Hi All,
I have been flat strap since getting back last Saturday after watching the
total eclipse - hence this is the first time I have read the thread about what
the birds did.
We watched it from near Mt Molloy and had an uninterrupted view. It was the
most magical thing I have ever seen! In response to Phil Veerman's email I
decided to try and get a recording, but I did not want to have to think about
being distracted from such a visual event.
When we finally drove out of clouds to a spot where the sun was in full view
near Rifle Creek I noticed a track leading off the layby where we parked. I
walked down the track at high speed to put my olympus recorder and microphone
far enough away from hollering, yelling humans (me among them, of course!) -
but near enough to allow me to be able to identify the exact time of totality.
So I have a recording from about 0615 to 10 minutes after totality.
I have listened to it once since and have not downloaded it yet. Once I do
download it and work out the timings correctly I will be more than happy to
share it with anyone with an interest or bent in analysing this sort of thing.
Understand, though, that I am a real novice at this, and so I cannot vouch for
how useful it will be, and, as mentioned you can hear some human responses and
chatterings in the background. I would also assume that I am not the only
birder who did this, and it would be really interesting to compare recordings.
What I can say is that White-throated Honeyeaters sang during totality and
lorikeets shut up! And amazingly, some humans totally ignored the event as a
couple of cars drove past during totality without stopping!!!
For those who have only seen eclipses on TV, the actual experience is very
different. I was expecting it to go as dark at night but it was much more like
what the Scots would describe as a 'gloaming'.
Kind regards
Judith
PS. Thanks to all who provided info on the White-browed Crakes. We had
terrific views!
Judith Hoyle
Brisbane
0437549301
> From:
> To: ;
> Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 13:59:03 +1100
> CC: ;
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Birds at the eclipse
>
> For reference read my 30 page article: (1982) 'A record of avian and other
> responses to the total solar eclipse - 23 October 1976', Australian Bird
> Watcher 9: 179-209. (The world's biggest analysis of animal behaviour to a
> solar eclipse.)
>
> For what it is worth, here is the blurb written for when I was invited to
> talk at a Total Solar Eclipse conference in Los Angeles a few years ago.
>
> Speech Abstract
>
> One big question about Total Solar Eclipses is what do birds and other fauna
> do when the light goes out during the day? There are many reports that
> mention this in passing but most are the observations of just one person at
> one site rather than a coordinated study. Many older reports are more
> fanciful than believable. On 23 October 1976 we had a TSE in Victoria,
> Australia. Monash University Centre for Continuing Education planned for the
> event for school children to investigate the range of things that happen
> during an eclipse. Of all the programs, it was only those on animal
> behaviour that were followed up after the event. Also members of the Bird
> Observers Club were encouraged to send in their observations. The
> presentation will describe the logistics of the project and some of the
> results and include connections to various other studies and make
> recommendations as to future events.
>
> The weather on the day was cloudy with the sun mostly covered over but the
> event was still dramatic to the fauna and for many people. I investigated
> these aspects and eventually completed a 30 page article: Veerman, P.A.
> (1982) 'A record of avian and other responses to the total solar eclipse -
> 23 October 1976', Australian Bird Watcher: 179-209. That was based on the
> observations of about 150 BOCA members and school students throughout
> Victoria in the program "Operation Blackout". The most notable reaction was
> the roosting and vocalisation behaviour of birds. Vocalisations included
> some cessation during the eclipse and a variable false dawn chorus after.
> Roosting and panicking behaviour was also variable, largely according to
> habitat. These will be described. A lot could be learned on the aspect of
> photoperiodism (or internal clocks) of animals from eclipse studies.
> Preferably by combining results from different parts of the earth which
> would be under the same eclipse at local times differing by several hours.
> Failing that, comparing results from many different eclipses at different
> local times will elucidate how birds perceive the short night and false dawn
> relative to their internal clocks.
>
> Presenter
> Philip A. Veerman developed an interest in birds very early and has long
> been a member of the main Australian birding study organisations. He has
> contributed to a range of bird and other fauna survey work done by these and
> other organisations. When "Operation Blackout" happened in 1976 he was a
> second year biology student at La Trobe University. This qualification has
> long since been completed and added to by further study. His involvement
> with solar eclipses stems from being invited to come along to the first
> planning session for "Operation Blackout" to represent the Bird Observers
> Club. These sessions grew into this project. However it was the effort to
> compile all the highly variable inputs from many sources into a fairly
> coherent document that makes the study notable. The 1982 paper: "A record of
> avian and other responses to the total solar eclipse - 23 October 1976',
> Australian Bird Watcher: 179-209 still appears to be the world's biggest
> analysis of animal behaviour to a solar eclipse. The relevant research is
> only one of several of his publications built around his analyses of a large
> scale volunteer-based surveys of bird biology. Now living in Canberra, the
> Australian Capital Territory, he has also most notably recently published
> works on a long term large scale bird population study in Canberra.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of John Harris
> Sent: Wednesday, 14 November 2012 9:51 AM
> To: Peter Shute
> Cc: ;
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Birds at the eclipse
>
>
> Yes peter,
> The total eclipse was in October 1976. As a young lad at the time, my
> parents and I kept many birds in aviaries. Being about 4pm, the birds all
> began to "pack up" for the day and start roosting. Once the eclipse was
> over, the birds resumed normal activities.
>
> Yours in all things "Green"
>
> John Harris
> Owner - Wildlife Experiences
> 0409090955
> On Nov 14, 2012 9:42 AM, "Peter Shute" <> wrote:
>
> > There was a total or near total eclipse in Melbourne some time in the
> > 70s(?), in the afternoon, I think. I recall that it was like a dawn
> > chorus when it got light again. Perhaps your observation that the
> > birds "carried on as before" was because they were already doing their
> > dawn chorus.
> >
> > Peter Shute
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From:
> > > On Behalf Of John
> > > Leonard
> > > Sent: Wednesday, 14 November 2012 9:34 AM
> > > To: ;
> > > Subject: [Birding-Aus] Birds at the eclipse
> > >
> > > We came up to cairns for the eclipse, we were staying in palm cove
> > > but decided that there would be too much morning cloud over the sea.
> > > So we drove inland to Mareeba and a little further west and had
> > > perfect views of the eclipse from a stop by the road on high ground
> > > facing east amidst mango orchards. Around about were white-bellied
> > > cuckoo-shrikes, figbirds, pied butcherbirds and magpie larks. In
> > > front of us was a weedy field with cisticolas calling from it.
> > > The eclipse was about an hour after sunrise, and so not as
> > > dramatic as it would have been later; it only got appreciably
> > > dark five minutes before totality, and totality itself was
> > > quite short, only about 1 minute.
> > > My attention was torn between the sun and the birds, I didn't
> > > notice any unusual behaviour, all that happened was that for
> > > about the ten minutes of darkness the birds fell silent and
> > > didn't move about. After the eclipse they carried on as before.
> > > If we'd been on the coast it would have been interesting to
> > > see if the torresian imperial pigeons headed offshore when it
> > > got dark!
> > >
> > > John Leonard
> > > ===============================
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