Some nesting obs

[Martin Butterfield <>]

Philip's message got my adrenalin rate up just a tad!  

This did have the effect of enabling me to find my copy of Beruldsen which does indeed show the eggs to be pretty much like both the Masked Lapwing and Bush Thick-knee.  However that tome says that clutch size for the latter species was 2, whereas for Masked Lapwing it is "4 sometimes 3".  

Also, from my memory of the site, rather than the image,  I would estimate the dimensions of the eggs a bit smaller than Beruldsen's suggestion for the Thick-knee - which again fits Masked Lapwing. 

Martin

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/

On 4 October 2015 at 16:42, Philip Veerman <> wrote:

Worth mentioning that, by the photo, the eggs do look like Masked Lapwing’s eggs, so they probably are ........ But I feel like writing that only after checking in Beruldsen’s book. Also look to me equally like Bush Thick-knee (Stone-curlew) eggs or a few others too. As for the question whether it is possible to have a 'nest with eggs' report with a zero birds count I don’t see why not if the ID of the nest is certain.

 

Philip

 

From: Martin Butterfield [
Sent: Sunday, 4 October 2015 4:16 PM
To: COG List
Subject: [canberrabirds] Some nesting obs

 

The Tawny Frogmouths I monitor from my current position appear to have hatched today.  Mt attention was initially grabbed by the male being extremely restless on the nest: changing position, stretching wings and much preening.  Then on one of the position shifts I noticed a flah of pure white in the nest, which appeared to be separate from the brooding bird (ie a chick).

 

This is 2 days shorter incubation (25 days since the male assumed the position) than I have previously recorded.  It is also a good bit shorter than the averrage period cited in HANZAB.  Interestingly the nest building period was 3 days longer than usual so if they had laid an egg but not started brooding for a couple of days everything would be back to average.  However, even though my weather records show the period 3 - 4 September as relatively warm it would be very unusual for the birds to leave the eggs unattended for 2 days.

 

Aren't birds interesting.

 

Yesterday while out at Mulligans Flat we found a nest with 4 eggs.  

​A pair of Masked Lapwings were in the vicinity but didn't go completely postal for the brief period we were near the nest.   However I have been advised that the species' famed blood lust develops as the birds age so this may have been a young pair.  A question that arises is whether it is posible to have a 'nest with eggs' report with a zero birds count.  (Of course in this case the birds were present, but a less bolshy species may not have been seen.)

 

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/