Fraser's Birding Blog

Rhamphotheca

2009-11-27T07:12:00.007Z

Here is another pencil drawing I did last night from a close-up photograph of a winter Common Gull (Larus canus) in London. It will feature in the, almost completed, Ayrshire Bird Report 2008. Look closely into the roof of the mouth and you will see rows of small spines, used for holding prey which might easily slip away.

A rush of Coots to the bread

2009-11-23T07:21:00.010Z

Using a focal length of 22mm with up to 1" 1/3 exposures I tried to capture the feeding frenzy of a winter Coot flock. For once, some wet and dull weather was ideal for this though it was necessary to wait for the light levels to drop considerably towards the end of the day.

A beakful

2009-11-19T07:21:00.009Z

Some photos from last weekend, including an 'in-yer-face' Mute Swan and a Cormorant, bronze statue-like, in the golden autumn light.

Movement and still life

2009-11-18T18:52:00.009Z

With days of rain still forecast, I made the most of a window of sunshine yesterday with both a dawn start in Regent's Park then a lunchbreak trip to Kensington Gardens, squeezed in to a normal working day. I photographed a statuesque Grey Heron through the illuminated foliage of a willow tree before attempting some slow shutter pans of birds in flight. Later at the Long Water some striking autumn sun was falling on the Cormorants and herons, with a little fill-in flash producing the result below. Here I also attempted some slow shutter pans on the passing Coots.

Full day session with the herons

2009-11-09T07:34:00.000Z

Blue sky most of the day on Saturday and so I spent seven hours getting to know the herons a little bit more...

Warning: this post may contain herons

2009-11-06T13:25:00.012Z

On Wednesday morning I made it into the city before dawn to capture more Grey Heron images. The sky was completely clear first thing and a full moon was looming large. It was nearly 45 minutes after sunrise before the first direct rays reach over the tall buildings, though was still soft enough to iluminate the heron's full array of contrasting plumage tones from white to black. Two hours later and I headed on to work.

Another lunch in the park

2009-11-02T23:19:00.004Z

... and the herons were also relaxing. In a couple of months the excitement of the breeding season will begin again. Anyway, I continued to break the rules and shoot into the sun.

Wet London Centre

2009-11-01T23:09:00.003Z

More rain today. Hoping for some blue sky, frosty days soon. A trip to the London Wetland Centre produced Water Pipit, Jack Snipe and Peregrine though little to photograph. I even dipped the lens into a collection pen to photograph the New Zealand Shoveler, something I usually avoid.

More parklife

2009-10-31T14:59:00.000Z

More Herons

2009-10-30T07:43:00.013Z

Another late lunch break with the herons yesterday... there is only so much you can do in 40 minutes. I also attempted a few wide angle shots of the free-roaming collection birds on the main lake.

Autumn back lighting

2009-10-27T21:22:00.005Z

Last weekend I was up in Ayrshire and it was a complete washout - no sightings to report and no photos to post. A late lunch break in Regent's Park today allowed me to capture these backlit photographs of the Grey Herons. Even later in the afternoon would be better but the sun dips early behind the shade of the tall buildings around the park's Outer Circle.

Waxwing drawing

2009-10-23T08:31:00.005Z

I did another drawing for the forthcoming Ayrshire Bird Report 2008 last night. Its based on a bird photographed in Kilmarnock during last winter's invasion.

Starlings in flight

2009-10-18T21:50:00.007Z

I captured these Starling in flight in Kensington Gardens this afternoon. The cloud cleared only after 1530h and then allowed shutter speeds up to 1/3200. Hopefully on a future blue sky day I can improve on these.

Brown Shrike on Staines Moor

2009-10-17T21:38:00.000Z

The Surrey Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus) - potentially the 8th for Britain - remained all week after being found on 11 October. Today was my first chance of getting there and after a hassle-free trip on the Piccadilly Line via Heathrow Terminal 5 and a short bus journey to Stanwell Moor I joined the procession of birders walking out to Staines Moor. The views were poor though, particularly as my 'scope is still in Scotland, and the shrike kept its distance from the crowd.

Black-crowned Night Heron in Parque el Olivar

2009-10-08T07:50:00.008Z

During my last day in Lima last week I was just about to leave the park when I thought I would give it one final look around…. maybe I had missed Hooded Siskin? This turned out to be a good move as a Night Heron suddenly appeared with an appetite for the ornamental carp! Half an hour later it plung-dived into the pond, caught a fair-sized fish and then flew a short distance as it pondered its next move. All this in full view of dog walkers and joggers in this upmarket area of Lima – a world away from the poverty of the barriadas on the city’s outskirts. Considering the amount of time I’ve put in with Grey Herons in the British Isles, I’ve still haven’t managed to get ‘fish shots’ like these.

American Black Vultures at Yarinacocha

2009-10-07T21:58:00.006Z

Before my three day adventure last week, I grabbed these shots just before the boat was about to leave. The American Black Vultures (Coragyps atratus) at Yarinacocha are very approachable and would allow for some very interesting photographs if you have time. These birds look majestic in the air but on the ground they are not a patch on the Old World vultures. They are fairly clumsy looking and the head and the beak does not look at all fierce like the true raptors. In fact, there is some debate regarding their exact taxonomy with some authorities suggesting they are related to the storks (Ciconiidae) while others place them with the New World Vultures and other raptors (Accipitridae). Perhaps they are distinct from both groups?

Circuito Mágico del Agua

2009-10-04T22:55:00.001Z

A few photographs from my last night in Lima - the light and water show in Parque de la Reserva in Lince district. A tripod would have been very useful but most of these were taken hand-held at 1/2 to 2 second exposures while panning or zooming manually. Oh, and one final Cusqueña!

Lima - days 44-45

2009-10-04T22:44:00.007Z

Final days back in Lima before heading home and with time to kill I decided to get down to Costa Verde via a few of the city park, particularly Parque el Olivar in San Isidro district. The highlights were three Harris’ Hawk and a fishing Night Heron at close range – proving that sometimes the best bird encounters can occur in an urban situation, where bird are habituated to humans, than in a remote Amazonian rainforest. I found West Peruvian Dove, Eared Dove, American Black Vulture, Blue-black Grassquit, Vermilion Flycatcher, Scrub Blackbird, Red-masked Parakeet, Scarlet-fronted Parakeet (both introductions), Amazilia Hummingbird, Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Shiny Cowbird, Bananaquit, Croaking Ground-Dove, Saffron Finch, House Sparrow, Blue-grey Tanager, House Wren, Harris’ Hawk, Tropical Kingbird, Long-tailed Mockingbird, Rufous-collared Sparrow and Black-crowned Night-Heron. The Night Heron proved to be photographic highlight as it fished for carp! More of which will appear in a later blog. After a nice ceviche at AltaMar, the coast was quiet and quite disappointing compared to previous visits in the previous seven years but provided Inca Tern (12+), Band-tailed Gull (Belcher’s Gull), South American Tern, Kelp Gull, Peruvian Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant and American Kestrel. Photos from top-to-bottom are Night Heron, Band-tailed Gull, Saffron Finch, Eared Dove, Scrub Flycatcher, Vermilion Flycatcher, Long-tailed Mockingbird and West Peruvian Dove.

Fishing for Piranha

2009-10-03T23:34:00.006Z

I used to do a bit of fishing with my dad and brother when I was young, but that was before I got hooked on birds. I took some time to catch breakfast with Miguel this morning. He caught some bait fish with a special weighted net which he skilfully threw from the dugout canoe. I caught five Red-bellied Piranhas (Pygocentrus nattereri) and one of a different 'white' species which were soon joining the rest of the catch for soup, rice and a cocona and aji salad.

100 species from a boat in Amazonia (Yarinacocha & Rio Ucayali) - days 41-43

2009-10-02T23:24:00.010Z

Having cleaned up on Heliconius pardalinus on our first day, we decided to do a three day boat trip from Yarinacocha to Caño Chashuya, near Calleria (a Shipibo Indian village) on the east side of the Ucayali river. The boat trip was nine hours each way to our ‘base camp’ called Casa de Anaconda (good for Ithomiine butterflies). This allowed many hours of relaxed birding, though rather manic counting, and 100 species were noted without really pausing. Here are the best counts in ascending order from either the outbound or return river journeys. Large-billed Tern (726+), Western Great Egret (600+), Wattled Jacana (265+), Black Vulture (200+), Greater Yellowlegs (200+), Lesser Yellowlegs (200+), Plumbeous Kite (174), Chestnut-bellied Seedeater (164+), Yellow-billed Tern (132+), Pectoral Sandpiper (100+), Sand Martin (79), Collared Plover (71), Southern Rough-winged Swallow (65), Swallow-winged Puffbird (61), Black-necked Stilt (52), White-winged Parakeet (45), White-winged Swallow (39), Wood Stork (34), Yellow-headed Caracara (31), Amazon Kingfisher (29), Greater Ani (27), Ringed Kingfisher (27), Neotropic Cormorant (24), Lesser Kiskadee (24), Tropical Kingbird (24), Eastern Kingbird (18), Turkey Vulture (14), Spotted Sandpiper (14), Smooth-billed Ani (14), Russet-backed Oropendola (14), Roadside Hawk (13), Pied Plover (12), Oriole Blackbird (12), Ruddy Ground Dove (11), Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (10), Blue-and-white Swallow (10), Silver-beaked Tanager (10), Snowy Egret (9), Black-collared Hawk (9), Barn Swallow (9), Great Black Hawk (7), Tui Parakeet (6), Social Flycatcher (6), White-banded Swallow (6), Yellow-rumped Cacique (6), Red-capped Cardinal (6), Caqueta Seedeater (6), Swallow-tailed Kite (5), Stilt Sandpiper (5), Brown-chested Martin (5), Yellow-hooded Blackbird (5), Blue Ground Dove (4), Chestnut-fronted Macaw (4), Neotropical Palm Swift (4), Great Kiskadee (4), Cocoi Heron (3), Buff-breasted Sandpiper (3), Ruddy Pigeon (3), Jabiru (2), Striated Heron (2), Western Cattle Egret (2), Slate-colored Hawk (2), Black Caracara (2), Solitary Sandpiper (2), Black Skimmer (2), Blue-winged Parrotlet (2), Festive Amazon (2), Mealy Amazon (2), Ladder-tailed Nightjar (2), Green Kingfisher (2), Black-fronted Nunbird (2), Drab Water Tyrant (2), Pied Water Tyrant (2), Short-crested Flycatcher (2), Grey-breasted Martin (2), Yellow-browed Sparrow (2), Blue-black Grassquit (2); and singles of Great Tinamou, Horned Screamer, Rufescent Tiger Heron, Capped Heron, Greater Yellow-headed Vulture, Western Osprey, Bat Falcon, Sunbittern, Sanderling, Grey-fronted Dove, Striped Owl, Sand-colored Nighthawk, Yellow-tufted Woodpecker, Pale-legged Hornero, Vermilion Flycatcher, White-headed Marsh Tyrant, Grey-capped Flycatcher, Boat-billed Flycatcher, Black-capped Donacobius, Giant Cowbird, Shiny Cowbird, Magpie Tanager, and a Pale-winged Trumpeter (probably a pet bird from a Shipibo village).

Caño Tushmo, Yarinacocha - day 40

2009-09-28T23:20:00.002Z

I'm now at the huge oxbow of Yarinacocha near Pucallpa in the department of Ucayali after a nightmare 22 hour bus journey over the Andes from Lima on the Leon de Huanuco. Below is shot showing the drivers changing a wheel after a blow-out near Tingo Maria. The ancient bus without heating or aircon took us to freezing in the mountains at 4450 metres to sweating along the dusty unsurfaced jungle road to Pucallpa. In Yarinacocha we hired Miguel ‘Pituco’ a skilled boatman who knows the whole area very well. We visited one of our previous sites (Caño Tushmo) from 2004 which again was good for Heliconius pardalinus butterflies, flying with their much more abundant co-mimcis, Tithoria harmonia. The site was quite rich in birdlife and I noted White-flanked Antwren. Barred Antshriek, Amazonian Scrub-Flycatcher, Amazonian Antshrike, Grey Antbird, Warbling Antbird, Moustached Wren, Scarlet-crowned Barbet, Cream-coloured Barbet, Buff-breasted Wren, Greater Ani, Roadside Hawk, Screaming Piha, Pauraque, Silver-beaked Tanager, White-fronted Nunbird, Ringed Kingfisher, Canary-winged Parakeet, Amazon Kingfisher, Yellow-headed Caracara, Russet-backed Oropendola, Grey-fronted Dove, Lesser Kiskadee, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Black-fronted Nunbird and Blue-grey Tanager.

Peru - days 31-37

2009-09-26T06:17:00.019Z

In the last week or so I’ve been back up in the Alto Mayo and out to Yurimaguas again for the last time. Around Nueva Cajamarca, our base for the upland Heliconius, the endemic Black-bellied (Huallaga) Tanager, Plain-breasted Ground-Dove and Rufous-fronted Thornbird were noted en route. The rice fields between Moyobamba and Aguas Claras held hundreds of Snowy, Cattle and Great Egrets and a few Striated Herons. Up around 1300m at El Afluente I finally obtained nice views of Ecuadorian Piedtail and Violet-headed hummingbird. Other notable species included Long-tailed Woodcreeper, Equatorial Greytail, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Smoke-coloured Pewee and Red-ruffed Fruitcrow. Between 1700 and 1800m on the LSU trail to Cerro Patricia the beautiful stunted forest produced Bar-winged Wood-Wren, Striped Treehunter, Deep-blue Flowerpiercer, White-backed Fire-eye, Napo Sabrewing and Emerald Toucanet.

Back in Tarapoto for a day, I made use of some pre-breakfast time to explore the Urahuasha trail once more, adding Spotted Tody-Flycatcher and Speckled Chachalaca to list to a two hour list of 50 species.

On to Yurimaguas via the tunnel at Km-18 produced a trio of stunning hummers: White-tipped Sicklebill, Black-eared Fairy and Koepcke’s Hermit. A Golden-collared Toucanet was calling from a roadside tree, its colours all revealed against a deep blue sky. Between Yurimaguas and Munichis, Oriole Blackbird, Red-crested Blackbird, Snail Kite, Dusky-headed Parakeet and Purple Gallinule were seen along roadside pools. Our final morning the Yurimaguas area was cool and cloudy with little butterfly activity and, with an hour or two to kill on the Micaela Bastida road while conditions improved, I located around 60 species along 1km of roadside passing forest fragments, second growth, chacras and marshy fields. Best of the lot were Scarlet-crowned Barbet, Blue-headed Parrot, Short-billed Honeycreeper, Spangled Cotinga, Grey-capped Flycatcher, Crowned Slaty-Flycatcher, Yellow-headed Caracara and Uniform Crake.

I’m now leaving the Tarapoto area and moving on to Pucallpa via Lima. Our new study site, mainly for Heliconius pardalinus butleri , will be around Yarinacocha, the big oxbow lake beside the Rio Ucayali.

Antiphonal duetting in the Coraya Wren

2009-09-25T22:05:00.006Z

Listening to bird song in temperate regions it soon becomes clear that it is produced, in most cases, by the male of a species. In tropical reigons, females often sing and in some species the pair will even duet. I made some sound recordings of Coraya Wrens (Thryothorus coraya) near Tarapoto (06°28'39.8'' S 76°21'05.9'' W) soon after dawn the other morning. This species engages in antiphonal duetting where both sexes contribute alternative phrases in quick, coordinated succession to produce a ‘final’ song. To our ears this can sound like it is being produced from just a single individual. According to the new Birds of Peru field guide by Schulenberg et al, the Moustached Wren (T. genibarbis) has a near identical song but its distribution is generally allopatric with Coraya Wren and occurs south of the Amazon river and (mainly) east of the Ucayali river. The Coraya Wrens around Tarapoto are difficult to observe but the facial plumage actually looks more like Moustached! At this site they keep well hidden in dense scrub in long-cleared secondary growth. The birds in the sonogram below were not visible during the sound recording but I believe the male bird is producing the rapid phrase of four deeper hoots then two higher pitched whistles, quickly followed by the female’s higher pitched ‘wolf whistle’ phrase. If you look closely just after 5 seconds, you’ll see the female overlaps the end of the male’s phrase.

Rainforest Visions

2009-09-25T03:00:00.010Z

...or 0.5 to 1.5 second exposures.

Tarapoto-Urahuasha trail – day 30

2009-09-18T18:26:00.001Z

A good few hours birding before breakfast this morning, I returned to the Tarapoto-Urahuasha trail to search the drier areas on the lower scrubby hillsides. Red-eyed Vireos were common but all appeared to be of either the resident (and not very red-eyed) pectoralis race or the austral migrant chivi race – difficult to tell apart. Barred Antshrike and Great Antshrike showed well in the first patch of scrub and a more thorough searching produced a singing Ashy-headed Greenlet hover-gleaning along the edge, a Mishana Tyrannulet in an area of taller bushes and trees, a stunning male Sapphire-spangled Emerald nectaring low down along the track edge, and a more furtive Dark-billed Cuckoo. A close look through the aerial ensemble of insect hawkers (Fork-tail Palm-Swift, Blue and White Swallow, Short-tailed Swift, White-banded Swallow) revealed a single male Chestnut-collared Swift. Also of interest were Short-crested Flycatcher, Little Woodpecker, Turquoise Tanager, Little Cuckoo, Long-billed Gnatwren, and a flock of around 25 (including immatures) of the introduced Saffron Finch (native to the northwest region in Peru) – its population seems to be burgeoning since I first noticed it in Tarapoto in 2004.