Fågelmatningsresultat

Fågelmatningssäsongen har väl i stort sett tagit slut, och slutresultatet blev följande:

 

19 arter:

• Scrub Jay Aphelocoma californica
• California Quail Callipepla californica
• Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
• Downy Woodpecker Dendrocopos pubescens
• House Finch Haemorhous mexicanus
• Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis (two subspecies)
• House Sparrow Passer domesticus
• Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonica
• Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus
• Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapilla
• Mountain Chickadee Poecile gambeli
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
• Yellow-rumped Warbler Setophaga petechia
• Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis
• Lesser Goldfinch Spinus psaltria
• Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto
• European Starling Sturnus vulgaris
• American Robin Turdus migratorius
• Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura

17 dagar kvar

17 dagar kvar, och det börjar komma in bekräftelser på ställen vi ska till.

Hassle of the last week

The last week of this field trip was spent in and around Gothenburg and Jönköping, with lots of things happening, and lots of things going wrong.

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.

Urban was here

58 birds searched today, including two new species for this trip:
Skylark Alauda arvensis
Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus
Neither of which gave any lice, and both of which were dead, the former killed by a Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus and the latter by the lighthouse.

I did get lice from a number of hosts today, though:
Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus
Greater Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major
Tree Sparrow Passer montanus

The last species is a target species for this trip, and all lice I got today (from three different birds!) were hopefully of the target species (Rostrinirmus ruficeps)!

Also, today, my former supervisor Urban Olsson and his new post-doc Lo Xuo were here to visit. Lo will hopefully learn how to collect lice, and do so while I am in the US, and then bring the techniques back to China and hopefully continue collecting, either on his own or in cooperation with us (maybe I’ll get to go to China in the far future?)

Today the trend was reversed

51 birds were searched today, as everything started migrating at the same time once the sun came back! Lots of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers Dendrocopos major in the garden, at least 250 Sparrowhawks Accipiter nisus, and lots of smaller birds everywhere. One Cuckoo Cuculus canorus and two Red-breasted Flycatchers Ficedula parva were among the most interesting birds searched, but only one of the woodpeckers and a Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio had lice, and only one each. I did collect mites from several hosts, though.

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.

Lots of lice!

I was woken up twice last night, first because Tomas wanted me to show him how I delouse some shorebird that had just been caught (they catch terns at night here, but I go to sleep instead so I can be present throughout the day when they catch more passerines), and then when someone caught a Tawny owl Strix aluco.

City Creek Canyon

Skådade i City Creek Canyon idag, vilket ligger ungefär en timmes gångväg bort, mest i uppförsbacke.

Went birdwatching in City Creek Canyon this morning. It’s about an hour’s walking distance, mainly uphill.

City Creek Canyon (södra delen), med Capitolium till höger och Mormonernas näste till vänster / City Creek Canyon (southern part), with the Capitolium to the right and the Mormon nest to the left.

Åska med mera / Thunder et cetera

Åska och ösregn två nätter i rad nu, och vilka magnifika åskoväder det blir när man bor i en dal med höga berg runtomkring och ekon överallt!

Thunder and heavy rain two nights in a row, and what a magnificent thunder you getwhen you live in a valley with high mountains all around and echoes everywhere!