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Thursday, 17 February 2011

Top Trumps






A number of species of owl pellet with a kestrel thrown in for luck too. Found over the last month or so whilst out and about, some in a better state of decomposition than others, but then that's half the fun of working it out. Always enjoy looking for tracks and signs.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

you would be better off looking for the birds

Randal M Snowdrop said...

Late news from yesterdy was of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker along the Taff treeline, typically ranging between the RCT and Cardiff UA sides of the river. A fresh otter spraint at the Taffs Well tributary entrance to the Taff itself was a welcome sign of their continued presence along this stretch of the river especially after picking up a roadkill dog otter from the nearby Coryton roundabout just after the new year (which continues to take up an un-healthy amount of space in my freezer).
PS Looking for signs of birds is sometimes you're first indication of their presence at a site and also helps you understand the use of a site by certain nocturnal species that by their very nature can be difficult to detect if you were actually just 'better off looking for birds'. In doing so the conservation of a species often overlooked because 'just looking' doesn't always produce the results. For instance, a barn owl might roost in one tree or building during the winter, breed in another some distnce way. The male and female in some pairs may roost together and share the same space 24/7,or they may lead complete seperate lives other than to mate and raise young. They may hunt quite some distance from a roost site or breeding site, so observing the bird hunting may prove of little real use in protecting the species from adverse development by just relying on 'observed' records - not tht these aren't important- just not necesssarily the be-all end end-all of the picture. Hope that wasn't too arrogant of me to point out, more just thoughts on the wider picture of the techniques used to undertake surveys for such species. Interestingly, the barn owl pellets above (badly decomposed after the heavy snow of December) are from a favoured hunting and roosting perch below a hollow in a mature ash. The ash makes up a field boundary of a previously extensive area of set-aside, obviously preferred hunting for the bird. The are was ploughed over in the utumn and another 'conservtion headland' left round 1km away. Now the bird hunts this area and uses an adjacent farm wood shack as a place to consume prey, and where fresher pellets,feathers and dropping are now found. The birds were then roosting during the day in near-by mature ash, oak and a very low hawthorn covered in dense ivy. The dropping and pellets below these roosts were crucial in finding these birds here. They then breed in agricultural building some 1.5kms west of this and use these buildings during the winter months only during periods of heavy rain and snow. I imagine they like the ivy covered trees as they offer some protection from the prevailing weather but by roosting on the south side of the tree they benefit from the warmth of the winter sun to help maintain body warmth during the depths of winter (that's just my theory!). So from little bits of shit do true pictures grow...

Tony Owl said...

cheers Randal most informative as for you Anon put your real name down you tosser

Miss Jones said...

Very interesting. Thanks!

Miss Jones said...

Hi, can I just say I have been reading this blog for some while.
Very funny, informative and nice pics. Keep up the good work.

DOB said...

miss Jones can I just say that I have been watching you for a while and you have the most shapely posterior I have seen, thanks for making my day

Miss Jones said...

Though rude at times! Naughty!

MauriceC said...

Well said Randal. Bet the actual Randal had a good sniff.

Arrogant Twat said...

Arrogant twat? Randal? I doubt you even know me well enough to even make that judgement call, but you're entitled to your opinions. If anon wants to post abuse directed at me let him carry on till his little hearts content. As for Miss Jones, if we could leave her shapely posterior out of this all the better. Apparently there are those in the 'area' who think we besmirch the holy communion of glamorgan birding through our immaturity and pureile wit.
PS my 'a' key is malfunctioning on my lap top so apologies for my regular mispellings.

Peter J Morgan said...

Otter could provide useful info if placed in the NMw or institution for analysis and study.
Few specimens are actually ever sent.

Miss Jones said...

What is it with men and pooh?

Randal M Snowdrop said...

Well said Peter, the otter is already logged with the Cardiff Unversity Otter Project http://www.otterproject.cf.ac.uk/ where it will undergo an autopsy. I'll post the results when they get sent back to me. If anyone does find/ see a dead otter along a busy rod there are contact numbers on the link above to the HA and EA to retrieve the specimen and send it to the project. I've got a few reports from previous corpses that I've found working around the country which mke sd but interesting reading.

Paul tabor said...

there was a dead otter on the lougher bridge a couple of weeks ago

Randal M Snowdrop said...

Thanks Badger, if it was Lougher Bridge then it's probably already been 'had away' and eaten for someone's tea.