Ptarmigan

The first ptarmigan chicks have hatched at the Cairnwell, my main study site. I photographed this hen as she ran around me trying to lure me away from her chicks.

Another hen was off her nest feeding and being escorted by her mate. And another cock bird up on Glas Maol was standing on watch over his hen while she sat on her nest. There was a dunlin nesting close by and I photographed both together, which is unusual.

Greenshanks

Last weekend I went to Sutherland and met up with several other wader enthusiasts to catch and colour-ring greenshanks. This was a pilot study to test how readily we could catch adult and young birds. This proved to be successful and we marked eighteen birds with individual combinations of colour rings and metal BTO rings. One bird we caught was a control of a bird originally ringed at Montrose last autumn. More details should be posted on the Grampian Ringing Group blog site at http://grampianringing.blogspot.com/.

An adult greenshank with colour rings.


A brood of three greenshank chicks with colour rings.


The greenshank which was ringed at Montrose last autumn and breeding in Sutherland in 2010.

Hills

For the first week of my trip I went across to the west and climbed several hills, part for fun and part of study where ptarmigan live, which habitats, over what bedrock etc. I based myself at the KingsHouse in Glen Coe from where the morning view was of the Buachaille Etive Mor, perhaps the finest-shaped hill in Scotland.

I had some great days out on these hills, in sun, and cloud, but no rain or midges. The view below is of the fine ridge climbing up to the summit of Sgorr Dhearg on Beinn a' Bheithir.

Another hill I went up was Beinn Sgulaird in Appin, above Loch Creran, where I found a female ptarmigan sitting on her nest and nine eggs - a large clutch for the western Highlands and an indication of good quality food on the base-rich bedrock in the area.

Long-eared owl chicks

I am in Scotland for a few weeks and one of the first things I did on arrival was go out in the evening with my brother to ring some long-eared owl chicks. These birds nest in old crow nests, set in dense conifers - sitka spruce in this case. Nice and dark under the canopy for the owls to hide in during the day. The chicks have big orange eyes and the beginnings of their ear tufts. At this age they are highly mobile and can easily clamber around the nest tree branches.

Bright Eyes

Last weekend I was mist-netting birds at Mongo National Park with Anthony Overs. Two of the species we caught struck me as having wonderfully coloured irises. The Eastern Spinebill has a fire-engine red eye and the Lewin's Honeyeater a soft-tone blue eye. These are both forest-living, small passerine species. Their eyes are so tiny, yet these birds must have fine perception to pick out such tiny detail. As birds see a different spectrum from us, what do they see when they look into each others' eye?


Eastern Spinebill

Lewin's Honeyeater

Go to Anthony's blog for more details of banding: http://birdbander.blogspot.com/