tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55449621462998257972024-03-13T23:20:38.974-07:00Stork Talk*The Impact of Winter and Breeding Season Habitat Selection on Distribution and Productivity in Partial Migrants in Iberia * by Nathalie Gilbert * University of East Anglia * UKUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-12722959810478377462014-08-19T04:41:00.001-07:002014-08-19T06:02:55.409-07:00After busily deploying data loggers on white storks, what is happening to all that GPS location data?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Training the model with manually classified behaviours. The graphs on the left shows bird movement on 3 axes, plus speed, the graph on the right plots the track of GPS coordinates associated with the behaviour. In this sequence the bird is foraging. The head is going up and down (dark top line) as it walks along (denoted by the wavy movement in the bottom grey line). The speed line (circles and dashes) shows stop and start movement, and this is reflected in the change in position from the GPS coordinates.</td></tr>
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Despite my resolve to write more frequent posts somehow months have slipped by!<br />
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All my fieldwork is finished and finally last week I finished my lab work in the stable isotope laboratory, both sad moments. With a complete data set now in front of me this means a serious switch to the next phase of my PhD: the data analysis and writing up (via preparing for oral presentations at 2 conferences coming up in September). <br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><b>So after busily deploying all those data loggers on white storks, what is happening to that GPS location data?</b></span><br />
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Well, whilst plotting the GPS data to investigate landfill and non-landfill habitat use, home territories and preferred habitats, I am also investigating the behaviour of the birds during each GPS fix. Every transmission the loggers were also quietly collecting data about how the bird was moving, therefore what it was likely doing. From this I can tell for each location if the bird was head up or down, rolling movement from side to side, and also up and down through vertical space. Such amazing technology! Flicking through the graphs is like opening a window onto a secret world.<br />
There are literally thousands of graphs for each bird so at the moment I am busy classifying behaviour by eye to train a model to classify the behaviours for me. I confess I am quite addicted to looking at the graphs so what sounds like a boring task really isn't. The photo above is a screen shot of this process.<br />
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These data will be presented at the 5th Bio-Logging Science Symposium in Strasbourg at the end of September (bls5.sciencesconf.org/).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-80995214216381128012014-04-29T02:04:00.000-07:002014-04-29T02:09:25.081-07:00The Belly of the Beast: Inside the Mass Spectrometer<br />
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>As my lab work draws to a close I realise I have learned a surprising amount about running and fixing lab instruments, such as the Delta XP mass spectrometer (mainly when things go wrong as they often do with such high precision instruments). This post is more about the inner workings of the CosTech Elemental Analyser, used for analysing my stable isotopes of Carbon and Nitrogen from feathers.</b></span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Delta XP in the foreground. The Costec furnace (with the blue stripe) for <br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Inside the CosTec:</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Not a tube of festive decorations, but a spent<br />reduction column filled with copper shot.</b> <br />
When new all the copper was grey, as in the<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A used and new combustion column with the </b><br />
<b>handy ruler to guide column packing. </b><br />
This is the column where the sample is burned.<br />
Note the build up of ash from the tin capsules <br />
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(QW= Quartz wool)<br />
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The furnace has 2 reactor columns, 1 where the burning takes place (flash pyrolysis), the other is a reduction column that scrubs out unwanted compounds from the sample gas before it is carried by helium to the mass spectrometer which "counts" the number of isotopes of different weight in the gas. Simple!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Delta XP mass spectrometer</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Even deeper inside the Delta XP. </b>The Source -if you see this then something has<br />
gone very wrong and the mass spec has been opened up. It takes a few days for<br />
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So seeing the source means delays in lab work. Fixing it requires a steady hand,<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">I have only seen the ion source (known simply as The Source) 3 times during my 4 years of mass spectrometry as a Masters and PhD student. The ion source converts </span><span style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">the sample in </span><span style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">to charged particles (ions) which are then passed </span><span style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">to the magnet. The magnetic field deflects the particles by differing amounts according to their mass:charge ratio. The detector then counts the relative abundance of the different ions based on their mass:charge ratio. I am measuring the ratios of 12C:13C and 14N:15N, the heavier form being rarer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Iberia is dominated by C3 photosynthetic pathway plants with an average 13C of -27 parts per thousand (per mil), where as in Africa in the savannas of Senegal, most plants are C4 pathway plants with an average of -13 per mil. All living things take up these isotopic ratios through diet and they become fixed in tissues like feathers. In this way if I select a Lesser Kestrel feather likely to have been moulted in Africa I can tell from the isotopic ratios whether an individual migrated to Africa or whether it wintered in Iberia. Really fascinating science!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-48999411388831287582014-04-07T04:46:00.000-07:002014-04-07T04:46:41.694-07:00Quadcopters -non avian flying things for a change!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>I have submitted an application for funds to buy one of these Phantom quadcopters for White Stork research (fingers crossed), so I jumped at the chance to do a short course: Aerial Photography for Fieldwork using UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). </b></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Also, it looked too much like pure good fun!</b></span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Meet the Phantom Quadcopter.</b> With its glowing lights it is sometimes mistaken for an alien spacecraft!<br />
Red is the front, green is the back -not so easy to see when it is a distant speck in the sky above you.</td></tr>
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In the last few years quadcopters have suddenly become easy enough to fly and cheap enough to be in the range of even the more humble research budgets. Whilst mostly used by snowboarders and skateboarders to film stunts (and most of the aerial footage in Top Gear is filmed with UAVs), they can also be used to help answer a whole variety of research questions. </div>
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This particular quadcopter is mainly used to map changes in mountain sides and valley floors before and after volcanic eruptions or erosion events in Ecuador, the Caribbean and other amazing places. The images can be overlaid on to terrain or elevation models to create amazing 3D images of changes over time. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Sainsbury's Centre, from the pilots view... </b></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>...and what the quadcopter saw.</b><br />
Structures from Motion. One of many hundreds of images that we will stitch<br />
together to make a 3D model of the Sainsbury's Centre.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Mission complete. Good catch!</b><br />
UAVs were all developed by the military so it is full of <br />
military termimology. A flight is called a Mission -of course!</td></tr>
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Investing in a quadcopter is much cheaper than purchasing a satellite image -and they are far more versatile and reusable! </div>
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Uses include:<br />
<b><span style="color: lime;">-</span></b>Vegetation mapping<br />
<b><span style="color: lime;">-</span></b>Monitoring changes over time, eg slopes prone to rockfall or mudslides; or to detect patches of illegal logging in rainforests. </div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><b>-</b></span>The camera can easily be modified to thermal or near-infra red imaging to look for nesting birds, or assess plant health (by detecting chlorophyll levels). In this way farmers could target fertilize crops rather than treating whole fields. </div>
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<b><span style="color: lime;">-</span></b>Fire fighters have used UAVs in controlled experiments to to assess how fire takes hold as it burns across a field, and to look for thermal heat patches that may signal fires in a building before any smoke is detected. </div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><b>-</b></span>Or it could simply be used to view high or dangerous to reach places, like me checking number of eggs in inaccessible stork nests. </div>
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The number of possible applications of UAVs in research will only increase as technology improves. I'm sure it wont be long before university degree courses feature modules in piloting UAVs and the post-processing of image data.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Quadcopter cam view from ground level.....</b><br />
Mission: to map the UEA Broad. Lift off imminent with me at the controls. <br />
Karen holds a GPS to log various control points round the broad. <br />
After we have cropped and merged together a selection of images<br />
into one photo this can then be geo-referenced and digitalised by <br />
overlaying it on to a map layer in mapping software packages, such as GIS.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>...and the Quadcopter's view of the UEA Broad. </b><br />
You can just see a blue spec holding the white box -thats me <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">The Phantom flies in winds of over 30mph <br />and flies itself to some extent. It was amazing <br />to see it leaning against the wind to maintain <br />position as it hovered. </span></td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-26625556102992616052014-04-01T12:17:00.000-07:002014-10-21T14:55:39.974-07:00Dont worry, nothing died: my favourite talk from the SPEA conference<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: purple;">It was a talk about how nothing died -quite rare for biologists because biological science is seemingly most interested in death and explaining why things died!</span></i></h3>
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In an nutshell, Ricardo Tome and team are using radar and field observations to minimise collision deaths of soaring birds as they pass through wind farms -in fact they have done better than that, they have reduced the number of deaths to zero in their study site: a wind farm in south west Portugal.<br />
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I found myself sat opposite him and some of his colleagues over one of those long, tasty, boozy, cafe lunches during the SPEA conference (Birdlife partner for Portugal) that I was talked about in my last blog post. He was a very humourous and entertaining lunch companion as he explained his project in more detail.<br />
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As a flock approaches the wind farm, the radar and human observers (placed at some distance around the site), track the flock and decide if the huge sweeping blades of the wind turbines should be stopped. If the flock continue inbound, the turbines are briefly halted, just long enough for the flock to pass through safely. Stopping is near instantaneous and apparently it is quite something to see the wind farm suddenly shut down in unison.<br />
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During the whole study period no birds were killed by collisions with wind turbines and there was minimal impact on electricity generation. This seems like a win-win situation to me and captured my imagination, especially because I am an East Anglian lass living on the border of the North Sea in sight of many new off shore wind farms and important coastal areas of birds.<br />
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I encourage you all to follow this link and hit the "translate" button -if you dont speak Portuguese<br />
http://www.cienciahoje.pt/index.php?oid=54734&op=all<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-39263968386212358532014-03-28T07:46:00.001-07:002014-04-02T07:21:24.637-07:00<h3>
<span style="color: purple;">Shes Back!</span></h3>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Apologies for the extremely long pause since I last posted. No excuses really, other than being very busy with data analysis. So what has been happening?</i> </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">STORKS</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YYYvPgKizgw/UzWGuZj6uuI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/mF-Yz264Bzc/s1600/DSCN2476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YYYvPgKizgw/UzWGuZj6uuI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/mF-Yz264Bzc/s1600/DSCN2476.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aldina and ringed neighbour on the same nests as last year</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k3ToDLsVjLw/UzWF-HsLZCI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/QNpMs9A57uY/s1600/DSCN2411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k3ToDLsVjLw/UzWF-HsLZCI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/QNpMs9A57uY/s1600/DSCN2411.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goncalo -same nest as last year</td></tr>
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<i> <span style="color: purple;">In the past few months over 30 storks have been caught on landfills and fitted with solar powered data loggers.</span></i></div>
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I visited quite a few of them recently in March by tracking them to their nests. They are being very well behaved this year! Unlike last year, some are in colonies and nests I am already following. Storks usually breeding in the same nest every year so this means I have previous years breeding history for them, which is fantastic news. Also unlike last year, this year many are in nests low enough to be reached with my camera pole. It was quite early in the season so most did not have eggs yet. However, some of the high quality breeding pairs already had a clutch of 5, including logged stork Alina. It will soon be possible to follow the new birds on the website of the BTO, I will let you know when.</div>
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I also visited some of the logged birds from last year. Although no longer transmitting they are back on the same nests and appear totally unaffected by carrying their loggers.<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">FUNDING</span></b><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i>My application for funding for fieldwork this summer was successful!</i></span><br />
Many thanks to the British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) for your support. Your money will be spent wisely!<br />
http://www.bou.org.uk/<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">CONFERENCES</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--doVjl5m4UM/UzWG2qTzqRI/AAAAAAAAA7g/ZAiBdis28XA/s1600/2014-03-03+17.12.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--doVjl5m4UM/UzWG2qTzqRI/AAAAAAAAA7g/ZAiBdis28XA/s1600/2014-03-03+17.12.05.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A questions session, Congresso de SPEA</td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: purple;">My first oral presentation at a conference: The VIII Congresso de Ornitologia da SPEA, Lisbon.</span></i> </div>
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http://congresso.spea.pt/pt/</div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">SPEA are the Birdlife Partners for Portugal. The White Stork is the SPEA bird of the year so it was very exciting to be making my oral presentation conference debut about them. I was quite nervous about it initially, but everyone was so friendly and interested in each others research that by the time the day of my talk arrived I was actually really looking forward to the opportunity to present my research. I presented the preliminary results of tracking my 15 adult storks from last year: how much they use the landfills, how it varies between winter and breeding season, and which non-landfill habitats they select. It lead to some very interesting discussions afterwards. A great opportunity to catch up with Portuguese colleagues and meet other researchers over many a long boozy Portuguese-style lunch!</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">CANNON NETTING</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;"><i>Attempting to catch Sanderlings at high tide roosts in salt pans.</i> </span></span></div>
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With Jose Alves, Teresa Catry and team. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hrH5PikoW-E/UzWF-OwR5fI/AAAAAAAAA7M/Xnhz8XjN5Pw/s1600/DSCN2342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hrH5PikoW-E/UzWF-OwR5fI/AAAAAAAAA7M/Xnhz8XjN5Pw/s1600/DSCN2342.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Digging in the cannons for a good firing angle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cannon. The charge is in the base and as it fires it carries <br />
the net attached to the shackle at the other end</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">DATA ANALYSIS</span></b><br />
<i><span style="color: purple;">More on that another day... there is too much to say!</span></i><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">IN OTHER NEWS</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Literally in the news</i>.</span> </div>
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As part of National Science Week team and as a STEM ambassador, I took my "Geology of Norfolk" work shop in to Great Yarmouth High School. It was run alongside 5 other hour long sessions run by UEA for the whole of year 10. The fossils mostly survived the occasion..... It made the local paper, though not as the headline piece:</div>
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http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/mobile/news/photo_gallery_5_4_3_2_1_great_yarmouth_students_science_lesson_goes_off_with_a_bang_after_rocket_launch_1_3452847</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Releasing a male adder</td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">VOLUNTEERING</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i>Spring has sprung, so it is survey season again at the consultancy branch of Norfolk Wildlife Trust</i></span>. </div>
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This will be my 3rd season as a Norfolk Wildlife Services (NWS) volunteer. Newts surveys are under way and I am also helping out with a series of adder hibernacula surveys too. This involves catching adders, photographing their heads to ID them, and GPSing their hibernaculum. It also involves gorgeous dawn walks on beautiful heaths!</div>
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><b>Now you know why I have been a bit slack with the updates! A feast of news on all the above subjects and more to come more frequently from now on, I promise.</b></span></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-4016673592532497602013-11-16T06:45:00.002-08:002013-11-17T04:22:21.724-08:00Standby.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: purple;"><b>Standby! Team Stork are waiting excitedly for news about funding...</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NRPorc5XOgE/UoYjDWeqduI/AAAAAAAAA0A/IabfBPZKufQ/s1600/DSCN0285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NRPorc5XOgE/UoYjDWeqduI/AAAAAAAAA0A/IabfBPZKufQ/s400/DSCN0285.JPG" width="400" /></a>Initial meetings have gone well and we should hear in a few weeks whether the funds will be released for us to attach more loggers to adult storks on Portuguese landfills this winter. I wont jinx it by saying any more about it now, just know that we are all very excited and have been tentatively getting ready to spring in to action the moment we get confirmation to go ahead.</div>
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<i>Reading over wintering stork rings, Portimao landfill, </i></div>
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<i>on a gorgeous hot </i><i>day in November. </i><i>Chilly, damp UK</i></div>
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<i>in November or Portuguese landfill in </i><i>November? </i></div>
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<i>Its a no brainer!</i></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pyptvTrJHpg/UoYikVwvldI/AAAAAAAAAz4/d7nfMCMAt1o/s1600/DSCN0270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pyptvTrJHpg/UoYikVwvldI/AAAAAAAAAz4/d7nfMCMAt1o/s320/DSCN0270.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a>This will sound very wrong to non birders (and some birders too) but I have been missing landfill! Not the stench, or the mud with the dubious bubbling black pools and the bits of unrecognisable floating stuff, but the ring reading. A whole day can fly in a flash by hunting back and forth through the ever changing sea of white stork legs hunting for those illusive colour rings!</div>
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<i>Yum! A circuit board! </i></div>
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<i>One of these fellas is colour ringed </i><i>but the legs </i></div>
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<i>closed </i><i>over it by the time I got out my camera.</i></div>
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<b>Here are some landfill photos to get you all excited with me!</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZJKIGKJbpg/UoYhoAQaKxI/AAAAAAAAAzY/vY3xk9qhJ1k/s1600/DSCN0217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZJKIGKJbpg/UoYhoAQaKxI/AAAAAAAAAzY/vY3xk9qhJ1k/s400/DSCN0217.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
The landfills are great for gull rings too. Peter Rock has been visiting landfills in Portugal to read gull rings almost since before I was born. Sadly this year we wont be meeting up to wash the unique landfill perfume from our throats over a few beers because he is already out there. All my gull ring sightings will be sent his way. All gull ring records are valuable -submit them to Peter Rock (pete.rock@blueyonder.co.uk)<br />
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<a href="http://www.cr-birding.org/node/85">http://www.cr-birding.org/node/85</a><br />
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<i>Above: Beja Landfill, where storks almost outnumber bags </i></div>
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<i>of garbage. There is always a good haul of colour </i></div>
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<i>rings </i><i>after a day here with a telescope</i>. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z545gXv7hGE/UoYhoWP6hDI/AAAAAAAAAzc/2-HaqPgLA-k/s1600/DSCN0150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z545gXv7hGE/UoYhoWP6hDI/AAAAAAAAAzc/2-HaqPgLA-k/s200/DSCN0150.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-22ZdVElJM0U/UoZGUbP8q0I/AAAAAAAAA00/ATSDGDQDMuc/s1600/DSCN0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-22ZdVElJM0U/UoZGUbP8q0I/AAAAAAAAA00/ATSDGDQDMuc/s400/DSCN0161.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Above: Taboueira landfill, Aveiro Above: Taveiro landfill, Coimbra</i></div>
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Due to EU directives, open landfills are closing. Aveiro and Coimbra have already closed and sealed -like the mound on the right in the Coimbra photo (above). Reading rings, both gulls and storks, will be a lot trickier in the future once scavenging on landfill is no longer possible and the birds disperse over the countryside.</div>
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<i>All the gulls flush accompanied by the thunder of poo on plastic....</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RUdQ3DZCiNU/UoYjdVqymhI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/sXNSMsem8T8/s1600/DSCN0288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RUdQ3DZCiNU/UoYjdVqymhI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/sXNSMsem8T8/s400/DSCN0288.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"></span><i>...far from shelter the only thing a ring reader </i><i>can </i></div>
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<i>do is improvise cover and wait for the </i><i>flock to </i><i>pass </i></div>
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<i>over, hopefully without too many direct hits. </i></div>
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<i> Daniel </i><i>Cadwallader knows whats coming! </i><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NxeVsrLSQ4/UoZEs1GXi4I/AAAAAAAAA0o/mqFIcinF7LE/s1600/2012-11-22+10.05.27+Clapnet+alvito+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NxeVsrLSQ4/UoZEs1GXi4I/AAAAAAAAA0o/mqFIcinF7LE/s400/2012-11-22+10.05.27+Clapnet+alvito+3.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pt9mgOnHqWI/UoeC5NMvgNI/AAAAAAAAA3M/5EcsqmPJU3g/s1600/Head+shot+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pt9mgOnHqWI/UoeC5NMvgNI/AAAAAAAAA3M/5EcsqmPJU3g/s200/Head+shot+2.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<i>Left: Preparing to catch storks. Ines Catry and Carlos Pacheco deploy the clap net at Alvito landfill, Right: a captured stork is hooded to prevent stress whilst the logger harness is fitted.</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SyIhG2NaFSo/UoeC8Yn_x-I/AAAAAAAAA3U/gJene8evJeM/s1600/PB141319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SyIhG2NaFSo/UoeC8Yn_x-I/AAAAAAAAA3U/gJene8evJeM/s320/PB141319.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i> Jose Alves, Phil Saunders and Daniel Cadwallader</i></div>
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<i> reading rings at Evora landfill whilst waiting for a </i></div>
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<i>stork to walk in to the traps.</i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sdAbA9fm7s0/UoeCh5ywZcI/AAAAAAAAA3E/ROztyDLo5ZE/s1600/2012-11-22+16.52.29+Alvito+armchair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sdAbA9fm7s0/UoeCh5ywZcI/AAAAAAAAA3E/ROztyDLo5ZE/s400/2012-11-22+16.52.29+Alvito+armchair.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: justify;">Letting you in to a secret here, if the funding doesn't come off I am thinking of taking some holiday and booking a long weekend in Portugal just to read rings on landfills!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-72985954400501157892013-09-02T06:40:00.004-07:002013-09-02T06:49:52.940-07:00Storks and Espionage!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: purple;">http://news.sky.com/story/1135591/stork-held-in-egypt-on-suspicion-of-spying</span></b> </div>
I never thought "Stork" and "Espionage" would appear in the same sentence! The bird is still in police custody so I really hope my storks do not get detained for questioning anywhere on their travels<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">!</span><b> </b></span>Coincidentally, this avian James Bond has similar colour rings to my birds: white letters on a blue background!<b><span style="color: purple;"> </span></b>It is part of a tracking project by a french team.<b><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></b><br />
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Here is another link to the great work my co-supervisors the BTO are doing with loggers on cuckoos. No accusations of spying yet for these birds:<b><span style="color: purple;"> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23867438 </span></b><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-66559047729991190392013-08-02T04:24:00.002-07:002013-08-02T04:32:51.120-07:00To Morocco and Beyond!<br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><i><b>Once again it has been a while
since my last blog post -(more from the lab and the reasons I have been
so busy in another update). The exciting news is that in the last few days 2 of the chicks
(Lucy and SPEA) have crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and are now in Morocco!</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i><b>BUT HOW FAR SOUTH WILL THEY GO DURING THE WINTER? </b></i></span> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>SPEA, from Beja to Morocco and fast moving south</i></td></tr>
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Storks are very opportunistic and go where the food is, therefore they are not faithful to any particular wintering site. Pairs do not winter together and only meet up again at the start of the next breeding season. Previous tracking studies have shown that some years a stork may stay in north Africa whilst the same individual the next year could travel all the way south to near Cape Town! Where will our logged chicks go? My guess is west Africa -perhaps Mali or Mauritania or as far south as Cameroon, but all bets are good. All suggestions are welcome so get in touch and tell me where you think they might go. </div>
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Tracking
the progress of the chicks alongside the logged adults should be
possible on the website of the BTO from the end of this week, once we
have sorted out technical issues getting the logger data to upload to
the website....</div>
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Nests get very crowded towards the end of the breeding season before the well grown chicks leave the nest. In the north of Portugal and near landfill sites it is not unusual to see 5 or even 6 chicks in one nest.</div>
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Chicks stay around the nest being fed by the adults for some days or even weeks after fledging.</div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><b>How do you tell a chick from an adult?</b></span></div>
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Until the final stages before fledging chicks have shorter, black bills where as the adults have longer, red bills. </div>
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When the chicks are older their bills start to turn red so it can be tricky to tell them apart from adults. If in doubt look at the rump, the adults black flight feathers overhang the tail where as the chicks are never longer than the tail, as can be seen in this photo => </div>
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For approximately the first 70 days of life the bill grow in direct proportion to the age so measuring bill length can be used to age the chick.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-5549077606875826342013-06-22T12:20:00.001-07:002013-06-22T12:28:47.082-07:00Chicks with Loggers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jZrUyEszATo/UcXtsByhepI/AAAAAAAAAOE/xEaaXbcAHik/s1600/058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jZrUyEszATo/UcXtsByhepI/AAAAAAAAAOE/xEaaXbcAHik/s320/058.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Lucy (3L+) fitted with her Micro Logger</i></span></td></tr>
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<i>Apologies for the long pause since my last post, fieldwork was hot and hectic but very successful and, as always, lots of fun. I visited all my study colonies to record number of chicks per nest and gather more samples. More on that in a later post. More importantly, you are, of course, all wanting to hear about the logged chicks! </i></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Firstly, my sincere thanks to all who generously donated money for loggers -and for supplying good, strong names for the chicks. May they live long and fly far<i>.</i></span></b></div>
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Unfortunately we could not fit loggers to the chicks of logged adults. The nests were inaccessibly high or the adults failed to raise any chicks.<i> </i>We even had the local firemen on standby to help us access Carlos's nest but when I visited the colony I discovered he had also failed to breed. Most disappointing not to have firemen helping me out in the field! </div>
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Instead the loggers were fitted to the chicks of non-logged adults in Nuno and Aldina's colonies.<br />
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<b>A map of the chicks movements will be uploaded to the BTO's website soon. </b></div>
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We deployed our usual loggers and trialled some new designs:</div>
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<b>Micro Logger: </b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RhgHYh2Ajvw/UcXuVXxbN-I/AAAAAAAAAOU/bI-7-_6iP_U/s1600/038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RhgHYh2Ajvw/UcXuVXxbN-I/AAAAAAAAAOU/bI-7-_6iP_U/s320/038.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The new, lighter, Micrologger (left) next to our usual logger. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i> This was fitted to Lucy (3L+).</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSvRDMWbWUQ/UcXucxWkeKI/AAAAAAAAAOc/b-W-BvI25kU/s1600/046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jSvRDMWbWUQ/UcXucxWkeKI/AAAAAAAAAOc/b-W-BvI25kU/s200/046.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><i>Solar panels: </i>Lighter still and longer lasting.</i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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<b>Solar Panels:</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-2s7IelTqA/UcXpjwwsuCI/AAAAAAAAANU/S_B345mBjcU/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-2s7IelTqA/UcXpjwwsuCI/AAAAAAAAANU/S_B345mBjcU/s320/044.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
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The solar panel loggers are notably tall so that once the logger settles
below the feathers the solar panel still receives sunlight.....</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XAoRqwuFCMA/UcXpvzV9eMI/AAAAAAAAANk/H67or3ZmAEM/s1600/048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XAoRqwuFCMA/UcXpvzV9eMI/AAAAAAAAANk/H67or3ZmAEM/s320/048.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">...and so like a little toy car when packed that some doodling was irresistible!</span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0fLmlFboph0/UcXt8hnakaI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/JR8bF361UEw/s1600/062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0fLmlFboph0/UcXt8hnakaI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/JR8bF361UEw/s320/062.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Aldina's chicks were deemed too small and under weight to carry loggers</i></td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--cTZ6eVIt8s/UcXqCFOX0LI/AAAAAAAAANs/iA0KxoVPG2s/s1600/052.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--cTZ6eVIt8s/UcXqCFOX0LI/AAAAAAAAANs/iA0KxoVPG2s/s320/052.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Like preparing to perform a medical operation:<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Carlos Pacheco getting organised for fitting harnesses.</i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nb0k9b4rB9w/UcXqXloonrI/AAAAAAAAAN0/E0G8Kn-NkOE/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nb0k9b4rB9w/UcXqXloonrI/AAAAAAAAAN0/E0G8Kn-NkOE/s400/054.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Bernado (3C+) fitted with his solar panel logger.</i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">With a huge thank you to Carlos Pacheco for helping me fit the loggers</span></b>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-764358382211204852013-05-21T09:30:00.002-07:002013-05-21T09:40:40.181-07:00*Donate to My Research Project and Name a Logged Chick!!!*<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: purple;">At the beginning of June I will be returning to Portugal to attach GPS/GSM data loggers to chicks in the nests of logged adults and I need your help to decide their names. </span></b></span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The stork chicks have hatched....</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qfEXk_-32_o/UZuU9h_0UaI/AAAAAAAAALM/G8kmG770Qwk/s1600/Picture+24+use+on+blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qfEXk_-32_o/UZuU9h_0UaI/AAAAAAAAALM/G8kmG770Qwk/s400/Picture+24+use+on+blog.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>....grown (here about 20-25 days old)....</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tam8s_hWVxQ/UZuU62Pd-HI/AAAAAAAAALE/v_lYHsnktrg/s1600/DSCN0010+older+chicks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tam8s_hWVxQ/UZuU62Pd-HI/AAAAAAAAALE/v_lYHsnktrg/s400/DSCN0010+older+chicks.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>....and are close to fledging..</i></td></tr>
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Partly assisted by kind donations from my blog readers I have funds for 8 loggers. These will be attached to the 2 heaviest chicks in 4 nests and I need your help to decide names for them! </div>
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Names of 3 chicks have already been decided but:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <i><span style="color: purple;">the next 5 people to donate to my research through this website will be offered the exciting opportunity to name the last 5 chicks. </span></i></span></div>
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The loggers should last for up to a year and the location of the chicks can be viewed on a live map on the website of the British Trust for Ornithology, just like the adults.<br />
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Will the logged chicks winter in Portugal or is the instinct to migrate to Africa stronger? Will they migrate with the logged parent? Where in Africa will they go?<br />
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<i>Find out the answer to these and other exciting questions by sponsoring a stork chick!</i></div>
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Loggers cost £100 each, but any amount you can spare would be very welcome! If I raise sufficient funds I will be able to fit more loggers, so donate without delay and name a stork chick! Currently, only the first 5 donors can name chicks, so be the first to donate!<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Donate through Paypal by clicking on the 'Support a Stork' link on the top right side of this page.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">Clicking on the "Donate" button takes you straight to Paypal so it is speedy and secure.</span></b></div>
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Update to follow on the progress of fund raising and stork chick naming -and of course photos of the loggers being fitted.</div>
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Thank you to all!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-61418509694089819802013-05-11T03:17:00.002-07:002013-05-11T03:17:56.586-07:00Duck Migratory Decisions Also Linked to Warmer European Winter TemperaturesStorks are not the only species whose migratory decisions are impacted by warmer European winter temperatures. Here a link to an article about UK ducks:<br />
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22484907Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-30180278939483590342013-05-10T07:52:00.000-07:002013-05-10T11:02:07.637-07:00Chicks of Logged Birds<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Breeding season is well underway. Despite a
few days of high winds experienced over most of Portugal, this season seems set
to be a good year for breeding storks with no sign of the rain and low
temperatures in the crucial first weeks after hatching that caused many nests
to fail last year.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">The birds do not all breed in synchrony together and so far
I have seen chicks ranging from just hatched to 30 days old whilst some adults are
still incubating eggs. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Our logged birds feature along the full length of this
spectrum: Ricardo's chicks being oldest and Carlos perhaps still on
eggs (or his chicks too young for their heads to appear above the sides of
the nest yet). Here are some photos of the logged birds with captions about their progress:</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666;">LEFT: </span>Brutus regurgitating food for his chicks. The head of one can be seen
next to his bill. Brutus appears to have 3 chicks, although his nest is
deep so this is not confirmed because his chicks are still small.</i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MG7gEpjCwE4/UYzwl_TFulI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/ZgeVmo34wus/s1600/Picture+14.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MG7gEpjCwE4/UYzwl_TFulI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/ZgeVmo34wus/s400/Picture+14.png" width="400" /></a><i><span style="color: white;">ssss ssss ssss ssss ssss ssss ssss sss</span> <span style="color: #666666;"> </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="color: #666666;">RIGHT:</span> Aldina (left) had 3 eggs and all these have hatched. </i><i>Her chicks are still young and small which is why they are not visible in this picture. Her neighbours 4 chicks (right), just visible as white bundles, are about 3 weeks older than Aldinas chicks. Aldina's chicks are the youngest of all the chicks in this colony.</i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #666666;">BELOW</span>: A blurry shot of Aldinas 3 10 day old chicks huddled together. </i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: white;">sss ssssssss ss sssss ssss ssss</span> <span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #666666;">RIGHT:</span> The
biggest nests are usually occupied by the highest quality breeders. </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Ricardo has
a big nest on a pylon. His chicks are the oldest of all the logged
birds. The heads of 2 20-30day old chicks can just be
seen above the top of the nest.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: small;">LEFT</span></span>: Carlos is the only logged bird nesting alone rather than in a colony. His nest is on a tall purpose<span style="font-size: small;">-</span>built
post topped with a nest platform. No heads of chicks have been seen
yet, so I think he is still on eggs. Compare the nest size with Ricardo<span style="font-size: small;">'s<span style="font-size: small;">. Carlos has a much smaller nest.</span></span></i></span></i></span></span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white;">RIGHT: </span></span>Phil has chosen to nest in a beautiful, old Cork Oak tree. His nest
is low enough to see in to and has 4 very young chicks under 1 week old.
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XElDmTekdFQ/UYzrSXYZv1I/AAAAAAAAAJk/Bt2PtS3c0hc/s1600/Picture+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XElDmTekdFQ/UYzrSXYZv1I/AAAAAAAAAJk/Bt2PtS3c0hc/s400/Picture+6.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: small;">LEFT</span>: </span>Nathalie
on a branch above her nest. If you click on the photo to enlarge it and
look closely you can just see the logger on her back</i>. </span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Sadly, Sara's breeding attempt seems to have failed
in the last few days. I visited her nest on 5th May and saw no sign of her, her partner or
any eggs/chicks. After a day or so without transmitting she suddenly abandoned her breeding site and is now in Spain. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The reasons
behind her breeding failure are unknown. The weather has been good and
predation is unlikely because there is always an adult in attendance at the
nest. It is possible that late returning migrants out-competed her for her nest
however I saw no other adults at her nest. It is possible her partner died or
she is a young, inexperienced mum and was not tending her chicks with
sufficient care and therefore they did not survive. It is not uncommon for
first-time breeders to fail. It is unlikely that she will attempt to breed
again this year. </span><span lang="EN-US">Will Sara migrate to Africa now that her
breeding season is
over? Or will she stay in Iberia?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Keep checking up on the storks movements at the </span></i><span lang="EN-US"><i>BTO's website to see
where Sara goes (follow the link to the BTO stork tracking pages on the
front page of my blog). </i></span></span></div>
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<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-27678716121317558382013-05-02T23:37:00.003-07:002013-05-02T23:37:20.861-07:00Storks in the News II<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v3yAQ45O0TI/UYNTdJOq-OI/AAAAAAAAAI8/zna_Dkc4740/s1600/Picture+10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v3yAQ45O0TI/UYNTdJOq-OI/AAAAAAAAAI8/zna_Dkc4740/s320/Picture+10.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Carlos (3V+) on his nest near Alvito. I suspect he is on eggs as no chicks heads were seen</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Breeding season is well under way here in Portugal. Many storks have chicks, particularly in the north of the country, whilst the chicks are slightly younger in the south and many birds there are still on eggs. (I am still trying to figure out the reason behind this trend for earlier breeding in the north). I will be uploading photos of chicks of various ages just as soon as I have had a chance to sort through them all!</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
High winds and a sudden drop in temperature for a few days last week have caused havoc in some regions, particularly the Algarve. I was contacted with concern from Portimao where apparently nests have been blown to pieces and chicks left exposed. I shall be back there in a few days to check on the damage for myself. The nests in this area are part of my study and they were doing so well when I visited at the end of April!</div>
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The storks are well loved here in Portugal and the plight of the chicks has touched peoples hearts. <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Portugal News</i>, Portugal's largest English language newspaper, is running a story and asked for my comments. Portuguese readers look our for that article!<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SM5gEPWTgps/UYNW4oWm8vI/AAAAAAAAAJM/UEFtX4JIZnw/s1600/DSCN1105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SM5gEPWTgps/UYNW4oWm8vI/AAAAAAAAAJM/UEFtX4JIZnw/s320/DSCN1105.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nest on the Spanish border blown down by recent high winds</i></td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-56388353118392554102013-04-23T15:28:00.001-07:002013-04-23T15:29:53.044-07:00Fieldwork Round 2 –Back in Sunny Portugal<style>
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</style><span lang="EN-US">For the past few
weeks I have been busy in the lab at UEA doing analysis of stable isotopes of
Carbon and Nitrogen from more lesser kestrel and roller feathers (see my blog
post <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forensic Ecology</i> for more about
this). </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">I have also been
preparing the samples collected last fieldtrip: cleaning the eggshell samples
of all organic material and freeze drying the egg contents. The eggs did not
smell as bad as I feared when defrosted, although I worked under the fume hood
just in case! The freeze drier
is a cooled chamber attached to a vacuum pump. Freeze drying removes the water
from the samples. As eggs are 90% water this took 6 days.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3o-uHrLPqiE/UXcCLorjcHI/AAAAAAAAAIY/9cwM9vV_Zi4/s1600/DSCN0702.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3o-uHrLPqiE/UXcCLorjcHI/AAAAAAAAAIY/9cwM9vV_Zi4/s320/DSCN0702.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l04GNAXPs0I/UXcCkSyM60I/AAAAAAAAAIo/S5cFvEvbezM/s1600/DSCN0705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l04GNAXPs0I/UXcCkSyM60I/AAAAAAAAAIo/S5cFvEvbezM/s320/DSCN0705.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Right: Anyone fancy a shot? Egg
contents samples looking surprisingly pretty in their variety of colours. They
actually look rather drinkable, like a refreshing fruit shot -especially as you
cant smell them in a photo!</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-US">Left: Egg shots in the freeze drier.</span></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Today I landed
in Faro, Portugal, to check up on the progress of breeding season and collect
more samples. UK readers it is safe to read on. Faro is the same temperature as
UK today: sunny, blue skies and 21<sup>0</sup>C! The only difference is that the air here is wonderfully perfumed with the scent of citrus from all the orange groves. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I will visit
over 50 colonies gradually work my way north to the beautiful town of Aveiro,
then across Portugal and back south along the Spanish border. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Expect frequent
updates on the logged birds and other breeding season news over the next few
weeks.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-11052791513529431332013-04-21T13:45:00.001-07:002013-04-21T14:34:02.484-07:00How Many Eggs?<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzoYk3-VWta1YjBLhCB7k8XAq65TcoaqzlDyvpnKNgXfgVla3Pp6zVv8VFXpdQLboM88tUR5UFa-EdtvicjgQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span style="color: white;">ssssssssssssssssssssssss </span><i>A view with my camera pole into Aldina's nest.</i><br />
<span style="color: white;">sssssssssssssssssssssssss</span> <i>(for photos of Aldina on her nest see previous blog post.)</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It has been a while since my last post. I have been busy doing ...
everything! More about that tomorrow. First of all, some video of eggs
in storks nests. The footage is somewhat shaky as the camera is lifted to nest height. How many eggs do they have?<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: white;">ssssssssssssssssssssssssss</span> <i>A very large clutch on a wooden telegraph pole in a colony near <span style="color: white;">ssssssssssssssssssssssssss</span> Evora landfill. W</i><i>ill all the eggs hatch? Will all the hatchlings fledge?</i><br />
<i><span style="color: white;">sssssssssssssssssssssssssss</span> More updates later in the breeding season. </i><br />
<i><span style="color: white;">ssssssssssssssssssssssssss</span> </i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-28050833240934633592013-03-30T13:29:00.006-07:002013-03-31T04:54:26.745-07:00Nesting Logged Birds<style>
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<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Left: Aldina (3Y+) is nesting on a ruin amid cork oak grassland. She is the left hand bird on the nest marked by the arrow.</i><br />
<i>Right: The logger has settled below Aldina's feathers, only her blue colour rings (just visible in this shot) ID her.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Studying the GPS positions of the logged birds has allowed me to work
out where they might be nesting –especially now the birds are spending more time
at their nests because the breeding season is getting underway. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mWq1HZR-39I/UVdJJ1FK58I/AAAAAAAAAIA/r69zeKZwwmE/s1600/Brutus+record+shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mWq1HZR-39I/UVdJJ1FK58I/AAAAAAAAAIA/r69zeKZwwmE/s320/Brutus+record+shot.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Brutus (3W+) head down tidying his nest in a Eucalyptus tree</i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Part of my fieldwork involves visiting the nests to gather data. It is
great to see the logged birds are all doing well and are apparently completely
unaffected by their logger back-packs. These quickly sunk down into the feathers,
which (most importantly) minimizes drag in flight but also keeps the loggers dry and
safe from exposure to the elements. The loggers are not even visible as a hump on
the storks backs! Only the blue colour rings on each leg indicate to me which
storks are my logged birds.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: left;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Excuse the quality of my logged bird photos. They were taken through my
telescope and Nuno was photographed in heavy rain. Most of the logged birds are
in nests too high to view in to, with the exception of Aldina. She is in a
colony of 10 nests had 3 eggs when I visited - and may even lay more eggs. More
updates on her progress and hopefully photos of her chicks as the season
progresses.</span></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LORTel2pK5M/UVdJKYPSrNI/AAAAAAAAAIE/BidnC7XrWSw/s1600/Nuno+Record+Shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LORTel2pK5M/UVdJKYPSrNI/AAAAAAAAAIE/BidnC7XrWSw/s320/Nuno+Record+Shot.png" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> </i></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span> </div>
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<i>Nuno (37+) hunkered down in heavy rain on his nest </i></div>
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<i>in a Eucalyptus tree. Although other members of his </i></div>
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<i>colony have started laying it is likely that Nuno does </i></div>
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<i>not yet to have eggs because he was not incubating </i></div>
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<i>them, despite the rain.</i></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-49300803638363149072013-03-23T15:27:00.002-07:002013-03-23T16:11:47.022-07:00An Early Easter Egg Hunt<style>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8wZygEDm0Kg/UU4nAfsp_UI/AAAAAAAAAG4/5rjj9zXrgAw/s1600/DSCN0394OakGrassland+BEST.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8wZygEDm0Kg/UU4nAfsp_UI/AAAAAAAAAG4/5rjj9zXrgAw/s400/DSCN0394OakGrassland+BEST.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another great day in my office!</span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span></i></h3>
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<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I hear it is predicted to be the coldest March weekend for 50 years and
snowing in most of the UK at the moment? </span></i></h3>
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<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">UK readers skip to the next paragraph
immediately…. </span></i></h3>
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<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span></i></h3>
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<i><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span></i></h3>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IMEKPZt4dRw/UU4nWw-JYxI/AAAAAAAAAHY/GLUYyU7QpCo/s1600/DSCN0401Olive+trees+flowers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IMEKPZt4dRw/UU4nWw-JYxI/AAAAAAAAAHY/GLUYyU7QpCo/s320/DSCN0401Olive+trees+flowers.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Wild flowers in an olive grove on the Spanish border</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">….or weep as I describe the blue
skies and warm sun in Portugal; how my spring fieldwork is not on landfill sites but mostly consists of wandering
in sunny fields bright with spectacular purple, yellow and white drifts of wild
flowers. The blossom is out on the fruit trees, swallows skim low over the
gently nodding heads of vipers burgloss, lavender, rocket, lupins, dwarf iris
and chamomile; and my footsteps through the long grass send butterflies
scattering in to the air: Whites, Painted Ladies, Swallowtails and Blues. Did
you know that all the UK’s Painted Lady butterflies are migrants? Neither these
nor most of the swallows will be arriving in the UK for quite some time yet… </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This is Portugal at its finest, before the hot summer sun browns the meadow
grass. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PMNQ3-9E5sE/UU4nKKJGcCI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/7YLU2GD1W4Q/s1600/Picture+1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PMNQ3-9E5sE/UU4nKKJGcCI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/7YLU2GD1W4Q/s320/Picture+1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>First prize in my Easter egg hunt: shell plus contents!</i></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><i>Safe to read now...</i></span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It is not all paradise though. As well as tracking the logged birds (the
subject of my next blog post) I have been visiting stork nests to see how many
eggs have been laid, and to collect regurgitated pellets and egg shell -2
Easter egg hunts in one! </span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Despite the wild flowers, the meadow directly below a stork’s
nest is not a pretty sight –covered in smelly unsavoury poo and debris that I rummage
through. Hunting through brambles, wildflowers and stands of tall nettles,
eggshell is usually well hidden. Is that speck of white nestled deep against
the soil a fragment of eggshell? Usually it is just light reflecting off a
eucalyptus leaf, or a poo splatter, litter, a white stone or a bleached snail
shell…. The anticipation of the hunt keeps me interested for hours!</span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Similarly viewing in to nests to see how many eggs have been laid is
like sharing a secret with each stork! </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CQ9odsdui-w/UU4nCHlgnCI/AAAAAAAAAHA/8wCM-L848EU/s1600/DSCN0434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CQ9odsdui-w/UU4nCHlgnCI/AAAAAAAAAHA/8wCM-L848EU/s320/DSCN0434.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">How many eggs have you laid so far...?</span></i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lD6mr6yofA4/UU4uLPkOB2I/AAAAAAAAAHo/Vx2MSr1rqsQ/s1600/Picture+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lD6mr6yofA4/UU4uLPkOB2I/AAAAAAAAAHo/Vx2MSr1rqsQ/s320/Picture+3.png" width="263" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><br /></b></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><br /></b></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b><br /></b></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><br />
<i>Storks usually lay 1-6 eggs but only manage to rear 1-4 chicks. Last year bad weather resulted in very bad breeding success. Keep following my blog to see if this year is a good or bad year for the storks </i><i><i><span style="font-size: small;">breeding </span></i>in Portugal.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VSeElRxBudo/UU4nIHuV5iI/AAAAAAAAAHI/HGtzhrt6QDM/s1600/DSCN0627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VSeElRxBudo/UU4nIHuV5iI/AAAAAAAAAHI/HGtzhrt6QDM/s320/DSCN0627.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Im a bit wildflower obsessed after the long UK winter: <span style="font-size: small;">Rocket, lupins</span> and Cork Oak logs</i></span></td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-91426497108234967272013-03-10T09:54:00.004-07:002013-03-10T09:54:42.746-07:00Field Season Begins!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CH4mQizpqcs/UTy2OSCVIaI/AAAAAAAAAGo/gZdSAUuuvO0/s1600/DSCN0215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CH4mQizpqcs/UTy2OSCVIaI/AAAAAAAAAGo/gZdSAUuuvO0/s400/DSCN0215.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Like planning a military campaign! Maps of all my colonies</i></td></tr>
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Tomorrow I leave for not-so-sunny Portugal! It has been raining a lot there recently but hopefully this will not make the tiny country tracks too difficult to drive down because I want to visit the colonies of all the logged birds.<br />
<br />
As you can see from the picture I have been studying high resolution maps marking the location of stork nests to see if any are likely to correspond to the nests of logged birds. I love maps so having many of them spread out across the table in front of me is right up my street. It feels more like being an explorer or planning a historic sea battle than putting the finishing touches to field work!<br />
<br />
Ne<b>x</b>t post from Portugal. I shall be visiting colonies at first and last light to see which nests are occupied and also tracking logged birds. Keep checking the BTOs website and my blog for the latest stork news!<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Thanks to all of you who have donated to Support a Stork so far, your funds are hugely appreciated!</h3>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-62004274526079835082013-03-07T00:21:00.002-08:002013-03-07T03:05:34.511-08:00Forensic Ecology<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t38F6AQc_Ro/UThJji56UnI/AAAAAAAAAGA/2PNuxBsqjHY/s1600/Roller+feathers+&+bottles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t38F6AQc_Ro/UThJji56UnI/AAAAAAAAAGA/2PNuxBsqjHY/s320/Roller+feathers+&+bottles.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Gorgeous blue Roller feather samples plus cleaning chemicals</i></span></td></tr>
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-</style><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>I use stable
isotopes of Hydrogen, Carbon and Nitrogen from feathers and claws to determine
if a bird wintered in Iberia or Africa. This is the bit of my research that
non-scientists least understand, so how does it work?</b> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>In a
nutshell</b> a stable isotope is one of 2 or more naturally occurring forms of the
same element. They demonstrate the same chemical properties and vary only in
the number of neutrons in the nucleus. This means the only difference between
them is a slight variation in weight. They are stable because they do not decay
over time like radioactive isotopes. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In food webs the heavier isotope is
usually less common than the lighter form and I measure these tiny differences
in weight ratios in a mass spectrometer. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jBtSRp4tkV0/UThJnCkRrdI/AAAAAAAAAGI/WOq0spTuflQ/s1600/Isotope+weighing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jBtSRp4tkV0/UThJnCkRrdI/AAAAAAAAAGI/WOq0spTuflQ/s320/Isotope+weighing.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Samples are weighed out into tin capsules and folded very small</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Fractionation</b>. Various naturally
occurring biochemical processes (eg rainwater evaporation, body metabolism) alter
the ratios of stable isotopes at the base of the food chain (fractionation) and
these isotopic signatures are taken up by all species through diet and drinking
water and become permanently fixed in hair, nails and feathers after growth. This
means the stable isotope ratios in my feathers and claw samples reflect the
values in the local food web where they were grown and are unchanged when a
bird migrates to a new, isotopically distinct location. From this inferences
can be made about the location where the feathers were grown.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>My Analysis.</b> At the
moment I am simultaneously analysing Carbon (13C/12C) and Nitrogen (15N/14N) -expect
a blog about Hydrogen (2H/1H) later. Nitrogen is used to distinguish trophic
position in the food chain and to detect changes between marine and freshwater
diets; not so applicable for my birds so I am more interested in Carbon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6njx-Vf-SXQ/UThJt0fMWQI/AAAAAAAAAGY/vbyeOACaAy8/s1600/Mass+Specs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6njx-Vf-SXQ/UThJt0fMWQI/AAAAAAAAAGY/vbyeOACaAy8/s400/Mass+Specs.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The 2 furnaces for the mass spectrometer. The red 'Vecstar' furnace for C/N next to the 'Costech' furnace used for H</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><b>Forensic Ecology. </b>Carbon isotopic
ratios indicate what sort of habitat the feather/nail was grown. This is
because C<sub>3</sub> and C<sub>4</sub>/CAM photosynthetic pathway plants
fractionate Carbon isotopes differently by each using a different enzyme to
grab CO<sub>2</sub> out of the air at the first step of photosynthesis. Most temperate
latitude plants are C3 pathway species (eg wheat, potatoes). C4 plants (eg
sugarcane) dominate in tropical and subtropical latitudes and have higher d13C
ratios than C3 pathway plants. This means I can tell what sort of plan life was
at the base of the food chain where the feather was grown and this helps me
decide whether the bird spent the winter in a temperate or (sub)tropical region.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It is all pretty
amazing! –but not without various problems in data interpretation which I am
sure I shall go in to (read: rant about) at some point!</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UetN0RjF_hk/UThJrXyD97I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/bDNtPqalsdk/s1600/C:N+screen+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UetN0RjF_hk/UThJrXyD97I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/bDNtPqalsdk/s400/C:N+screen+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The output screen: 2 square peaks of reference gas, then a small Nitrogen peak. The jump to Carbon (more visible as a line in the top graph) then a taller Carbon peak and 2 square reference peaks -the second just being produced. The Carbon peak is taller because feathers contain more Carbon than Nitrogen.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-6371029711381837492013-03-01T05:39:00.000-08:002013-03-01T05:39:01.941-08:00Storks in the NewsScience Daily have published a news article about my storks:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130227085845.htm" target="_blank">http://www.sciencedaily.com/<wbr></wbr>releases/2013/02/130227085845.<wbr></wbr>htm</a><br />
<br />Enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-53114465029903148372013-02-22T13:57:00.004-08:002013-02-22T14:53:27.485-08:00This Blog Is Not Just About Birds -a non birdy post to prove it!<style>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7xMeBAh7Lhg/USfoJ4iSKiI/AAAAAAAAAFs/lRVo8dDNb10/s1600/Hunstanton+Earths+Chemical+Processes+2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7xMeBAh7Lhg/USfoJ4iSKiI/AAAAAAAAAFs/lRVo8dDNb10/s400/Hunstanton+Earths+Chemical+Processes+2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow on the awesome cliffs at Hunstanton on the undergrad field trip</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">This blog (and my PhD) is not just about birds. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Assisting on fieldtrips is always a welcome
change from being desk or lab-bound –and not badly paid either! Yesterday I
went to Hunstanton on the Norfolk coast to assist on an undergrad fieldtrip for
the 'Earths Chemical Processes' module. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoy delving back in to my old undergrad territory of Earth
Sciences.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The coast always looks beautiful with the
huge expanse of sweeping sand and the distant wind turbines out over the flat
sea –if bitterly cold! Both years I have assisted on this fieldtrip snow has been falling. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The cliffs at Hunstanton are very striking.
They tell a tale of slowly rising sea level from the dark brown estuarine
conglomerate at the base, through the warm brown carstone sand deposited just offshore; and continuing up to
the red and white chalks laid down over millions of years far from land in a
warm, deep sea. As my group chipped samples from the cliffs with geological
hammers ready for lab analysis next week, we encountered fossils: belemnites
(extinct squid), echinoids (sea urchins) and fossil worm burrows. Apparently you can find sharks teeth here too, although I
never have despite many visits collecting samples for various workshops. If
anyone has found sharks teeth here let me know, my optimism for finding a
sharks tooth in the Hunstanton geology needs topping up!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-51539737431064653382013-02-20T02:31:00.003-08:002013-02-20T02:33:59.498-08:00And We're Live!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q9-13nSRg7I/USSksia05JI/AAAAAAAAAFc/NFustFFlZ3U/s1600/Picture+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q9-13nSRg7I/USSksia05JI/AAAAAAAAAFc/NFustFFlZ3U/s320/Picture+6.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where is Goncalo now? Find out on the BTOs live interactive map!</td></tr>
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How exciting! The stork pages are now live on the website of the British Trust for Ornithology:</div>
http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/stork-tracking<br />
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An extra special welcome if you have found me from the links on the BTOs website.</div>
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Field season is approaching so I will be updating the BTOs blog and my blog here on a regular basis. At the moment I am busy in the stable isotope lab but have flights booked to head out to Portugal in mid March to start following the breeding season in my colonies up and down Portugal. Expect updates on lab and field work, logged storks and the beautiful country of Portugal soon. Click to follow my blog and get all the news as it happens! Plus the stork movements will be uploaded daily to the map on the BTOs website so keep checking the whereabouts of the birds.</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-76656927810322213942013-02-14T09:36:00.003-08:002013-02-14T09:36:54.514-08:00The Mystery of 35+<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DuikyTxKl-Q/UR0b9UNaBpI/AAAAAAAAAFM/_2SJjBAdoLA/s1600/Logger+14,+Daniel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DuikyTxKl-Q/UR0b9UNaBpI/AAAAAAAAAFM/_2SJjBAdoLA/s320/Logger+14,+Daniel.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Have you taken your logger off, Daniel?</td></tr>
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At the end of January logger 14 started transmitting overlapping GPS co-ordinates, signifying it was not moving. Was the bird dead or had he somehow lost his logger? I am in UK at the moment working in the lab (a blog post on that soon) and preparing to fly out to sunny Portugal for the start of my next field season, so Carlos Pacheco kindly went to the site. It is a pretty, rural location between the towns of Castro Verde and Beja in South-central Portugal. White Storks flew off from about 30 nests but, despite searching, there was no sign of the logger or a dead stork. This means there are now 14 active loggers instead of 15, but the good news is it seems Daniel is not dead. Perhaps he managed to remove his logger and it is lying out of sight in a nest? I shall up date you on whether I manage to catch sight of Daniel when I visit this location in a few weeks. If any of my readers are out in Portugal and see blue ring +35 do let me know. See 'How You Can Help' tab for more details. </div>
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I had hoped to recover all the loggers when they fall off (hopefully later rather than sooner!) by visiting the location of the overlapping co-ordinates, it looks like this one may have escaped!</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-20148474225284668872013-01-27T10:07:00.001-08:002013-01-27T10:11:03.413-08:00Submit all Your Sightings of Ringed Birds!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AOAHK2cfLbs/UQVsRUMarvI/AAAAAAAAAEY/g2YYpct_Dyo/s1600/Picture+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AOAHK2cfLbs/UQVsRUMarvI/AAAAAAAAAEY/g2YYpct_Dyo/s320/Picture+2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">Whilst catching storks on Portuguese
landfill sites over the winter we also read over 200 stork colour rings. Many
gulls also visit landfill sites so I am not the only researcher who braves the
horrible sights and disgusting smells seeking ringed birds in the name of
science. Last November I met Peter Rock on a Portuguese landfill. He is
interested in behavioural differences between rural and urban gulls and uses
resightings of ringed birds to follow their movements. I always try to assist
him by noting down any gull rings I see when I am on the landfill, and he notes
down stork rings for me. There are many gull ringing schemes and Peter sends my
records off to the relevant recorders. Replies from them have been flooding in.
Gulls I recorded on landfill in Portugal have been ringed in NW England, Norway
and France –one was even a bird Peter had himself ringed in Bristol! Ringing
schemes provide marvelous insights into animal movement but they only work if
people submit their sightings. Always send any ringed bird sightings to your
local recorder or bird group and they will know who to forward them on to. If
you are in Portugal, Spain or anywhere in Africa keep a look out for ringed
storks for me!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544962146299825797.post-66908935680995742092013-01-17T03:43:00.001-08:002013-01-17T03:43:13.890-08:00Welcome to my website!Welcome! This site will slowly be put together over the next few weeks to accompany the exciting White Stork data logger project shortly to be highlighted on the BTOs website. This project forms a major part of my PhD and should generate lots of useful data.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0