Thursday, June 30, 2011

The flycatcher invasion

The UCC spotted flycatchers remain with one pair actively established on the grounds & a third flycatcher some 30 seconds down the road which likely implies that its mate was somewhere nearby. The river walk also revealed glimpses of another one! The city’s green patches are full of them evidently.










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The flycatcher belongs to a group of about a hundred small insect catching birds (Old world flycatchers), some of which are not quite so bland, take this here Malaysian blue flycatcher for instance!
ARKive species - Malaysian blue-flycatcher (Cyornis turcosus)



Our little friend has his good sides too tho...
Muscicapa striata (Spotted flycatcher)

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The flycatcher looks unremarkable at first glance with its small size, unobtrusive voice and drab green colouring but one thing that stands out about it is its precision and speed. Whilst taking pictures the flycatchers moved between close knit branches with split second timing and movements that where barely visible to the eye (not ideal for taking pictures then).
Muscicapa striata (Spotted flycatcher)


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If you look closely you can see that the flycatcher is actually more elongated then say a similar sized robin, with a pointed bill and a tapered body/tail. Its tail fans out widely and can be used to make fast mid air course corrections. These adaptations combine to allow the flycatcher to hunt by perching on a branch and quickly flying up and grabbing insects in mid air before returning to the branch. All this happens in moments. See the arkive video below to see what I mean. 
ARKive video - Spotted flycatcher hunting moth


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It’s amazing how each species has adapted to its environment in different ways. I also happened to find a tree creeper in the park (in a tree with a pineapple stuck in it! What the heck where they getting up to in that mid Summer festival!?). This is the best shot I’ve gotten of one so far, it’s not at all great but at least it shows the important details of this bird. It has brown camouflage to blend in with the tree bark, a stiffened tail to allow it to rest vertically against the tree trunk, a long probing bill to grab insects in and around bark and long claws that allow it to walk up and down tree branches with ease. Again, it’s perfectly adapted to life in the trees!
Certhia familiaris (Treecreeper)


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There are quite a number of newly fledged birds around and those who are still dependent on their parents can be quite easy to spot. You will generally see them making a lot of noise and being far less careful about being seen then their stressed out elders. Blue tits and wrens in particular are abundant and can easily be found by their sounds. (mother on the fence on top, baby at bottom)
Troglodytes troglodytes (Wren)
Troglodytes troglodytes (Wren)


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Yesterday I spotted this goldfinch, pity it wouldn’t stop to be photographed at close range, still its colours more than make up for my lousy stealth abilities!
Carduelis carduelis (Goldfinch)
Carduelis carduelis (Goldfinch)


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Other everyday but none the less enjoyable sightings where several young greylags at the Lough, a jackdaw posing rather nicely and a young coot. (greylags,jackdaw,coot).
Anser Anser (Greylag goose), domesticated
Corvus monedula (Jackdaw)
Fulica atra (Eurasian coot)

2 comments:

  1. I really love your photos leon, love the texture in the tree bark with the tree creeper crawling up. I'd disagree with your description of the s flycatcher being a non descript bird though, when I first saw one I thought of it as clean and gentle looking (dont ask how my mind works), anyhow - nice pic of jackdaw too. siobhan

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  2. Clean and gentle looking, I like that! its definitly a great looking bird once you take the time. thanks for the comment

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