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August 19

by Sam Williams

Time feels like it's running out, already!

Arrgh there's less than three weeks left before I return to the UK and there's so much I still want to do with project things but I also hope to take some time off and relax. Maybe I'll do that on the plane back! The Caribbean pace still eludes me after 5 months of trying to slow down.

There are now cleverly designed parrot traps high up in some almond trees where there are always parrots but it's too early yet to know if they are eating the food in them. It seems like ages since Ro and I last caught any birds and indeed it is. I think we've tried plenty of options and we've definitely learnt some tricks that'll help from the off next year but that doesn't change the fact we haven't got rings on birds and blood samples right now. It's not through lack of trying though so I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

I'm trying to wrap up the habitat assessment work but that in itself is a long process. This week I spent a good bit of time doing some overdue plant identification. There were a couple of breakthroughs but there are so many "broad leafed deciduous" trees to try and work out and no English plant book to use. I worked out the "silver barked tree with pale green leaves" (you know the one right?!) and the great revelation was that it was the same species I saw some parrots feeding on months ago.

I was driving to one of my quadrats in the National Park and as I came over a crest a bunch of 6 or more Loras flew up from the ground at the trackside. I stopped and looked but I was already too close so they flew off a little way. So I got out and checked the tree but there was nothing obvious the birds would have been eating. On the ground there were what looked like lumps of soil. Closer inspection revealed the parrots were eating the seeds inside the old and hard fruit that had fallen beneath the tree long before. They are not just pretty they're clever too eh!

Posted by Sam Williams on 08/19 at 02:52 PM
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August 12

by Sam Williams

Frustration continues

Another week has past and we didn't catch a single parrot. That's despite putting in a lot of time and even trying some imaginative ideas. What's worse is that following the rain the local bug populations have gone through the roof making siting still for long periods even more uncomfortable. It's all relative though and I know we are still very lucky in this respect on Bonaire, as it is a dry island.

So what were the imaginative ideas? Well as we had little interest in the food we put out at one site I though it might be a good idea to advertise the fact there was a plentiful supply so that it would be impossible for the birds to miss it. Parrots take visual cues that fruit is available from a given tree, so I thought I'd fill the Calabash tree next to the trap with fruit. Calabash fruit has a hard shell and in fact the shells are used to make maracas. I collected a bag load of old calabash shells from beneath a productive tree I knew of, I then spray painted them so they looked ripe, drilled holes in the shells and attached string so they could be hung in the tree. Shortly afterward the tree appeared full of big, ready to eat fruit. That wasn't all I had planned though...

The second phase of my cunning plan was to borrow Oscar the wonderful pet parrot of George and Laura DeSalvo. Oscar is a "totally bomb proof" character and rather than being phased by the whole thing he appeared to thoroughly enjoy a trip out. He used to be a sailing parrot and you may have seen him on the cover of Psittascene for the February 2004 issue.

Even with a tree full of fruit, a wolf whistling decoy bird and a load of fruit ready to eat on the ground we could not persuade the wild parrots to even show an interest. So in our last efforts before we lose faith altogether we are going to build some kind of walk in trap we can put up in the trees. We will just have to see how that goes. Hopefully we may have better luck...

Posted by Sam Williams on 08/12 at 02:48 PM
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August 5

by Sam Williams

Movies from inside the nest

The chicks from all but one of the nests we have been following have now fledged. So there have been at least 23 chicks entering the wild population this year, which is great news! The remaining three chicks in the tree nest are a few weeks off just yet. Once they fledge the chicks do not return to the nest. The smallest of the four chicks in the overhang nest left the nest something like 10 days after the oldest. This is different to what I saw with Lear's macaws in Brasil. With those macaws the first chick to fledge returned to the nest to roost, but it is typical for adult Lear's to roost in the cliffs too.

Rowan and I have continued to put in a good deal of time trying to catch adults birds. In particular we have been after the parents at the nest sites but it has been another frustrating week. We are trying to use food to lure the birds in to traps. When I was here last time this would have been so easy because there was apparently so little food in the bush. Now though there is plenty of food as there has been plenty of rain. This means the birds are less interested in taking food from potentially risk places such as an odd (to them) looking trap. The only positive thing about the whole experience is we've both managed to read a book! There is a lot of siting and waiting when you are trying to catch parrots and it seems like a good opportunity to slow down, well at least for the first hour then I get bored!

We've installed a couple of infrared video cameras into a couple of nests and Rowan has been using these to record parental effort with regard to feeding the chicks. The IR camera has a long cable attached to it and when Ro goes to a nest site he can connect the cable to a camcorder to watch and record what is happening inside the nest. He has captured some pretty funny moments and has been kind enough to let me post them on this blog for you to see. I hope you enjoy them.

• Chick trying to fly (movie clip)
  
• Adult feeding chick (movie clip)
  

Posted by Sam Williams on 08/05 at 02:40 PM
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July 22

by Sam Williams

The first fledgling is out!

On Thursday I visited a nest we call the Nose where there is a single chick. To an imaginative person there are features on the cliff that look like a face and guess where the cavity is?! The cliff is around 20meters high and the nest a little above half way. I abseiled down, then I attached a sling to the rock and puled myself close to the entrance. First I took the magic ladle from where it was clipped on my harness and untied the cord so it was ready for use. On a previous visit the chick had disappeared into the back of this deep cavity and I was unable to collect any information as a result, so I knew I may have to be quick. From a small bag hanging from my harness I took the torch and after adjusting my position on the rope I peered into the cavity and with the torch shining.



The chick voiced his (or her) surprise and climbed up the step to the right. This would make it difficult for the ladle. He didn't sit still though and with flapping wings jumped back into the middle of the nest and then half flew up the slope to the left. On apparently reaching the top of that slope he slid all the way back down, screaming and flapping like crazy the whole time. So then he was back in the middle, but with his wings still going and so he took off again but this time right towards my face landing right next to my hand. It was perfect I just flattened him before he went any further, got my fingers in the right places and then picked him up. It was just one of those great moments and I was laughing like crazy. I keep thinking they must be ready to go soon but this chick definitely was!

While I hung on rope I popped the chick into another bag with a draw cord. Rather conveniently this cavity has a small shelf at the entrance so I can work on the chick without having to climb back up to the top. First I weighed him, (255g) then I measured his wing (189mm). I use the bag to help contain the bird while I measure his wing from the wrist to the tip of the primaries. Wing length is a better measure of age than weight, especially in multiple chick clutches. When I sort through all the numbers I'll show you some examples and tell you more about, that'll be sometime later in the year. Overall the chick looked great. I returned him to the nest knowing he'll be gone before I do another inspection. Sure enough when Rowan was observing that pair on Friday he reported there had been a lot of commotion and then 3 birds flew from the entrance down the valley and out of site. I'm looking forward to taking some time myself to do some observations and perhaps catch a glance of some fledglings as there are probably going to be many in the next week!

Posted by Sam Williams on 07/22 at 02:32 PM
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