All done on cheap gear!

A quiet week in Brittany marked by a visit to a chocolate factory, Bowmore at less than £20.00 a bottle, oh, and I caught a fish!  For the technically minded it was on pellet with a size 4 hook and lead core ledger, 30lbs monofilament line, a very cheap rod and cheaper reel, (£15 new, and it was far from new).  The rod was a 2.5 lbs test bend Carp rod.   Landing took half an hour, when these things want to run, you let them run.

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I have at last found a wing feather about the same size as the Tawny owl feather, I believe it is from a heron. The purpose was to demonstrate in the wing feathers, the difference from a nocturnal owl whose flight is silent and a normal diurnal bird. I hope you can see the softer upper surface of the tawny which seems to have extra coverings over the barbules, which you cannot see, where on the heron you can see the barbules locked together in the herring bone type pattern. The long “ridges” you can see are the barbs. Try this web site for a clear sketch of a feather.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/feathers/feathers

22/8/10, yesterday 21st there was strong south wind, so I half expected the Ospreys would be gone, but the male was perched by the eyrie and a juvenile was on the eyrie, food begging. On the estuary I caught up with the female and another juvenile, so one juv missing, it could be heading south. I spotted a wing tagged male marsh harrier but could not determine the colour or whether it had two wing tags, suspect it is one of this years juvs as the male adult has no tags, and it’s plumage was brand new, not a feather out of place.

There were circa 60 Canada geese honking around the estuary, all to soon there will be grey geese from the Arctic  and the swallows will be gone following the swifts who have been gone a week at least.

29/8/10 One juvenile on eyrie feeding, with two crows in attendance sheltering behind the eyrie as the wind was very strong. One crow did snatch a piece of sushi for it’s patience. I am guessing the other juveniles have left perhaps also with a parent. I further guess that the fish the juv was feeding on was parent caught and delivered to the eyrie. The wind was blowing so strongly that I suspect the parent was sheltered up somewhere nearby. the wind is from the NWst so would be a benefit to any bird going south, still plenty of swallows around.

I delayed this post to see if the Ospreys would have migrated by the following week, they have, now on the 5/9/10 as expected for Ospreys they’re off south. No sign of harriers either, thought I heard wild geese flying over the house this morning, but I was half awake. Plenty of swallows and martins around but they are feeding and moving south. In this area geese and swallows overlap by at least a week.

some more selected M 74 pics

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As some of you know I take my annual holidays in Lochaline, I usually have to explain where that is, the Morven peninsula, it is on the mainland where you get the shortest car ferry to Mull. There is also a passenger ferry from Drimnin that runs twice a week and is skippered by the lifeboat Coxswain, so you are in good hands.  visit  http://www.west-scotland-tourism.com/ardnamurchan-charters/Drimnin-Ferry.html see  picture of three known to me ladies, looking like they are going shopping by boat.  Well they were and we found Tobermory looking less than prosperous, no butcher, the business in the old church, closed, and two Chinese takeaways. Not easy to get lunch either, only a few from the many of last year. We did have a good pub lunch. Couldn’t visit cafe fish due to the dietary requirements of some of the party. But if you are in Tobermory, visit cafe fish at the end of the promenade.

Started feeding the birds on arrival, and soon had a multitude of chaffinches, some greenfinches, usual tits, but newcomers were siskins and collared doves, see pics.

A usual walk is by Keil church, this has a prominent outlook over the sound of Mull and was once the burial place of choice of the good and almighty, there is a small  museum next to the church which holds gravestones from  the 14th and 15th centuries and is well worth a visit if you want to sense your place in history.

If you have ever been on a holiday where the food, the drink and the ambience was so good? then the indoor pictures may give you a glimpse of why everyone falls asleep during the ending of Avatar !!

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On the 24/7/2010 I found a Tawny Owl feather and gave it to my wife to use in bee keeping as a soft brush to remove bees from the frames. She said it was a buzzard feather and I said it was a Tawny owl, she agreed. But it got me thinking that I should be able to prove that it was an owl feather, particularly a nocturnal owl as they strike with silence given to them from “soft” wing feathers. So I set out to photograph a pheasants tail feather against this wing feather of a suspected owl.

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Although I am comparing a tail feather with a primary wing feather I hope you can see the much softer surface of the tawny’s feather. They sacrifice flying efficiency by increasing the drag on their wings but the pay off is a silent approach, no hard wing edges and the wing surface is “hairier”  therefore reducing the air speed over the wing making a wing flap or glide quieter.

I hope my pictures demonstrate this. I need to pick up a wing feather from a diurnal species to make this comparison proper.

24/7/2010

As I expected the eyrie is now empty and an Osprey was perched on the top of the highest tree nearby. Ospreys are really nosey, when you watch them doing nothing they are always alert, and like to perch high to get the best view. I could not sex the bird on the tree, due to having its back to me and its head out of sight. Later I did pick up the female on a post with a fish, I suspect a pike as I could just make out a rounded tail fin, she sat for a while not feeding then took off and disappeared. I then picked up a juvenile on another post, see photo and note the mottled appearance of the plumage. On this day I confirmed three juvs and the adult female, but where was the male?

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Also pictured is a wood pigeon which I thought was nicely framed and the Ospreys on perches on the river, there is one picture with the crows picking at a fish, probably the one the female had earlier. Later I saw a juvenile recover the fish and have a desultory pick at it. I also saw a juvenile marsh harrier so the usual pair have raised at least one chick. The juvenile bird I saw had no wing tags, perhaps that exercise has stopped, it was hunting at the reed bed edge and did stoop and did not reappear, I did have a good view of it’s wings as wing tags are not always that  easy to spot.

Well I was out observing on the 11/7/10 but the gale force winds restricted the young Ospreys. So on the 13/7/10  I was on station at 5.55 am and as I thought the young Ospreys could fly, well two could the third remained nest bound. The female was on lookout, the male was off fishing? and one off the juvs took off, flew around, and just disappeared for the remaining 40 mins I was there. I suspect he/she was nearby and waiting for the fish delivery. It is frustrating getting these visual jigsaw pieces, it has taken me years to get a basic understanding of Osprey behaviour from weekend observing, and Roy Dennis’s book helps, see below, I blogged Loch of the Lowes for a full years diary notes that i would pay for, not available, SWT need a commercial leader. Your detailed 24 hour observations are worth money, my money anyway. My jigsaw is incomplete.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Ospreys-Roy-Dennis/dp/1904445268/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279047026&sr=1-1

to sum up a season “my” ospreys are exemplary, most lay three eggs and raise two chicks, mine laid ? eggs but three well fed chicks are a testimony to a very successful pair.

Hope the marsh harriers do as well.

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Derek what are these insects, and don’t say ladybird and shield bug , I’ve got that far already. I have posted both on Ispot so lets see how good your reference books are !! have you been to Ispot ?