We have a rara avis today from reader Mal Morrison, who is too self-denigrating about his photo:
You may not want to use this because it’s not a great photo but I thought I’d send it because the bird is quite rare. It’s a male Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata). According to the RSPB there are about 3000 breeding pairs and numbers are going down again after having recovered from the winter of 1962/63 when it was reduced to double figures [JAC: Wikipedia says only 10 pair]. I saw this one on Aylesbeare Common, a very small RSPB reserve of heathland, south of Exeter in Devon.
To add a closeup, here’s a photo by Richard Bond from Surfbirds.com. How many readers have seen one of these?
And from Stephen Barnard in Idaho, whom I hope to visit (along with many other readers) on the Big Road Trip, we have an Altercation in Nature:
This Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) pissed off the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) by getting too close to the nest.
That’s one angry eagle!!
How cheeky of the hawk.
An important picture of a rare bird.
And…
A real time scene from Jurassic Park! The big dinosaur chases off the smaller one, then roars triumphantly.
The Dartford warbler is not uncommon in southern and western France (and is also present in the Channel Islands). It’s not so difficult to see it, but damn difficult to get a correct photo! When trying, I got only pictures of empty twiggs of gorse or Kermes oaks…
I would not attempt to argue with that very angry eagle!
I’ve never seen that rara avis. Thanks!
Eagles seem to have built-in angry brows.
As do many birds of prey. Some say it’s the supraorbital ridge (part of their skeleton that juts out over the eye, presumably as a sun-shield) that gives them that fierce look.
(I say “some say” because that used to be accepted wisdom but I seem to recall some recent dissension…)
Never seen a Dartford Warbler, a very striking bird. I found it interesting that both photos have the Warbler perching on “sticker bushes”. The close-up looks like holly, and the first, no clue.
I can see why the hawk high-winged it out of there.
Yes, Dartford warbler nests in “sticker bushes”, gorse (Ulex europaeus – the first picture) on the Atlantic and English Channel coasts, and kermes oak (Quercus coccifera – the close-up picture) in mediterranean region. Both are dense bushes, horribly pricky and absolutely unpenetrable (except for the warblers).
A good place to protect a nest from most would-be predators.
Jacques, thanks for the added information, very cool.
Thanks for the info! At first glance, I thought they were, respectively, half-dead juniper and holly.
Same here, especially the holly!
I think the 2nd (posed) photo may in fact be on a cultivated holly. That’s what it 1st struck me as, and I just looked up pictures of the kermes oak — it seems to be a “regular” evergreen oak to my eyes. Rather similar in general appearance to Quercus palmeri (an unrelated but probably ecologically similar species of the SW US).
But, I’ve long thought that Q. palmeri is convergent on holly. Having rigid prickly leaves countless slows down the large herbivores. Maybe the two oaks and holly are all playing the same game?
Makes sense.
So that’s what gorse is! I’ve wondered ever since my first exposure to Winnie the Pooh.
I can give the captions for those five photos.
Hawk: I’m just a lovely Buteo hawk doo doo doo doo doo
(record scratch)
Eagle: What the hell you doing on my nest?!
Eagle: Get out before I rip your red bib feathers from your chest, boy!
Eagle: Get out!
Eagle: GET OOOOOOOOOOOOUUT!
Very nice photos, thanks for sharing!
The fist pic, S. undata, was great, like it was out of some old 1960’s book, very retro, if you will, and a nice artsy feel to it.
and I must ask, after repeatedly hearing things like “species X is now quite rare in the UK, declining since 1960-something, but is still found in good numbers in Europe” So, what is it that is causing so many declining numbers of birds or insects or whatever in the UK, while in France (usually) they’re still going strong?
Habitat loss, perhaps?
I’ve started reading Dave Goulson’s Buzz in the Meadow, and (re)listened to his LIfe Scientific appearance, both suggest a decline in hay meadows for a start, and there are issues with too tidy gardening and management of forests, so, yeah, probably. I know there was a campaign to get people to cut holes in their garden fences to allow hedgehogs passage between yards. seemingly silly little things like that seem to have a surprising impact.
I can not only say I’ve seen Dartford Warbler, but seen one in my home town of Margate (Kent), where they are a scarce passage migrant. I’ve also seen a couple on Exmoor in Somerset, where there is a small breeding population.
Mal, thanks for the introduction to a species I’ve never heard of!
Stephen, I think I see a coffee table book in your future…
Reblogged this on UNICLICKS UNIPICS.
Different subject but thought i’d bring it up.Someone has noticed there are almost no butterflies compared to when she was a child. I realized how true i’ve seen one in 6mns or so.Anyone have ideas about this.