Home

Emotional turmoil

by Sam Williams

What a busy and emotional few weeks it has been for the parrot team! Right now 7 chicks have fledged. In the nests that we are monitoring a further 14 grumpy chicks are getting ready to go. About two weeks prior to fledging the chicks actually weigh more than their parents but then they loose weight as the parents basically starve them in order to leave their cosy nests and jump into the big wide world. So when we go to conduct a nest inspection the chicks are more cantankerous than ever.



We were really happy because the number of nest we are monitoring has gone up as we found a couple more nests sites while out working. Rowan actually got suspicious of some parrots while out running and with a minor diversion added another nest to the list. The parrot team’s work never stops!

Yet more parrot chicks have been lost but the relatively good news is that this was not due to people stealing them from their nest. The sad news comes from a cliff nest high up on a 20m rock wall. This is always an exciting nest to inspect. You would have to hang on the rope with a good 12-14m of air below you while you checked the progress inside the dark cavity. Rowan and Rhian had noticed an increasing number of bees visiting the nest over the previous week and so when it came to be my turn to check the nest it was with great trepidation that I descended down the cliff.

The honey bees we find around the cliffs are not native to Bonaire, they are introduced from Europe. Thankfully they are not the aggressive Africanised bee. This was little consolation when as soon as I saw the nest entrance I could see plenty of bees. I approached slowly but as I drew closer the bees were clearly getting upset. We know these cues pretty well by now and the parrot team have had more than their share of stings. Being stuck on a rope is not a nice feeling when bees starting bumping into your head, to suggest you leave the area.

I was desperate to find out if the chicks were still alive although I knew there was little I could do to help them. The bees were getting agitated and so I just released my descending device fully and instantly dropped down the rope, my heart in my mouth. All I saw as I plummeted past the nest were two parrot chicks lying face down, dead.

The bees flared up but luckily for me they drew off their chase about 3 meters from the ground and I escaped without a single sting. That was little comfort for the loss of parrot chicks that were otherwise going to fledge within a week. We had known them since they were eggs. We had delicately handled and measured them since they were pink bundles of joy weighing little more than a £2 coin. It was heart breaking and we were not even the parents.

Posted by Sam Williams on 08/02 at 04:24 PM
(1) Comments •

---

Another parrot egg, or not.

by Sam Williams

I am afraid, dear reader, that I have neglected you and now we have so much to discuss!
Some of the parrots simply didn't bother to breed this year and others were a trifle devious and moved from the cavity we knew to another one around the corner. That in itself might not seem a bother but it might take a couple of mornings doing observations for us to work it out. Once we did work out who was where and who wasn't, we were then busy trying to get around all these nests to find out which egg was laid when, or when not.

A typical nest inspection morning would go like this. Wake up at 0430 and have a cup of tea (the parrot team are very British in this respect and have in fact imported over 1000 "proper" tea bags from the UK to last the season, but we've nearly run out - eeek!), eat breakfast and grunt at one another. Drive to a nest site (15 to 30 minutes). In the dark we'll walk through the bush, avoiding cacti by head torch, maybe climbing up a small cliff, cross perilous rocky ground and arrive at a suitably uncomfortable place to sit and wait for the parrots.



Sometime between 0550 and 0830 the male will arrive in the area and call to the female. She will have slept in the cavity and will not left without hearing his lovely voice. The moment she leaves the nest we spring into action, set up the rope and abseil to the nest. When we are trying to get lay dates all that is required for a nest inspection is to take a picture of inside the nest. Some of the cliff nests are pretty deep though and that might mean having your whole arm up to your arm pit in the nest.

It might take several attempts to get the picture but once you see what's there, and acknowledge Mr and Mrs Parrot (who are telling you what they think of you) you get out of the way. That involves climbing back up the rope as quick as you can. Next pack up the climbing gear and run back over the jagged rocks out of the way so that Mrs Parrot can get back to business. Phew!



So the picture may reveal new eggs or not, both of which helps us work out when eggs are laid. It's not quite as simple as a breeder opening a nest box inspection door but the principle is the same.

Unfortunately many pictures revealed what we like least, mortality. The first eggs of several nests were cracked. We can't be sure exactly what caused the damage but it could be rats, cats, competing parrots or even the parents themselves being clumbsy. This year we, or rather, the parrots, had several damaged first eggs. Many of the pairs continued in their efforts and went on to complete a clutch of eggs. Some, however, simply gave up at the first hurdle and didn't bother to breed at all this year. If that's all it takes to put them off it's pretty scary. We'll need to fix that in the future.

Well this "little" entry has required more words than I anticipated so I shall not write about the wonderful tiny pink bundles of joy now! I'll save that and some cute pictures for my next post.

Posted by Sam Williams on 07/11 at 03:44 PM
(0) Comments •

---

Parrot advocacy and eggs!

by Sam Williams

Where does the time go! Many parrots are on eggs now and I haven't even reported on my pre season plans as I promised in my last entry. So let's do this in chronological order.

What is it like to be back on Bonaire for my third full field season? Well of course it's fantastic. Bonaire feels like home and having wild parrots in the garden is simply the way it should be. There was a lot of organising in the first month. Permission requests for this and that and a lot of admin. I don't mind getting this stuff organised but it does limit the time it's possible to spend in the field. Adjusting to early starts was harder this time but my body clock has accepted it now.

Pre season plans. Well I've been building nest boxes because I want to see whether the birds are limited by the number of natural cavities. The problem with this is they are unlikely to use the boxes within the timescale of this research project and if they don't use them it doesn't actually mean the are not limited. It could just be that they don't like the design or the positioning. Rowan arrived and we made a few more preparations like improving access to some nest and putting the camera in Oliva's nest again. So check out www.parrotwatch.org to see what's going on in there.





Parrot advocacy! We are very much involved with Salba Nos Lora (Save our parrot) an NGO here on Bonaire. And we had a hectic couple of weeks in which we held an art competition, exhibition and auction. I am pleased to say UK Parrot Society is supporting SNL for this parrot awareness through art other campaign work. Somehow it all came together and it was a great way to raise awareness and over 1400 guilders (£400). The winning art from the competition will now somehow be merged together to create a new campaign poster highlighting the parrot's protected status.

And so to the present and we find the birds are on eggs. Eeeek! hold on tight as this means the season has really begun. Fortunately for us we have Rhian Evans working with us this year. She has just completed her first intense week and she is doing extremely well. It was only in the last hours on Friday that we managed to see any sign of fatigue. As a mountain marathon runner and a rock climber we were sure she'd have what it it takes. Her arms and legs are covered in some impressive scratches as she hasn't yet learnt how to slip through the bush without being torn apart but rather than complain she has shown off her wounds with pride!

Posted by Sam Williams on 05/18 at 10:56 AM
(0) Comments •

---

Carnival Parrots Movie!

by Sam Williams

Well there is a lot to report but I will not try and squeeze it all into one post. In this piece I will update you on the results of the annual parrot count and the Carnival surprise which was brilliant! Then in a week or so I'll put another post up with a bit more information about what it is like to be back on Bonaire once again and what my plans are prior to the breeding season. And so lets get on with it...

The annual Lora (parrot) count took place at dawn on Saturday January 26th and a total of 430 loras were counted. This was a dramatic change from last year’s successful count of 650 loras, so what is going on?

First a little background, the Amazon parrot that is found here on Bonaire is an endangered species and a crucial part of any conservation effort is to keep track of the animal’s population size. Lora counts have been made since the 1970s and since 1990 there has been a count almost every year. Two NGOs currently organise the count and these are: Salba Nos Lora (Save our Parrot) and Stinapa (who manages the national parks). In the non-breeding season the parrots generally flock together and form large roosts with up to 100 birds in each one. The roost locations are pretty much the same each year so teams of volunteers go out early in the morning and as dawn arrives they can count the parrots leaving the roost on their way to find food. This years count was conducted by the staff of Stinapa and over 40 volunteers including 15 students from the island's high school. Many counters return from year to year to help with this event and the quality of the volunteers observations and note taking is very high. This is very important when we come to collect the results and ensure there is no double counting.



In 2006 we worked very hard to ensure the count accuracy and it was a great success. The number of birds seen this year is much lower despite the entire count following the same methodology. What is the difference you might ask? Well there has been a lot of rain prior to this year’s count and it may well be that there is an abundance of food. This certainly seems to be the case and it is likely that the birds simply do not need to flock together as a result. It may be that they can forage just as effectively in smaller numbers. Several of the counters reported hearing distant loras and this would support the idea. So we don’t think it is an actual drop in parrot numbers but rather a change in parrot behaviour that has influenced the count result. But to be sure we’ll have to see how the count goes next year!

Carnival!
Ok so it's not Rio but the people of Bonaire hold a carnival parade every year and this year I was lucky enough to be on the island to see it. I heard a rumor there were going to be some lora costumes so I considered it my duty to go and see what was going on! The streets were packed with happy people and the atmosphere was fantastic. I was with a few friends and we found a gap in the crowd and so positioned ourselves and waited for the parade to move along the street. It was like a fun and friendly version of the baggage reclaim at the airport!! The parade was moving at about 0.3kmh so there was plenty of time to get warmed up and start swinging our hips. The anticipation was almost (but not quite!) unbearable. Anyway anyway the very first group of people to boogie on down the street were the Lora group. I was blown away! The costumes were amazing and these dedicated ladies and gentlemen had clearly put in a phenomenal amount of effort. And there were so many model parrots, full size parrot people and even a guy with two massive cacti on his back with parrots on them. Everyone was in green, yellow and red costumes and it was brilliant. Well my excited words don't really do it justice so I will put a bunch of pictures in with the blog and a movie too so you can see for yourself!

Posted by Sam Williams on 02/29 at 05:16 AM
(3) Comments •

---

Page 1 of 9 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »