Finale of Frogmouth Breeding event 2010
The breeding season has completed successfully. Jump to the latest news
I have from time to time posted about the pair of Tawny Frogmouths which has nested in a big tree in our garden for the last two seasons. In addition to the linked post - which gives a good impression of the birds, those posts can most easily be accessed by selecting the label 'frogmouths' which should give you the entire set in reverse chronological order. I will also put up, and link to, an uber-post in the next few days covering the detail of the event in 2009. I will shift this post up the order as I add stuff to it.
I have been tracking the roosts of the birds throughout 2010 (at least since they first re-appeared in the vicinity after their post-breeding tour). I have had a suspicion that there may have been a slight change of the guard since their behaviour isn't quite the same as last year. However, I don't think I'll be able to prove that as they are not banded. The main point is that in the last few days (starting 17 August) additional twigs have appeared at the nest so I think we are hot to trot (or indeed to start laying eggs) in the near future. Here is a show of the nest as it was on 20 August 2010.
It isn't a complex nest, but the shape of the branch underneath it makes it quite a substantial edifice.
By 25 August a fair bit more twigggy material has been added and the nest looks denser. Kaplan comments that the birds walk around on it to make it firmer.
On the morning of 28 August I couldn't find the birds. It seemed strange - and against received wisdom - that they would have moved further from the nest as they seem to be so close to egg-laying. In the afternoon of that day I made a detailed search of the vegetation closer to the nest tree and found them. I think I had checked this area before and not located them so will regard this as a new roost: but they are not easy to spot. Both birds are in the first image while the second shows that they are not exactly en plein air!
The next stage of the event commenced on the morning of 2 September (3 days earlier than last year). That is, the male bird appeared roosting in the nest (the female was roosting in the most distant of their known daytime roosts).
It seems that nest refurbishment took 14 days this year, rather than the 3 days I observed last year. I stress the word 'observed' since it is possibleI missed the start of the process last year. Another explanation is that this is a further example of changed behaviour due to chane in the identity of the birds. (Of course the default explanation is, as always, "something else".)
On 11 September (known in some places as 9/11) I was getting really worried as I hadn't been able to find the female the previous day and couldn't do so again. Had she met with a calamity? Then I peered through an acacia and spotted her silhouette near a thin eucalypt branch. On going on to the bare hill paddock and looking back she had vanished. Eventually I was able to find an angle of view that let me spot her. Thank goodness.
This does mean that she has followed usual practise of moving closer as breeding proceeds, and is in the closest eucalypt to the nest tree. If she adopts this as her usual roost it will add weight to my theory that she is a different female to last year, since that bird took up a position in a dead hazel tree which was even closer to the nest.
As a final note, while Frances was searching for the female she checked the nest tree and observed the male wriggling around. I guess that means he has some eggs to sit on, and was maximising his comfort.
This morning (1 October) marks 28 days since the male Tawny Frogmouth assumed the position on the nest above our lawn. This is the early end of the incubation period quoted in HANZAB. He was very restless on the nest turning round at least once and fluffing out his feathers in a way I had not previously noticed. I am wondering whether this indicates a small wriggling form, rather than a nice smooth egg, is underneath him? (It is impossible to see into the nest with a chubby bird in situ.)
At 1755 (still daylight, thanks to daylight saving time - to heck with faded curtains) a very small white head appeared under the very restless breast of the brooding male. So we have at least one chick. My guess is that the day of great restlessness was the first hatching day.
On 12 October 2 chicks clearly seen in the nest at mid-morning. Some 11 days since first suspected hatching and 8 days after first chick seen.
On 17 October both chicks were seen out from under Dad, and waving their wings around. There seemed to be fair growth of the flight feathers. Of course they didn't wait for their photographs to be taken, but I sort of made up for this on 18 October.
Bits of both chicks can be seen in this image even though one of them attempted to exit stage left at the crucial moment.
The next two images were taken on 22 October. The first is interesting because it clearly shows the female roosting on a twisted hazel - arguably the closest tree to the nest. It goes against some received wisdom that the birds usualy only roost on eucalypts. The other image is a conventional family snap. Later in the day both chicks were clearly visible - it must get very hot sitting under Dad!
I have just (2115 on 26 October)been outside with the small dog and briefly shone a torch at the frogmouth's nest. This revealed the two chicks sitting all alone.
The small dog then displayed interest in a eucalypt halfway between the nest tree and a dam. I shone the torch up there, expecting to find a Brush-tailed possum and instead found an adult Tawny Frogmouth with a frog (presumably deceased) in its beak. As I was some 10m away I can only assume this was a Pobblebonk since other local frogs would be too small to see at that range.
After putting the small dog back indoors I took another look at the nest site to find an adult was back there, feeding the young. I rapidly turned off the torch and joined the dog indoors.
Latest News
The nest was empty at 6m on 4 November 2010. I have spent 20 minutes searching the nearby trees with no trace of the male or the chicks. The female was in one of the roosts she has used regularly during the nest occupancy period. Hopefully I will locate the rest of the family sometime soon but in the meantime I am simply happy that matters have, again concluded successfully.
I have from time to time posted about the pair of Tawny Frogmouths which has nested in a big tree in our garden for the last two seasons. In addition to the linked post - which gives a good impression of the birds, those posts can most easily be accessed by selecting the label 'frogmouths' which should give you the entire set in reverse chronological order. I will also put up, and link to, an uber-post in the next few days covering the detail of the event in 2009. I will shift this post up the order as I add stuff to it.
I have been tracking the roosts of the birds throughout 2010 (at least since they first re-appeared in the vicinity after their post-breeding tour). I have had a suspicion that there may have been a slight change of the guard since their behaviour isn't quite the same as last year. However, I don't think I'll be able to prove that as they are not banded. The main point is that in the last few days (starting 17 August) additional twigs have appeared at the nest so I think we are hot to trot (or indeed to start laying eggs) in the near future. Here is a show of the nest as it was on 20 August 2010.
By 25 August a fair bit more twigggy material has been added and the nest looks denser. Kaplan comments that the birds walk around on it to make it firmer.
The next stage of the event commenced on the morning of 2 September (3 days earlier than last year). That is, the male bird appeared roosting in the nest (the female was roosting in the most distant of their known daytime roosts).
On 11 September (known in some places as 9/11) I was getting really worried as I hadn't been able to find the female the previous day and couldn't do so again. Had she met with a calamity? Then I peered through an acacia and spotted her silhouette near a thin eucalypt branch. On going on to the bare hill paddock and looking back she had vanished. Eventually I was able to find an angle of view that let me spot her. Thank goodness.
This does mean that she has followed usual practise of moving closer as breeding proceeds, and is in the closest eucalypt to the nest tree. If she adopts this as her usual roost it will add weight to my theory that she is a different female to last year, since that bird took up a position in a dead hazel tree which was even closer to the nest.
As a final note, while Frances was searching for the female she checked the nest tree and observed the male wriggling around. I guess that means he has some eggs to sit on, and was maximising his comfort.
This morning (1 October) marks 28 days since the male Tawny Frogmouth assumed the position on the nest above our lawn. This is the early end of the incubation period quoted in HANZAB. He was very restless on the nest turning round at least once and fluffing out his feathers in a way I had not previously noticed. I am wondering whether this indicates a small wriggling form, rather than a nice smooth egg, is underneath him? (It is impossible to see into the nest with a chubby bird in situ.)
At 1755 (still daylight, thanks to daylight saving time - to heck with faded curtains) a very small white head appeared under the very restless breast of the brooding male. So we have at least one chick. My guess is that the day of great restlessness was the first hatching day.
On 12 October 2 chicks clearly seen in the nest at mid-morning. Some 11 days since first suspected hatching and 8 days after first chick seen.
On 17 October both chicks were seen out from under Dad, and waving their wings around. There seemed to be fair growth of the flight feathers. Of course they didn't wait for their photographs to be taken, but I sort of made up for this on 18 October.
The next two images were taken on 22 October. The first is interesting because it clearly shows the female roosting on a twisted hazel - arguably the closest tree to the nest. It goes against some received wisdom that the birds usualy only roost on eucalypts. The other image is a conventional family snap. Later in the day both chicks were clearly visible - it must get very hot sitting under Dad!
I have just (2115 on 26 October)been outside with the small dog and briefly shone a torch at the frogmouth's nest. This revealed the two chicks sitting all alone.
The small dog then displayed interest in a eucalypt halfway between the nest tree and a dam. I shone the torch up there, expecting to find a Brush-tailed possum and instead found an adult Tawny Frogmouth with a frog (presumably deceased) in its beak. As I was some 10m away I can only assume this was a Pobblebonk since other local frogs would be too small to see at that range.
After putting the small dog back indoors I took another look at the nest site to find an adult was back there, feeding the young. I rapidly turned off the torch and joined the dog indoors.
Latest News
The nest was empty at 6m on 4 November 2010. I have spent 20 minutes searching the nearby trees with no trace of the male or the chicks. The female was in one of the roosts she has used regularly during the nest occupancy period. Hopefully I will locate the rest of the family sometime soon but in the meantime I am simply happy that matters have, again concluded successfully.
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