The Leonardo and succulents

Today I did lots of walking.

Hittills

Hittills har vi kollat på nästan 400 fåglar och fått löss eller annat från ca. 40 av dem, inklusive lite från strutsar vi var och kollade på på Broby Strutsfarm mellan Lidköping och Götene. Hittills har vi hittat tre nya arter för Sverige:

Struthiolipeurus struthionis (Gervais) från struts
Philopterus sittae Fedorenko från nötväcka
Philopterus turdi Denny från koltrast

Efter första veckan i Göteborg var vi som sagt på Grosshamns fågelstation utanför Hunnebostrand, och sedan dess har vi mestadels varit baserade i Jönköping. Vi har fångat lite på egen hand vid Dumme Mosse och Strömsbergsskogen, och varit på besök vid Landsjön en morgon. Två eftermiddagar och en morgon har vi tillbringat vid Ralångens fågelstation utanför Aneby, först för att kolla holkar (ca. 100 stycken) och sedan för att vara med vid ringmärkningen en morgon. Vi ska tillbaka på torsdag och kolla igenom en del holkar igen där vi hittade ägg sist, men inga ruvande fåglar. Holkarna gav bara löss när vi kollade på starar, men man vet ju aldrig.

Vi har försökt få tillstånd att fånga strömstare vid Grevedämmet och Jonsereds fabriker, men det har visat sig vara svårt. Den vi ska tala med i Mölndals kommun är aldrig inne (och vi såg inga strömstarar när vi var där), och Partille kommun var oerhört hjälpsamma, men det gick vidare till Länsstyrelsen, eftersom området är ett Natura2000-område. De var också positiva när jag pratade med dem på telefon, men hänvisade i mail till Naturvårdsverket… en oerhörd massa jobb för att fånga två fåglar, och när vi var och rekade igen i veckan var de inte ens där, så det blir nog inte av…

Vi har också hunnit med att äta sik i Hjo, Megaloppis i Majorna, åka och simma med min systerson, laga tyska pannkakor, och en massa annat. Jag har fångat två kopparödlor! Bland det roligaste hittills var allt dumpstrande vi gjorde i Majorna och Haga efter megaloppis. Fyllde bilen och skjutsade hem Kim, sedan åkte vi och plockade upp Hanne och hennes grejer och körde hem henne. Nya byxor, ny snyggkjol, lite keramik, och en påse plastdjur till min systerson.

Vi går upp kring två på morgonen nästan varje dag (fast inte idag…) och har nät uppe tills 10-12 nån gång, beroende på fångst och temperatur. Lövsångare är fortfarande högst på listan av fångade arter, men vi är sammanlagt uppe i 48 avlusade arter under resan (inklusive tamhöna, tamand, struts, slaguppgla, tornuggla, och hornuggla på Skånes Djurpark/Broby strutsfarm/Skymans brors kompisars gård). Tror att det är fler än på någon annan Sverigeresa jag företagit.

Nu väntar förhoppningsvis ett par dagars holktittande i Slottskogen, sedan Aneby igen, och sedan drar vi norrut ett tag.

Första veckan

Fullt upp, men inte så mycket fågel förrän idag.

19 dagar kvar

19 dagar kvar, och jag har varit ute och skådat hela dagen.

In the interest of fairness…

1. As I posted a lot of pictures of Heidi collecting lice from the Mute Swan Cygnus olor the other day, it was decided that, in the interest of fairness, I should also post some pictures of me collecting lice, so it doesn’t look as if only Heidi is working here. This time, it is a Mallard Anas platyrhynchos we’re searching for lice.

Lice and birds

34 birds searched today, with 9 having lice!

Greater Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula – Quadraceps spp.
Dunlin Calidris alpina – Lunaceps schismatus and prob. Austromenopon sp.
2 Starlings Sturnus vulgaris – Sturnidoecus sturni and Brueelia nebulosa
3 Tree Sparrows Passer montanus – either Philopterus or Sturnidoecus (= Rostrinirmus)
2 House Sparrows Passer domesticus – same as Tree Sparrow.

Two more days at Ottenby

It has been getting worse and worse, and today there were rain storms for most of the morning. I managed to stay indoors until after the banding was done, and then someone reported a Pacific/American Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva/dominica a few hundred metres from the station, and we all got into the cars and drove up there in the rain. We found a flock of Eurasian Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria with a single Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola, and then found out that the bird watcher who had originally reported the bird had withdrawn his observation; it was the Grey he had seen, but in the rain he had mistaken it. We all got wet and cold for no good reason.

Yesterday we caught nine birds (!) none of which had lice. A Garganey Anas querquedula was caught in the duck trap in the afternoon, and this did have some Anatoecus.

Today, I searched another ten birds (nine of which were White Wagtail Motacilla alba), and none of them had lice either. We did catch two Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus in the afternoon, neither of which had lice, and the people who checked the duck trap found a dead Mallard Anas platyrhynchos from which I got a single louse, possibly a Holomenopon.

This afternoon, the weather suddenly changed, though. When I went to bed at two, it was still raining and with strong winds from the south-west, and when I got up at four, it was sunny and with mild winds from the north. The migration has been wonderful today, so hopefully things will change tomorrow, and we’ll get lots of birds. Some people will go out catching birds tonight, so I’ll stay up late and see what they get.

On the tenth day, lice were gone

A total of 48 birds searched today, and NO LICE, if it hadn’t been for a Teal Anas crecca that was caught in the duck trap… It had several Anaticola and Anatoecus, as well as some Trinoton that I was too slow to catch.

Ottenby Addendum #1

Yesterday afternoon, I got some lice from a Gadwall Anas strepera, and this afternoon, just as I had gone to take a nap, they caught a Pintail Anas acuta and another Cuckoo Cuculus canorus. I’ve so far got lice from the two ducks, and the Cuckoo is being fumigated as I write this. The lice from the ducks are the following:

– Anaticola crassicornis (most likely species) from both host species.
– Anatoecus sp. from the Gadwall.

We also saw some Holomenopon on the Gadwall yesterday, but as usual they were too fast to be collected. When Heidi comes down here, we’ll try to gather some Trinoton from Mallards Anas platyrhynchus and see if we cannot replicate an old manuscript that states that they can walk on water, and uses ripples in the water to navigate to new hosts (Stone, unpublished [1967])!

—
References cited:
Stone, W.B. (1967). The ecology of parasitism in captive waterfowl. Unpublished manuscript, available from Phthiraptera.info (Retrieved 2011-11-25).

Bird list update

Lots of new stuff. Yesterday, on my way to the first Biology Class with the Free Skool, I passed through Liberty Park, and got my first: Larus argentatus smithsonianus, the North American subspecies of Herring Gull (gråtrut).

Today, Andrew and I went to Antelope Island and Farminton Bay, but the fog was so thick that we could hardly see anything. There was some open water along the causeway that leads to Antelope Island, and we had some luck there with all three species of Bucephala in the world! A female Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula, which is the same species as back home (knipa), but a different subspecies (B. c. americana), one pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye Bucephala islandica (islandsknipa), and several Buffelheads Bucephala albeola (buffelhuvud). There was also a Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis (amerikansk kopparand), lots of Chukars Alectoris chukar (berghöna), and some Canvasbacks Aythya valisineria.

We continued to Farmington Bay quite early, as we couldn’t see farther than about 100 m at Antelope Island. Farmington gave more Herring Gulls, as well as both Western Gull Larus occidentalis, Thayer’s Gull Larus thayeri, California Gull Larus californicus, and Ring-Billed Gull Larus delawarensis (ring-näbbad mås). Lots of Bald Eagles Haliaeetos leucocephalus (vithövdad havsörn) on the ice, and over-all a good diversity of birds of prey, including Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus (blå kärrhök), American Kestrel Falco sparverius (sparvfalk), and others. The most diversity was in ducks, however, with several large flocks containing:
– Mallard Anas platyrhynchos (gräsand)
– Pintail Anas acuta (stjärtand)
– Shoveler Anas clypeata (skedand)
– Green-winged Teal Anas carolinensis (amerikansk kricka)
– American Wigeon Anas americana (amerikansk bläsand)
– Gadwall Anas strepera (snatterand)
– Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera (kanelårta)
– Merganser Mergus merganser (storskrake)
Some Pied-Billed Grebes Podilymbus podiceps (tjocknäbbad dopping) were in those flocks as well, and here and there on the ice stood Great Blue Herons Ardea herodias. One Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia (sångsparv) was foraging around the reeds where we were standing.

On the way out, we also saw a Red Fox Vulpes vulpes hunting in the snow!

We’re probably going back next weekend again when there’s no fog.

Species list update:
Life list:
– Cinnamon Teal Anas cyanoptera
– Barrow’s Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
– Western Gull Larus occidentalis

US list:
– American Herring Gull Larus argentatus smithsonianus
– Merganser Mergus merganser
– Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia

Utah list:
Bald Eagles Haliaeetos leucocephalus

Photos will follow once I’ve uploaded them to the computer.