Blogger On Strike ?

Ok, so I haven't been keeping the blog up to date. Well, it seems I am not the only one ok ? !

The principle reason is that I am really, really busy just now - I am out doing loads of fieldwork and quite a bit of ringing and it is taking a lot of time to 'process' sound recordings and log field notes (which is always best to do right after a site visit). I sleep the rest of the time that I am not working eg. earning a living. These sort of things really make me wish I was a 'desk ornithologist' after all..................well then again, maybe not !

As far as crossbills go I am afraid it is that time of the year that if I tell you anything I will have to kill you, or get that little Geordie fella Daniel Craig to do it for me. However, lots of good stuff recently including definitive evidence of crossbill monogomy, Scottish excitement calls recorded twice in one day (!) and some more potentially worrying evidence of uncoupling in association between Ec's and Fc's. Crossbills, don't you just love 'em ?

Another good bit of dogged and determined stubborn fieldwork on Sunday produced a song from a male that I recorded singing pretty much a year ago to the day over his nest. I haven't compared the sonograms yet but it will be interesting when I do ( he is colour ringed BTW). This is exactly the stuff I have been after - just need more of it now.

I also had crippling views of a Capercaillie ( female unfortnately) last Monday, only 30 yards away gritting on a forest trail at a very popular pinewood in a section very popular with walkers ! She just ignored me initially then got a bit nervous of a six foot potential predator holding a parabola and flew of. Stonking bird, and the closest I have been to one - normally I just see them crashing out of trees heading the other way or across my path. When I say 'normally', seeing Capers is not a normal occurence even for someone like me spending a lot of time in the pinewoods. Shame, really.

Nearly got to the bottom of the "WTF are these masts doing to my Telinga ?" thing but that is going in as a proper article on my new website which will be launched soon. Klas is working on a possible solution (a new Telinga handle !) now that we know what the problem is, and it is a problem......if in doubt, as always, blame the government and the police - all will become clear ( it really is their fault) ! The Telinga is IMHO still the best portable, quality and affordable system around.

More to come.

Hasta la vista...........or should that be "Do we get to win this time" in respect of action heros that are currently in vogue ? (yeah, yeah, I promise to keep taking my tablets)

"Pieces of Eight" or ,"I say Species you say Faeces"

Wow ! As regular readers will know I am well versed in the martial art of defending the Scotbill cause on Bird Forum. However, things have taken an interesting twist in THIS thread where I am actually defending Parrot Crossbill as a species ! Really. Apparently all crossbills are 'one species' cos someone in a lab coat once shook a couple of test tubes about and someone else then came to this conclusion ! I have my own thoughts on this DNA research which I am not going in to here.

The sad thing is a couple of individuals have posted some well constructed thought provoking material, whilst another particular individual is being deliberately antagonistic and just spouting out a complete pile of crap. Great things blogs - I can write that eg. what I like, without a moderator shouting "naughty, naughty" ! However, being the 'vet' that I am with several 'tours of duty' under my belt I know not to rise and take 'the bait'.

I will continue to combat the whimsical ramblings and psycho babble of spectacled desk based 'ornithologists' with 'facts' and 'evidence' gained from 'experience' in the field.........or maybe I should just go and study Dippers ( or read a book on Crossbills) ?

Dutch Parrot Fest

Anyone reading either Birding World or Birdwatch over the last couple of months may be aware of the recent influx of Parrot Crossbills into Holland and Germany in late Autumn 2007. This has produced quite a lot of interest in the form of photographs and sound recordings - the Dutch really are much more switched on than us Brits in this respect. Shame there has not been too much about the German Parrots (?).

Rather than the usual banal 'You Tubings' of random music trivia here is a small collection of video's of the Dutch Parrots.







Some great pics out there on the web too but I don't want to upset the photographers by posting them on here. With all those thirsty crossbills I hope someone is catching and ringing them ? ! Notable also that many of the birds are in their first winter.

It's Official: Scottish Crossbill Is Doomed !

More Scottish Crossbill nonsense courtesy of bad PR can be viewed on THIS Birdforum thread.

And, just to see how hard it can be to find Scottish Crossbills these days see THIS Blog entry - a two man quest to find Scotbill in July 2007. The Scotbills were apparently so elusive that what they actually saw were in my opinion 'Parrot' Crossbills ! ( Sorry Rainer but reckon you might have to 'untick' that one ! ). To go to all that bother it might have been an idea to get a sound recording or two ? Scottish is much more confusable with Common - the birds in those photo's look bugger all like Common Crossbills.

For those who want to see a real Scottish Crossbill, here is one I prepared earlier, photographed near to its nest in March 2006 and emitting excitement call C:




And another, a 1cy from Winter 2005:


Notice the slight 'bulge' in the lower mandible - not just Parrots that have them ( or sometimes not as the case may be).

Glen Esk, Tuesday 8th January

Spent a morning ringing in upper Glen Esk with on of the TRG guys ( cheers Dave !). The catch comprised mainly of Chaffinches though we also caught the usual titmice and a couple of Goldfinches and one Siskin. Total of 70 birds which insn't bad for a morning.

Juv chaffinches can be tricky (for a trainee) to age if they have replaced all of their greater coverts with adult feathers so it was really good practice for me ( and I got them all right !) - only three juv birds had at least one old greater covert. Key points to look for were 'dodgy' tertials, though some adult birds (Euring 6) had really 'punk' washed out tertials, and some of the 5's were replacing their tertials with adult feathers. Tails are also good for Chaffinches (as per Svensson) but funny things happen with tails also - a young bird may have replaced all, or some of its tail with adult feathers, or simply shat all over its tail in a bird bag making diagnosis (of shape) difficult ! A good tip for any trainees reading this is to look for any contrast between the greater coverts, tertials and primary coverts as your trainer has told you. A Euring 5 ( or bird hatched in 2007) will not normally replace its primary coverts until Summer 2008 so these feathers should be a different generation and will be worn on the tips and more pointy ( adult PCs are generally broad). The primaries themselves will look paler and have more wear. However, with Chaffinches watch out as adult male PC's naturally do not appear to be as 'glossy' black as the secondaries or primaries, and with females the difference can be subtle - I find with both it helps to 'close' the wing then look for any contrast, if there is none it is an adult.

I would encourage all serious birders to attend a ringing session. I have learned so much about plumage, moult, ageing ( and sexing). Can you sex a Goldfinch through your bins or scope ? What I have described about the wing feathers above is often possible to see from some photographs. For example, most of the recent photographs of the recent 'Dutch' Parrot Crossbills on the web are of 2cy birds Euring 5 eg. hatched 2007. Can you see why ? If not then consider doing some ringing or at least get a copy of Svennson - I am told all serious birders already have it ! ?

A ringer doing his thing and er.....looking at feathers on this Greenfinch.