Ptarmigan nest sites

Rock Ptarmigan in Scotland usually nest close to boulders, which probably reduces the risk of detection by predators as their cryptically patterned plumage merges well with the colour and form of the lichen-covered rock. It was wet, in low cloud yesterday and this bird's back was covered with pearls of moisture.   

There are few human artifacts in the ptarmigan habitat of the high ground in the Highlands, but one such is the erection of snow-fences at the ski-resorts. And these decay over the years. I have known several ptarmigan nests to be placed near these, presumably for shelter from predators, but possibly also from wind, rain and snow. There are two such nests in my study area this year.One is at the base of an upright but partially broken fence.

Another nest was placed under a section of fallen fence. Both birds sat still, confiding in their camouflage for protection.

Golden Eagle paper

A scientific paper of which I am a co-author has been accepted for publication by the journal Ornis Fennica.

Adam Watson, Stuart Rae & Sandy Payne: Mirrored sequences of colonisation and abandonment by pairs of Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos.

As the summary states:
'We report colonisation by extra breeding pairs of Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaetos, and
subsequent abandonments, in part of northeast Scotland during 1895–1985. The number
of pairs rose from three in 1895–1937 to eight by 1948, and then fell to four during 1959–
71 in reverse of the colonisation sequence. This fits the concept of hierarchic quality of
habitat used, or of bird quality. Possible mechanisms to explain this are discussed.'


This is now available for view in the online early page of their website: http://www.ornisfennica.org/ornisfennica.org/early.htm 

Mixed Spring 

This Spring in Scotland has been mostly cold with a long run of northerly winds. There was a warm spell earlier though and this well-grown leveret has escaped the worst weather.

A colony of common gulls nesting on the Aberdeenshire hills have done less l, as this clutch of abandoned eggs shows. The nest was abandoned during a snow storm which has covered the eggs, and since then  one of the eggs has been eaten.

 Meanwhile, these house martins are busy collecting mud for their nests. Taking advantage of the wet  weather.

New book out

http://www.langford-press.co.

uk/Eagle%20Days.htm
My new book on eagles has just arrived from the printers and is now available from Langford Press. http://www.langford-press.co.uk , and also Amazon, Borders etc.

That was the plug. As for content, what do you get. Well, I have tried to portray my experiences and knowledge of golden eagles and their ecology in the Scottish Highlands, using words and photographs all taken by myself. This is not a dry academic text, nor is it a coffee-table book. Rather, using the high quality production of Langford Press, and modern styling, the book gives a feel of what it is like to walk hundreds, thousands of miles over many years, let's say about forty years, studying golden eagles. I have shared the Highlands with these birds; the weather, the scenery and all that is there. And I have collected a long run of scientific data, with the results published in academic journals. Eagles are an integral part of the Highland ecology, and in this book I have tied together various strands of the one and the whole.

          The nictitating membrane flicks across an eaglets eye. Photographed at 1/800th of a second.

On still mornings, eagles will simply sit on a highpiont and watch for prey, only rising in the sky when the wind rises.

Meanwhile, I am currently busy in the Highlands, studying eagles, the story never stops......

Wedge-tailed eagles

Yesterday while I out in the local woods, I heard grunting, muffled, barking calls. So I crept on quietly, expecting to find some mammal lurking in the shrubbery, but no. There were a pair a wedge-tailed eagles sitting in adjacent trees, calling to one another.

Eagles are normally quiet birds, or thought  to be, but I have been close to quite a few and have heard such muffled barking calls before; by golden and wedge-tailed eagles. They are probably thought to be quiet birds because people are seldom close enough to hear them.

These birds had obviously not long finished eating something as both their bills were red with blood. But it must have been a small prey item as their crops were not full. Adult Wedge-tailed eagles have a fine golden nape similar to the golden eagle, of Europe, Asia and North America. Their wedged tail forms a distinctive long pointed shape when the birds are perched.

This bird was probably the male as it was the smaller one, and its feet can be seen to be quite small in this photograph - females are larger and usually have large thick talons. The long central tail feathers droop down when in level flight. I often wonder on their purpose, do they help the birds steer through the canopy? For these are birds of open woodland and landscape with scattered trees.

There was no point in me hiding as both birds had obviously seen me. So I grabbed a few quick images as the male flew off through the trees - the nictitating membrane closing over his eyes as he squeezed through the branches.

Big rain

It has been raining here for a few days now, with more than 100mm down in March so far. It's raining again now and more to come. That should see us with 200mm for the month, by the 4th.

 Scrivener Dam, like all the dams around here is overflowing.

 Better to keep clear

 Well clear

 Power

 Picturesque power

 Lots of flooding

The darters still have big chicks in their nests, not many fish being brought in though...

New website

I have opened a new website at http://sites.stuartrae.com/  or just click on the website link on the right.

I would be grateful for any comments on layout, content, usefulness, favourite image, etc.. I would especially like to know how it appears on various devices, as I know iOS corrupts the layout no matter what I do to set the gadgets, text or inserts.

Please send any comments to the associated email address which is stuart@stuartrae.com .

Thanks for your interest and help.

Stuart

Banding birds

I was helping John Rawsthorne catch and band birds last weekend at the Weddin Mountains. It was the end of the breeding season and many of the birds we caught were young of the year. Or like the rainbow bee-eater above were adults worn out after their efforts - literally as this bird shows with its tatty plumage and broken tail-streamers.

This red-browed firetail was identifiable as a bird of the year because the red in its brow was incomplete

- the adult birds have a thick brush stroke across their brow.

There was a family party of grey butcherbirds in the area, this is one of the adults.

They have a particularly sharp hook on the tip of their bill for picking up prey, mostly invertebrates, but also small skinks and young birds if they can catch them. That is my skin on the tip.

                               Another predator made an appearance - a goanna ( lace monitor lizard). 

 

It was nice and quiet as it walked through the camp, still a youngster itself.

Bird banding

    Last weekend I was at helping to catch and band birds at a study site in the forest near Moruya in south- 
    east New South Wales. The project is run by Micheal and Sarah Guppie, and Anthony Overs. Above is
    one of the main study species, a Variegated Fairy-Wren (adult male).
 

    The breeding season is almost over so there were many young birds such as the juvenile White-naped

     Honeyeater on the right above, whose plumage is much duller than that of the adult on the left. 

     Another of the honeyeater species was the New Holland Honeyeater, a bird which favours to feed on

     the nectar of banksias. These birds have splendid detail in their facial plumage.

      Below is an adult male Mistletoebird, which has a wonderful red breast and the sheen on its back is a
      rich deep metalic blue, appat from on the primaries and central tail feathers which are dull grey-brown.

       Another shining bird was the Shining Bronze-Cuckoo. Even the bars on its breast have a greenish
       lustre.

    And one of the last birds we caught was a Black-faced Monarch Flycatcher, an adult as identified by

    its fully black face markings.

Papuan Frogmouth

While at Iron Range I kept an eye out for frogmouths, a very careful eye. There are two species in the rainforest there, Papuan and Marbled. This Papuan Frogmouth was sitting on a nest on a lateral branch about 15m up - it was the lowest branch in a tall tree. He merged so well with the bark of the branch and mixed in with the epiphytes, he was very difficult to spot.

Then as I watched him, I quickly noticed a pair of Figbirds coming in to feed their young in a nest less than a metre from the frogmouth. And not only that but there were a pair of Noisy Friarbirds building a nest about a metre above him (to the right). See below. Both pairs of passerines were very active and busy all the time I was there. Had they deliberately selected to nest close to the frogmouth, for protection? Frogmouths will pull themselves up into a dramatic threat display posture if a predator approaches. They hold their mouths wide open, 180 degrees almost, and spread out their wing and head feathers as they rear up. They more than double their apparent size and hiss loudly. Enough to see off a predator smaller than themselves? The main predator in the area would likley be the Canopy Goanna.

This bird was sitting over a single chick of about two weeks age. It would leave the nest in another two weeks. Enough to cover the Figbirds nestling period, but not that of the Friarbirds.

Atlas Moth

I found this Atlas Moth fluttering low over the road through the rainforest at Iron Range while driving along after watching frogmouths at night. Its wingspan was almost 30cm. 

The four panels in its wings shone in the light, but were translucent 'windows' as can be seen above where the dark of night can be seen through one and the hand of the person holding it can be seen through another.

Its feathered antennae indicate that it was male, and they are about an inch long. Its large eyes sparkle in the camera flash. And those legs are large and strong, the whole animal was strong and vigorous. It might have been injured by a passing car, but it seemed to be able to fly alright.

Frogmouths

During an overnight stop at Musgrave on the main road through Cape York I watched a pair of Tawny Frogmouths hunting. They were typical in their behaviour, by looking for prey from a perch on a low branch then swooping down to catch insects on the ground. However, they were much smaller than the birds in south-east Australia where I study them, about half the body size. The female, below, identifiable by the rufous colour on her wings, was especially small.

In the nearby Lakefield national park, I found this Papuan Frogmouth. He was roosting in a shady, thickly-leaved tree, and I was surprised when he flew away as I approached. Frogmouths usually sit very still and rely on their camouflage to conceal them from potential predators. He was immediately identifiable by his massive head and bill, and thick eyebrows. A very impressive bird.