Guest blog by Dr. Innes Sim Conservation Scientist at the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science
In my previous blogs 'Unravelling what is needed to save the Ring ouzel', 'Searching for the Super-Ouzel' and 'First Ring ouzel nestlings emerge' I introduced you to the super Ring ouzel who is raising his 13th brood. Read more about our observations from the field this month.
Weather perhaps too dry to find earthworms?
This summer has been one of the driest since we began studying ouzels in Glen Clunie in 1998. While this is great news for us, meaning that we can leave our waterproofs in our rucksacks, this might not be such good news for the ouzels. They depend largely on earthworms as food at this time of year, and the dry weather may have forced the worms deeper into the soil, making them harder for the adults to find.
Average brood size at ringing in successful nests is 3.3 for 1st broods this year, compared to the 1998-2015 average of 3.5, which suggests that the dry weather may be having a negative impact on the ability of the ouzels to rear young this summer. So, it would be nice (at least for the ouzels) to have a little more rain in the coming weeks!
Photo showing another sunny and dry day in Glen Clunie
Time for chick ringing
Every year we try to individually colour-ring as many chicks as possible, so that any that return to breed in future years can be identified without having to catch them. The best time to ring the chicks is when they are 7-10 days of age, before they fledge at 13-14 days of age.
Photo of a 9 day old chick being colour-ringed. This chick can now be individually identified if it is sighted again
GPS-tagged bird re-trapped
The good news is that we have managed to catch one of the three males that were fitted with GPS tags in 2015, and have returned this summer. However, it looks like there has been a problem with the data recording on this tag, and so we might not be able to track it’s movements since it left Glen Clunie last autumn. This is very frustrating, but I guess this is always a possibility when you are using cutting-edge technology. Hopefully we will be able to catch the other 2 birds, and fingers crossed that their tags will provide us with crucial information on where they go outside the breeding season.
Super-ouzel fledges another brood
Our star bird has now fledged his 13th brood (of 4 young) in his 8th year of breeding in Glen Clunie, with no breeding failures recorded! Hopefully he and his new partner will go on to have a second successful breeding attempt this summer.
Photo of super-ouzel watching us while we ring his first brood this year