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They migrate north through the Western United States, breeding in pockets all the way up through Canada. Compare that to the water body’s other regulars – Canada Geese – that reach “only” 43 inches with a wingspan of nearly 67 inches. Did I mention they’re huge?
Counting the Birds I was in my teens when I undertook my first bird-survey: it was field work for the British Trust for Ornithology’s The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. The breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. Published in 1976, The Atlas was, I believe, the very first work of its kind.
Kirtland’s Warbler is a classic niche species; they breed in only very specific conditions, which occur in only a very specific area. this species breeds. Fortunately, there were still a handful of immature birds alive at sea, and a few years later they were back on Toroshima breeding again.
Queen of Spain Fritillary , photographed in mid November Clouded yellow – another common November butterfly For the autumn or winter visitor, the biggest draw is the flock of Lesser Whitefronted Geese that in recent years have been regular and reliable wintering birds on the lake.
Whilst enjoying the Magpie Geesebreeding around Broome recently we also noticed a Magpie-lark nest close to the highway in one of the very few trees beside the road. While we had been waiting one of the young had raised itself up and let its waste drop outside the nest. She waited for a moment and flew in towards the nest.
Over the past few months there have been a lot of birds breeding around Broome with the excellent rain events that we have been having and the vegetation is at long last revived. The open plains are now busy with young Magpie Geese and numerous other waterbirds and the Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are busy feeding up before migration.
After a very good Wet Season with substantially more rain than normal over the first few months of 2017 the land was flooded and a huge variety of birds arrived in the Broome area to take advantage of the ideal conditions for breeding. The Australian Painted Snipe nest was positioned on higher ground in between the fence and the highway.
It migrates north to breed in the tundra where it nests on the ground close to shallow pools. I am unable to say why some of the ducks swim with their tails raised while others allow it to trail behind them in the water. The females do not carry the long tail plumes and reminded me slightly of Cotton Pygmy geese.
In being wonderfully obvious, such birds become avian ambassadors, special “signature” species with the potential to raise bird awareness, to reconnect crucial links between people and the nature that surrounds them, with the ecosystems they partake in. In northern habitats, they could be Common Ravens, geese , or chickadees.
As the Hooded Cranes know that I am a consultant, they sometimes ask me whether they should forage together with geese or preferably seek areas in which geese are not present. Seek geese in meadows and mudflats, but avoid them in paddy fields ( source ). I am giving them the typical consultant answer: It depends.
This week at 10,000 Birds, it’s all about how birds get around to bumping uglies (I’m talking about cloacas here), who they do it with, and how this actually leads to raising chicks…the birds and the bees of birds, you might say. Greater White-fronted Geese are one of many species that mate for life.
Letters from Eden (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) will soon be followed by a memoir about the birds she has raised, healed, studied and followed throughout her life. They reach breeding maturity at four to seven years of age, produce only one chick per nesting season, and only one in three offspring survive to fledging age.
The most common member of the Grebe species around Broome is the Australasian Grebe- Tachybaptus novaehollandiae and it has taken advantage of our exceptionally good Wet Season early this year and has been breeding very successfully. During breeding season the Australasian Grebe has a very distinct pale yellow patch at the base of the bill.
Mallards , of course, bring new meaning to the term dabbling duck , what with all those wild mallard hybrids and domestic cross-breeds running around. The more I learn about ducks, the more impressed I am with their blatant promiscuity. But apparently, all the Anas -species ducks are overly amorous or at least indiscriminate.
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