Off Track
254 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 41 ratingsOff Track, with Ann Jones, is an Australian radio show and podcast which combines the relaxing sounds of nature with awesome stories of wildlife and environmental science, all recorded in the outdoors.
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Episodes
The banteng paradox
May 01, 2020 19:30 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBBanteng are an introduced species in Arnhem Land, but in their home range, they are in danger of complete extinction. So, what to do?
PREVIEW RN Presents — Hot Mess: Why haven’t we fixed climate change?
April 30, 2020 15:00 - 5 minutes - 7.06 MBIf you are here in the Off Track feed, then, we're thinking you're probably a person who is engaged with the natural world. So, it follows that you might be interested in this series from RN Presenter Richard Aedy called 'Hot Mess.'
Whip it good [Earworms from Planet Earth xii]
April 24, 2020 19:30 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBWhipbirds are a favourite in the Aussie bush – secretive little fellows with flat top haircuts and a cutting call. This episode is chokka-block full of whippy (and other) recordings sent in from the audience members of Off Track.
Echidna indigestion and other eating tails [Re-issue]
April 17, 2020 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBIt’s a bat eat mouse, lizard eat possum, wallaby eat bird world out there. Animals are always eating weird stuff.
Magical and misunderstood sea snakes [Re-issue]
April 10, 2020 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBThese curious coral reef inhabitants have evolved some remarkable adaptations to thrive in the underwater realm.
When Jamie fell in love with the mountains [Re-issue]
April 03, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBDistinguished Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick has been crawling across lawns for more than 70 years, it's just that this one is on the top of a mountain and is full of plants from the cretaceous.
Intimate aliens [Re-issue]
March 27, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBRobert Adlard says that parasites are intimate aliens, and that our dislike for them stems from their ability to surprise us with their closeness.
Hobart Airport lets sleeping echidnas lie [Re-issue]
March 20, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBDespite all the noise of planes coming and going, the echidnas at Hobart airport are digging in to hibernate.
Seagrass [Re-issue]
March 13, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBUnderstanding the power of seagrass in a research laboratory 18m under the sea.
Flora fatale, the plants with a thirst for blood [Re-issue]
March 06, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBWith an aggressive mass-murder-then-compost strategy, these tiny plants are the most heinous of herbs.
Ravenous star-shaped mouths
February 28, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBSea urchins are making a meal of south-eastern Australia’s rocky reefs and kelp forests. Can they be stopped?
Sea urchin solo in a coral reef choir [re-issue]
February 21, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBUnder the sea it isn’t all relaxing whale noise. The sound of the reef creatures is actually more like a percussive static with some grinding teeth on rock thrown in.
And your bug can sing
February 14, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBThe underwater sounds in this creek near Brisbane are like an eclectic jam session. There are sweet beetles (that sing), lonely bugs (on percussion), fishy grunters (think Jay-Z) and a punk-rocking rakali that just trashes the joint. This musical soundscape is the PhD homeland of eco-acoustician Emilia Decker.
Grandmother tree, the fire and me
February 07, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBVanessa thought 'it's ok, the people are safe... It's ok, the house is safe...' But nothing prepared her for returning home.
Yackandandah's angel of the bush [UPDATE]
January 31, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBGlenda Elliott can't say no to an animal in need - she wants to save them all. A few years back when fire ripped through Kangaloola Wildlife Shelter, she and the animals hid in a mineshaft. This show aired in 2018 and we've been back in touch with Glenda for an update following the bushfires of 2019-20.
The burning bush is talking
January 24, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBJust before the fire hit, the trees' leaves turned red and fell to the ground, and it left Adrian wondering - did they know they were just about to burn?
Where giants nest
January 10, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBAlbatross expert Dr Jaimie Cleeland listens to the gurgles and bellows of albatross as they nest on a tiny Atlantic island called Gough. For RN Summer we're bringing you Off Track highlights from 2019.
Gone fish — pygmy perch pushed too far
January 03, 2020 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBThe tiny Yarra pygmy perch has been pushed to extinction in the Murray Darling Basin. Now, all hopes for its return are focussed on a couple of farm dams. For RN Summer we're bringing you Off Track highlights from 2019.
Cockies wheelie love bin day
December 27, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBSulphur-crested cockatoos are opening wheelie bins and turning trash into treasure. For RN Summer we're bringing you Off Track highlights from 2019.
Barbara York Main — Australia's spider woman
December 20, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBShe studied the world's oldest spider and championed their home at a time when both the environment and women were given no fighting chance — Dr Barbara Anne York Main OAM. For RN Summer we're bringing you Off Track highlights from 2019.
Earworms from planet earth XI
December 13, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBBirds sing at a mining camp, cicadas grind the gears of locals and mysterious sounds are identified. Listen to the sounds of Australia as recorded by the Off Track audience.
This is Mark
December 06, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBThis is Mark: a life-size, custom-made inflatable whale. And he needs to be saved.
Virtual reality, second nature
November 29, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBOff Track presents the new ABC podcast 'GOOD GAME: how games play us' attempting to answer a BIG question: There's nothing like taking a walk out and about in nature — or is there?
Trapped in the dry
November 22, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBWhat happens to the animals of the Kimberley when the big wet just doesn't arrive?
Karajarri calling
November 15, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBOver the course of the week, three pairs of shoes bite the dust, soles detached from uppers in the 45 degree heat, one microphone's glue melts and there are about a billion bush flies drinking from sweaty backs. But despite the heat, Karajarri country has a draw towards it stronger than the pull of the sun.
Amphibian hullabaloo and other frog noises
November 08, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBFrogs don't just croak, they moan and groan, sing, whine, whizz and sound like dripping taps and this is an episode of pure adoration for the calls of Australia's frogs.
Big cats in the bush [RE-ISSUE]
November 01, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBRumours of pumas and leopards roaming the Australian bush have been around for more than a century. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence but to date no definitive proof. Join in the search for a mythical cat in this re-issue of a classic Off Track.
Tiny crayfish out of water
October 25, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBIt's only as big as a tea bag, plays dead if you pick it up, and landowners don't even know they have an endangered animal in their backyard.
The unlikely tale of the Murchison meteorite
October 18, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBIt startled the cows, intrigued the locals and excited scientists around the world. Fifty years on, the Murchison meteorite still defines a town and yields new discoveries every year.
Off Track family news
October 14, 2019 15:00 - 3 minutes - 4.41 MBThe Off Track family is growing and we want you to know about it. Meet our little sister podcast - Noisy by Nature.
Plovers unmasked
October 11, 2019 18:30 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBThe masked lapwing terrifies humans with daring aerial attacks, which are actually displays of its pure parental love.
Magpie behaviour is not black and white
October 04, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MB[RE-ISSUE] The phrase 'mate for life' might seem romantic, but the reality of such a relationship for the long-lived Australian Magpie involves turf wars, sex on the side and the possibility of a step-parent bringing up your kids if you get too aggro.
Saving the Ocean, part 4 [re-issue]
September 27, 2019 19:30 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MBWhat can science do to preserve marine life and help it develop in harmony with our own human development? This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Saving the Ocean, part 4
September 27, 2019 19:30 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MBWhat can science do to preserve marine life and help it develop in harmony with our own human development? This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Saving the Ocean, part 3
September 20, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.9 MBLindsay Smith has been tagging seabirds in the deep waters off Wollongong for over thirty years. Commercial fishing practice can have a devastating impact on seabird populations. But science is figuring out how to best mitigate the damage. This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Saving the Ocean part 3 [re-issue]
September 20, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.9 MBLindsay Smith has been tagging seabirds in the deep waters off Wollongong for over thirty years. Commercial fishing practice can have a devastating impact on seabird populations. But science is figuring out how to best mitigate the damage. This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Saving the Ocean, part 2
September 13, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 35.1 MBShark fishing holds a special place in Kiribati culture. But a growth in the market for shark fins in Asia changed the traditional fishing practice. This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Saving the Ocean, part 2 [re-issue]
September 13, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 35.1 MBShark fishing holds a special place in Kiribati culture. But a growth in the market for shark fins in Asia changed the traditional fishing practice. This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Saving the Ocean, part 1
September 06, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 35.1 MBFew places on earth are as exposed to the ocean as Kiribati; a chain of 32 islands spread across 3.5 million square km in the East Pacific. This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Saving the Ocean, part 1 [re-issue]
September 06, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 35.1 MBFew places on earth are as exposed to the ocean as Kiribati; a chain of 32 islands spread across 3.5 million square km in the East Pacific. This program is a re-issue from the Off Track archives while Ann takes a short break.
Where giants nest - nature soundscape
August 31, 2019 16:05 - 8 minutes - 11.5 MBSink into the sounds of Gough Island, where the Albatross gurgle, the petrels moan and the skuas chatter. No human voices, all Off Track soundscape.
The exceptional Nuyts Archipelago
August 16, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBSt Peter Island in South Australia's Nuyts Archipelago is home to sea eagles, short-tailed shearwaters, stick-nest rats and brush-tailed bettongs – and also some particularly venomous black tiger snakes.
Earworms From Planet Earth X
August 09, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MBA magpie calls to the rising sun, a fat green frog sings in a water tank and an endangered lemur moans about its family. Ann Jones takes you and a bunch of experts on an ear-tour.
Listen for Tigers
August 02, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBNo one ever forgets the time that they first heard a tiger.
Golf is freedom and frustration [re-issue]
July 26, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBIn any given day on the golf course, there are people in ecstasy, and people in agony. Sometimes it's the same person. [From the Off Track archive]
Earworms from Planet Earth IX
July 19, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MBStressed? Got the sniffles? Need a nap? Got a fussy baby? Just. Over. It? You won’t realise how much you needed to hear nature until you’ve heard this set of wild sounds sent in by Off Track listeners from around the globe.
The curse of the plastic nurdle
July 12, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.7 MBFiona Pepper follows the path of a tiny grain of plastic - a nurdle - as it travels on ocean currents from South Africa to land on a 'pristine' beach in West Australia.
Earworm Extra - lyrebird audiotape
July 08, 2019 15:05 - 5 minutes - 7.85 MBWant to live another five minutes in the Off Track lyrebird world? Well, listen to this.
Lyrebirds - lyrebird equality now!
July 05, 2019 19:30 - 25 minutes - 34.8 MBYou might think you know the story of the lyrebird. Think again. Female lyrebirds could be rock stars in their own right.
Earworm Extra - Listener Lyrebirds
June 30, 2019 17:30 - 23 minutes - 31.7 MBFrom the hundreds of sounds sent into Off Track, we've selected all the Lyrebird recordings. An earworm extra for the series 'Sex, lyres and audiotape.'