve Fieldhouse and Daniel Shapland
With thanks to the World Science Festival Brisbane 
This episode of What the Duck?! was recorded on the land of the Turrbal and Jagera people and produced on the lands of the Kulin Nation.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.