Wet and windy weather

As of today, 15th, there has been 104 mm of rain in the Canberra area in November. 48 mm fell in the previous four days with 30 mm on the wettest day, the 11th. And it has been very windy, with gusts of over 40 km/h each day, peaking at 65 km/h on the 14th. So these have been testing times for birds with chicks, like this Tawny Frogmouth who was covering two chicks during the rain. 

This other frogmouth had his chicks tight beneath him. One is right beneath his belly, its tail and wing tips are protruding towards the camera, and its sibling is tucked under his breast feathers, face to the camera. The chicks are at a difficult age to protect from the rain. Their flight feathers are well formed, but their bodies are still mostly downy. If the down becomes wet they can become chilled and die.

This chick's body was lying below another nest, where the adult was still brooding two chicks. It must have been too difficult to cover three large chicks adequately. This chick died when about 18 days old. They fledge at about 28 days.

And at another nest, this chick died while trying to hatch. Perhaps the adults were intent on covering its siblings and so sat tight through the rain and wind, possibly too tight, and the chick could not push the shell open. It had opened the shell, as can be seen by the crack line around the top, but never left the egg. So close. The chicks bill can be seen above the slug - whose presence is an indicator of how wet the weather was.

I found this Brown Goshawk chick lying freshly dead below a nest in the same wood as the last frogmouth nest. It was not yet stiff with rigor mortis, nor found by ants, and it had been very windy earlier in the morning. The chick had a partially filled crop, as can be seen by the bulge in its throat, so the adults had been providing enough food. Wind blow was the most likely cause of death. There was still at least one other chick in the nest and the adult female was in attendance, looking after it.

The goshawk nest was set at the end of a slim high branch and it was bouncing about in the still brisk wind. The female was quick to return and protect any chicks in the nest as soon as I left the area.

I found two hatched goshawk eggshells below a tree where the adults frequently perch. There were lots of droppings below, that indicated this. And the adult female would have taken the eggshells from the nest and dropped them there. In the above shot, the cup-shaped membrane of the bottom half of a shell indicates where the chick had cut its way around the egg, then lifted the lid and popped out.

This lid of a goshawk eggshell shows the chip marks where the chick had pecked with its egg-tooth to prise open the shell. The pattern is similar to that around the frogmouth eggshell.

Young birds are so vulnerable to the weather.

Frogmouth - The most Instagrammable bird 

Here they are, images of what has recently been recognised as the most Instagrammable bird - the Frogmouths. I have been studying them, especially these Tawny Frogmouths, for over fifteen years, I have never used Instagram, but I agree that they have a special aesthetic appeal.

I first saw the news of their status on the BBC News at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56946165  This was an article on a study by K. Thommes and G. Hayn-Leichsenring in the journal i-Perception. They assessed the most Likable bird images using the number of Likes each type of bird scored on Instagram and ranked them by Image Aesthetic Appeal. See the full articles by clicking the clinks. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F20416695211003585

This is an adult female who although wild, would sit on her perch quite happily as I walked about within a few metres of her. They are nocturnal birds, so they rest during the day, sitting quietly on the same perch all day. Not all birds sit so calmly and allow easy photography, but this certainly helps their appeal.

Then of course, there are the super cute fluffy youngsters. They always watch with big wide eyes, front-facing, which is rare in birds and adds an anthropocentric touch. And they have that seemingly down-turned mouth. People will press like to such an image.

Once established as a pair, the adults will often sit on a perch snuggled up close side by side. They fluff up their feathers to keep warm and bask in the sunshine. More anthropocentric association. Of course people press Like to such shots.

There is a catch of course. Most frogmouths do not sit openly posed for photographers, and most photographers are unlikely to see one. For most frogmouths adopt a branch-like pose when they see people approach. They stretch their necks up, draw their feathers in, and stay motionless with eyes closed. Well, they peep through their eyelids, to watch for danger. And isn't their camouflage wonderfully adapted for concealment. How many Likes would this image achieve?

Or who could not admire how such a pair of beautiful birds can bask in the sun in full view of people walking below, yet never be noticed. That is what I appreciate most about them.

For more information on these wonderful birds browse through the other pages that describe their behaviour here on this blog. See the links on the right.

With special thanks to Thommes and Hayn-Leichsenring for bringing one of my favourite birds into the limelight.

Thömmes, K., & Hayn-Leichsenring, G. (2021). What Instagram Can Teach Us About Bird Photography: The Most Photogenic Bird and Color Preferences. i-Perception, 12(2), 20416695211003585.

Southern Highland Wildlife

A week of rain has sent the rivers flowing high in south-east Australia, but the wildlife persists.

Raindrops hang from the lace-work leaves of Narrow-leafed Conesticks Isopogon anethifolius a common shrub on the sandstone cliff edges.

The tight flower heads of the Hairpin Banksia Banksia spinulosa glisten with water.

The unique form of the Mountain Devil Lambertia formosa flowers hold up nectar for the insects and birds.

Mosses, ferns and lichens rich in saturated colours.

A caterpillar of a Common Gum Snout Moth Entometa fervens creeps along a twig, unnoticed by birds. Its feet and the sides of its belly are covered with `hairs' to help conceal the movement. Thanks to Suzi Bond for the ID.

When it realised it had been spotted, it reared up into a threat display, showing its horns, two bright blue bands and upturned tail.

A face on view, but I still cannot make out what or if it is mimicking anything that might frighten away any potential predator.

Down in the gullies, the Superb Lyrebirds were singing. I saw two calling from branches rather than their display platforms on the ground. Neither gave full displays, they seemed to be just marking their territories by their songs.

This bird was quite confiding, as I watched him from a nearby path. He seemed to be quite content to go about his business, stretching out his tail and preening between bursts of song.

They are such magnificent birds, with such magnificent feet.

Waterfalls in the rain

There has been heavy rain in eastern New South Wales in the past week, the Illawarra Escarpment is wet, the air is misty and the colours are rich.

The higher of the double drop Belmore Falls is about 100m. These are in the Morton National Park. 

The mist is good for the plants, from mosses to trees, that cling to the cliffs.

Glimpses are good.

Full views are good too, as here at the Carrington Falls in the Budderoo National Park.

The Carrington Falls continue in cataracts down the tree-lined gorge.

The ground was vibrating with the force of the water.

Mosses and ferns cling to the walls between the main steams.

And there are trees growing on the wall of the falls.

Papuan Frogmouths

A female Papuan Frogmouth Podargus papuensis sits in her daytime roost, watching out, as she was when I first detected her.

Then she smoothly adopted her concealment pose as I approached. By stretching out her neck and flattening against the branch, she looks just like another piece of branch.

In the two previous posts I described some of the birds that we caught when on a mist-netting bird survey in the Kutini-Payamu National Park in Cape York, northern Queensland, Australia. As I study Tawny Frogmouths in the Canberra area, I was always on the look out for frogmouths while on the trip. These are some photographs of the birds that I did see, there were probably many more that I missed, as they are rather tricky to spot.

A male Papuan Frogmouth peeks around a branch where he is sitting on his nest. The male frogmouths attend the nest during the day. The females, like the one above, spend the day roosting nearby, usually in a different tree.

The same male from a different angle, against a clear sky, which makes him a little more easy to spot. He was high in the rainforest canopy, about 20 m up, and these photographs were taken with a long lens. There are a lot of trees and many many branches to scan when looking for these birds. He is also a little more obvious as he is standing over the nest rather than sitting low on it in a concealment pose. It looked like he had very small chicks beneath him.

This is another male on a nest, which John Rawsthorne found while watching a flock of honeyeaters feeding on nectar in the flowers next to the frogmouth.

A pair of Papuan Frogmouths sitting through the day on a shady branch of a paperbark tree.

The same pair from a side-on view. They had chosen one of the lower more open branches in the canopy, but stayed in the shade. Their eyes were closed when I first found them as they were quite relaxed.

However, when I approached, they opened their eyes and seemed to scrutinise me. Was I a threat to them.

Neither bird adopted a concealment pose and they settled down, but the male still watched me through narrowed eyelids.

The female was a bit more cautious, and continued to watch me with wide eyes. Photographers might think that I was using flash to take these shots, because the birds are so well lit, for birds that live in shady trees. But no, I never use flash to photograph birds in daylight. I do not like the unnatural lighting effect. This bird is lit from underneath naturally. They were perched over water and the sunlight was reflected back up onto them.

It wasn't an aggressive stare, more watchful. Her face is not fully lit as it would be with flash. Rather, the reflected light has picked out details and the double highlight in her eye shows the sky and the reflected sun below centre. A very unusual effect, with delightful results.

Delightful birds.