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Stuart Rae: November 2014

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Monday, 24 November 2014. The youngest fledgling was on the same branch as its parents. The chick was snuggling into its father's shade to escape the beating sunshine. All of the family were gaping wide to cool down - this is mum. The two older fledglings were sitting in a nearby tree - growing feathers are heavy as the quills are full of blood, so this bird is relieving the strain of their weight by drooping a wing. She was cautious enough in the daylight to only peek out of the box. The adults fed the ...

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Stuart Rae: September 2014

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Sunday, 21 September 2014. Double-pink sitting quietly in her roost. Double-pink, a female Tawny Frogmouth that has been breeding within my frogmouth study area in Canberra now for three years. She was released by the RSPCA after a road accident and subsequent treatment, and it was they who put the two pink colour-rings/bands on her legs. These are obviously not having any effect on her as she and her partner reared two chicks two years ago, then another last year. Her partner sits on the nest all day.

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Stuart Rae

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Friday, 17 July 2015. A Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos eyrie set in a large Scots Pine. The adults began nesting in March, laid their eggs at the end of that month, incubated them for six weeks, and now will have to still provide food for the fledglings for a few months. So most of an adult golden eagle's year is filled by rearing young. This eyrie was built in a multiple fork in the tree, a massive tree with a wide trunk and a magnificent spreading crown. A true forest giant. View my complete profile.

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Stuart Rae

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015. Ptarmigan on the rocks. I was up in the Cairngorms surveying ptarmigan last week, Rock Ptarmigan Lagopus muta,. And they are well named for they are seldom seen far from rocks in the Scottish hills. Their breeding season was about two-three weeks later than usual this year due to prolonged and extensive snow-lie. Many of the birds did not have any chicks, perhaps after failing to lay eggs or losing eggs or young? I left them to it and watched a snow bunting for a while, singing fro...

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Stuart Rae

http://stuartrae.blogspot.com/2015/08/snuggled-up-its-late-winter-in-canberra.html

Thursday, 6 August 2015. A pair of Tawny Frogmouths Podargus strigoides. Roost by day in a gum tree. The smaller female sits closer to the trunk as is usually the case - for protection by her mate? A pair of frogmouths sit high on a sunny branch. Yet, they don't stay completely motionless all day. This pair mostly roost farther along the branch towards the trunk, but as the sun has crossed the sky, they have shuffled along the branch to stay in the sunshine. Today was cold. View my complete profile.

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Stuart Rae: January 2015

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Tuesday, 27 January 2015. An adult female Tawny Frogmouth perched beside her two chicks. The adult delivers a grasshopper to one of the chicks. The two fledglings snuggled up together, head to tail. Thursday, 22 January 2015. A family of Tawny Frogmouths sitting quietly in a tree. As they are nocturnal, they roost by day, relying on their cryptic plumage and minimal movement for concealment from potential predators such as Brown Goshawks. The last broods of Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides. This chick...

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Stuart Rae: April 2015

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Sunday, 26 April 2015. Tawny Frogmouths in their winter roosts. A Tawny Frogmouth roost-tree in open woodland. A Tawny Frogmouth sits quietly in her roost. This bird is several years old - I know her by the pattern of her bib,. And she knows me because she has seen me so often over the years. Friday, 17 April 2015. A true Tawny Frogmouth. A truly red/rufous coloured Tawny Frogmouth found in Canberra - a victim of road kill. Then an hour later, as I approached the bird from the other direction, I saw stra...

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Stuart Rae: August 2014

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Saturday, 30 August 2014. A male Shingleback follows a female - slowly. Yesterday I came across this pair of Shinglebacks Tiliqua rugosa. The female was longer, and had a fatter tail - probably important for her to be in good breeding condition. The male was following in her tracks, tracing her scent trail. The scales or scutes of a reptile's skin are perfectly arranged with exquisite detail around the mouth, nose and eyes. Monday, 25 August 2014. Footprints in the snow. It is now Spring down on the plai...

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Stuart Rae: July 2014

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Wednesday, 30 July 2014. Following on from the previous post on birds in Norway, here is a brief update of the work done this year as part of a long-term study of Broad-billed Sandpipers Limicola falcinellus. The species has two recognised races divided by their breeding ranges; the western nominate race breeds in Scandinavia and nearby Russia, and the eastern sibirica. There are many unknown details of this elusive wader. Broad-billed Sandpiper breeding habitat in northern Norway. Which have up to two y...