CORINNA FOUND THIS DODO CAKE

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/879461-the-dodo-returns-as-a-cake-in-a-weird-food-exhibition

CORINNA AND A BABY EARTH-PIG

http://cryptochick.blogspot.com/2012/02/is-foraardvark.html

IS THERE A KIND PERSON OUT THERE THAT CAN HELP WITH OUR NEW MAGNUM OPUS

Believe it or not, our long-awaited new book recounting our adventures in Texas a couple of years ago, and going through seven years of blue dog research, is well under way and I think that the end might even be in sight. All indications are that it is going to be bloody big as well.

Is there anyone out there who would like to help? I need some interviews transcribed. If I email you a mp3 file would one of you good people like to transcribe it for me?

What NICE folk you all are.

P.S. Tabitca thinks the cover is scary. I was only going for a cute Miles Davis reference

JON'S JOURNAL: Identify these waders

Corinna, Prudence and I went to Northam Burrows again yesterday, and we saw three species of bird for the first time this year.

One was a lapwing (V. vanellus), which have always been favourite birds of mine.

The other two were waders, and before you watch this short film that I put together this evening, please note that I am not claiming that these are spectacularly rare or of any cryptozoological importance whatsoever, but merely that I would like some help in identifying them. I am terribly rusty on my British birds, and although when I was a boy (and my grandmother, who was a keen bird watcher was alive) I knew them all, I am far less certain on my identifications nowadays.

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Red kites, Glossy Ibis and Thrushes (two different ones)

As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time, Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... about out of place birds, rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and Fortean.

Because we live in strange times, there are more and more bird stories that come her way, so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones...

Poisoned red kite ninth to die
A breeding female red kite has become the ninth of this species to die from illegal poisoning according to park rangers. It had been nesting on a farm near Redcross, Co Wicklow, and was found near Brittas Bay late last year.

Red kite project manager Dr Marc Ruddock said it was a demoralising loss. "These birds are specialist scavengers, that's why they are finding these food sources which are sadly poisoned. They are designed to clean up the countryside," he said.

"These illegal actions jeopardise local biodiversity and the economically important and deserved reputation and profile natural Wicklow cherishes."

Dr Ruddock called for anyone with information on poisonings to contact local National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers and gardai to help identify and confront individuals repeatedly and illegally poisoning wildlife. Penalties for illegally poisoning birds of prey can be up to 5,000 euro or 12 years in prison.

Read more at: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jLSzhK068QMN_t3vFfbqi_AhODwA?docId=N0173911327676120364A


Thrushes identification
The BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) has been helping householders to identify the difference between the commonly confused song (Turdus philomelos) and mistle thrush (Turdus viscivorus) and has launched a free guide to help. These birds are both of conservation concern and it is important that their numbers are counted correctly.

Tim Harrison of the BTO Garden Ecology Team commented: “Research shows that urbanised habitats have become very important for Song (LEFT) and Mistle (RIGHT) Thrushes. With broader concerns about the health of their populations, charting their numbers in gardens correctly is important.”

He added: “BTO data show that Song Thrushes had a bumper breeding season in 2011, but with so many inexperienced birds now on the scene it is important that we help them as best we can. This is done by providing food and water, and also by recording them accurately. This is where the free BTO guide will help.”

For the free BTO guide to Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush, email gbw@bto.org, telephone 01842 750050, or write to:

Thrushes Guide,
GBW, British Trust for Ornithology,
The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU.

Preview the free BTO Song Thrush vs. Mistle Thrush guide here
Picture Credits: The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)

Rare wetland birds spotted on the Isle of Eigg
The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is classed as a scarce visitor to our shores, but during this winter there have been sporadic sightings in the northwest and the southwest of England, and south Wales. It is a wader that feeds in very shallow water, and nests in fresh water among reeds or rushes in areas of low trees and bushes. This month a group of them has been spotted on the Isle of Eigg, which is a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve. The Trust’s ranger on the Isle of Eigg, John Chester, said:

“Ibises are a very noteworthy species within the UK & especially here in west Scotland. As a first record for the island they have generated a lot of interest amongst the local people many of whom have been able to see the birds.

“We’re not sure as yet where these birds originated from, though it seems that it could be Spain or France. However as one of them is ringed we’ll hopefully be able to obtain more information on this.

“Why exactly they’ve turned up on Eigg, especially in such a wild & wet winter, is a real mystery but they certainly seem to be having no trouble finding food in the heavily flooded marshes.

“Hopefully they’ll continue to hang around for a while & are enjoying the Hebridean winter.”

Read more at: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/rare-wetland-birds-spotted-on-the-isle-of-eigg/
Picture credit: Wikipedia – Glossy Ibis breeding plumage

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Cuckoo special

As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... about out of place birds, rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and Fortean.

Because we live in strange times there are more and more bird stories that come her way so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones...

Tracking Cuckoos into Africa
The cuckoo is ‘red-listed’ due to it being one of the UK’s fastest declining migrants. It has always been one of those migrants whose travelling we knew least about. In 2011 the BTO attached satellite-tracking devices to five cuckoos in Norfolk so as to study their migratory habits and hopefully learn more about the cause of their decline. The project is funded by a partnership between the BBC Wildlife Fund, BTO members (through the 2010 Christmas raffle) and Essex & Suffolk Water.
Clement, Martin, Lyster, Kasper and Chris were caught during May and June last year and each of them have their own blog in which their progress to Africa has been monitored. If you have not done so already, you can catch up on this worthwhile and fascinating project by visiting, in the first instance, http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking From there you will be able to link to various sections, including the individual cuckoo blogs.

JON'S JOURNAL: On golden frogs and matching moles (A visit to Kennerland)

Kennerland is another of those places where I used to go as a boy because the range of natural history was particularly pleasing.

It would probably be called a suburb of Woolsery if it wasn't for the fact that nobody actually lives there. I always used to go there every spring because of the tadpoles.

It is a particularly soggy neighbourhood (if I may steal a phrase from one of my favourite children's authors) and once was all marshes. As you can see, much of it has now been drained to make it more suitable for agricultural purposes, but the rushes remain (and so does quite a lot of the water).

Prudence made a New Year's Resolution to get more excercise, so each afternoon now she takes Corinna and me for a walk. I cannot walk very fast, and even slow ambling is painful, so I take my mind off it all by wielding a camera, and going in search of the natural world.

For some reason Kennerland - or to be more specific, the ditches along the road at Kennerland Cross - has always been a desirable residence for the local frog population. Each spring I used to visit the area and go tadpole spotting.

I was always amazed at the vast divergence of sizes, colours and shapes of the tadpoles there, and when, years later, I started becoming interested in the golden frogs of the West Country I often wondered whether these fantastically multicoloured tadpoles (some were certainly yellow, although I never saw any golden ones) could provide a clue to the aetiology of the fabulous golden ones.

I am still wondering, and it was one of the things not too far from the front of my mind as we drove up to Kennerland on Sunday afternoon.


As you can see, there was no shortage of frog spawn and although the nuclei of each egg seems to be black, it always did, and the tadpoles seemed not to change colour until they got considerably bigger. We are going to monitor these ditches (which have survived the passage of the years far better than those at Huddisford) and see what happens.

Frogs seem to be creatures of habit: they come back here to breed year after year, and I am always reminded of a sad little story my father told me. We used to have a pond at the bottom of the garden and every spring the garden frogs spawned there.

When my brother and his wife had children my parents had the pond filled in lest the little ones would fall in and do themself a mischief. But the frogs didn't seem to realise and every spring for the next few years they would lay their eggs on the lawn where the pond used to be, even though there was no water.

My mother used to collect the spawn in a bucket and take it up to a friend's pond to release it, so all ended well. That was in 1997/8 and that particular generation of frogs must have lived out their alloted span (or learned their lesson) because by the time we came here in 2005 it didn't happen anymore.

We also saw large numbers of molehills, proving (as if any proof were needed) that the local population of Talpa europea is doing fine and dandy....

And why Matching Mole in the title? Cop a load of this (particularly you, Max)....

JON'S JOURNAL: Exploring Huddisford

When I was a boy all the lanes around Huddisford Woods had ditches at the side, and all of these ditches were tiny ecosystems teeming with life.

For years I would patrol these little ponds looking for water beetles, dragonfly larvae and tadpoles, and it was one of the things that I was looking forward to doing again when I came back to North Devon seven years ago.

But to my disappointment the ditches were all either dried up or hopelessly polluted. I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised really. The water table has dropped, most of the marshes have been drained to create usable farmland and there are many more cars on the roads than there used to be.

When I was a boy I cycled all around the area but it just wouldn't be safe now. There are just too many cars on the roads. I remember back in 1972 a schoolpal of mine deciding to start a new hobby of collecting car license plate numbers. He was overjoyed to have written down 21 different ones passing through Woolsery in a single day! I thought then that this was a singularly pointless excercise, but I certainly wouldn't attempt it now. But if I did, I expect that we would amass well over a thousand in the same length of time.

Now, where there were once dozens of little self-contained ecosystems, there is only one left.

Corinna and I have set ourselves a little task for 2012. We are going to follow the progress of this one remaining mini stream throughout the year, and try and make a record of its inhabitants through the seasons.

Now, at the risk of sounding like Lloyd Grossman (who severely irritates me - but that is another story), what animal would use this obviously well worn trackway up the bank and into the hedge?

Well, I know that we are talking about Huddisford Woods and that since we got DNA from hairs found there, there seems no doubt that at least one big cat inhabits the area, but this trackway was made by something smaller - probably a fox.

Finally, look at this. As we have been noting in recent posts, the world really does seem to have been turned upside down. This red campion is supposed to flower between May and October, but was photographed at Huddisford yesterday afternoon. Is it a late straggler from last October? Or is it a very early flower that thinks it is May? Either way, it should not be flowering in January, and is an early sign that all is far from right!

WATCHER OF THE SKIES: Glaucous gulls, Somerset cranes, and the 'Lady of the Loch'

As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... about out-of-place birds, rare vagrants, and basically all things feathery and Fortean.

Because we live in strange times there are more and more bird stories that come her way so she has now moved onto the main CFZ bloggo with a new column with the same name as her aforementioned ones....

Glaucous gulls arrive from Iceland in large numbers

Again from the RSPB, Alan Tissiman, Communications Manager, writes that RSPB Scotland is reporting 'a major influx of Iceland glaucous gulls to the west coast of Scotland. Over 100 birds have been recorded in Argyll alone with many more being seen in the Western Isles and Orkney and Shetland.' Conservation officer Martin Scott, based in Stornoway, said “These are beautiful ghostly birds with a suitably frosty appearance given that they have come down from the Arctic.

"The two species concerned are very similar although the glaucous gull is generally larger than the Iceland gull.

“Unlike our resident herring gulls, the two Arctic species don’t have any black on the wing tips – that’s useful for identification purposes. Many of the birds seem to be juveniles and have a beautifully patterned delicate plumage when seen close to.

“Unusually we are seeing more Iceland gulls than glaucous gulls this year. I imagine the recent windy weather must be having an effect and is pushing the birds into Scottish waters from the Atlantic. Good places to see them are harbours, particularly where there are fishing boats. Stornoway is proving a great place to find them at the moment but judging by reports the birds are being seen all around the Scottish coast. They are well worth looking out for!”

http://www.rspb.org.uk/media/releases/302178-ghostly-birds-from-the-arctic-flock-to-scotland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘Lady of the Loch’
Scottish Wildlife Trust’s famous female osprey, known as ‘Lady of the Loch’ by her worldwide fans, has had a film produced about her. She has been returning to Loch of the Lowes in Perthshire and regularly producing chicks consecutively for the last 21 years. Filmmaker Lisa Trainer has included footage taken by a high definition camera installed in the osprey’s nest along with other filming. You can see the film here:

http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/film-celebrates-world-famous-osprey/

You can also watch a webcam live from the loch at: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/wildlife-webcams/loch-of-lowes/

Back in June 2010 there were concerns that she would die as footage showed her very ill in her nest, but she survived and is thought to be the oldest breeding female ever recorded in the UK, producing around 59 eggs from which 48 chicks survived. At the age of 26 in 2011 she has confounded experts by outliving what they thought was a life-span of 8 years! Undertaking a round trip of 6,000 miles to winter in Gambia is a pretty amazing feat considering her age. In the 1950s the osprey re-colonised the UK naturally after being persecuted to extinction as a breeding bird here in 1916. It is not as common as the golden eagle and there are only around 200 breeding pairs across Britain. But it seems that ‘Lady’ is doing her bit for the species.

Somerset’s wild cranes
Go to: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/somerset-cranes12.html to find more information on how you can experience “the magic of Somerset’s first wild reintroduced cranes.”
Wild cranes used to be a common sight on the Somerset Levels and Moors 400 years ago but hunting and habitat changes forced the birds to disappear. If you would like to be a part of one of the six events to hear a talk, have refreshments, see a video and see the flock of thirty wild cranes, click on the link above. You can also find out more about the Great Crane Project by visiting: http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/

They are magnificent-looking birds and can be up to 4ft (1.2m) tall, being around 20% larger than the grey heron. Our tallest breeding bird, they have a wingspan of up to 8ft (2.2-2.45m), which is even bigger than a white-tailed eagle.

Glaucous gull picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Larus_hyperboreus-USFWS.jpg

NEXT WEEK

Corinna and I are going to be away for five or six days from tomorrow. We will still have access to a computer so as far as I know the blog will continue as normal. However, Graham is running the CFZ in my absence and will take over bloggystuff if necessary.