China - meeting a red panda

This will be a rather short post but it was a very special encounter for me… one of my all time favourite wildlife encounters. I was at Wawushan in southern Sichuan Province and the road had washed out making travel to and from the mountain difficult. It was raining hard but I had the place almost to myself. I spent a day and a night at the top plateau but more time lower down. In the evening I spotted a large lump in a fruiting tree from a distance. Imagine my elation when I realized that I was looking at the rare and elusive red panda!! I was astounded! People had told me they had spent decades in the Himalayas without ever crossing paths with this species. The panda was feeding on the fruit and seemed blissfully unaware of anything else. You can see how they stick out their tongue to feed. Clearly, although they are generally considered a specialized bamboo feeder, they also consume other items such as fruit.


These small “pandas” are truly stunning – note the strong demarcation between the red body and the black legs, and then of course that beautiful face pattern. I felt so privileged to be watching such a magnificent and secretive animal. Formerly thought to be a smaller cousin of the giant panda, most taxonomist now consider the red panda to be unrelated to the bigger black and white bear they share a name with, but instead they are usually placed in their own family and considered to be related to the mustelids (weasels and allies).


Because the panda was feeding so intently I was able to approach slowly and I eventually got quite close, taking a bunch of photos like this one. In fact, I was so close I couldn't get the whole animal in the frame. You can see the wet fur in this photo (in rained constantly when I was in Sichuan). As it got too dark to take photos I eventually turned around and left the red panda still feeding in the fruiting tree… hard to imagine that I would ever walk away from a red panda but I did!


There weren’t too many other mammals that I saw in China - there is a lot of hunting and illegal trapping and considerable disturbance to many natural areas due to the immense population pressure of 1+ billion people. Nonetheless, there is wildlife to be seen and these Bharal, also known as blue sheep, walking along a very steep cliff face with uncannily confident footwork at Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan were another highlight.

The Himalayan marmot was one of the neat animals I got to see high up in the alpine zone, making their home among the rocks.

More of my photos of mammals are viewable at: http://artusophotos.com/Mammals/index.htm

China - ground up

My last trip to China was a few years ago but I thought it might be worth covering a few highlights even belatedly. I grouped these entries very roughly by taxonomic groups and sometimes by habitat/ecoregion. I thought a nice starting point would be to work from the ground up…

One group that will be high on any birders wish list when they visit China are the pheasants. The elaborately plumaged pheasants are truly a sight to behold but of course many are secretive and difficult to see. Southern China and the Himalayan region are the epicenter of the pheasant radiation – the place where pheasants started down the evolutionary road to today’s remarkable diversity and colour. So, if you want to see pheasants, China is a great place to be. In fact, I saw 15 species in a short trip to Yunnan and Sichuan. I didn’t manage good photos of them all (most like Golden Pheasants, Lady Amherst Pheasant’s, Chinese Monal, Koklass Pheasant, Blood Pheasant, White-eared Pheasant and others offered either too brief views or were too far away to photograph) but here is a smattering of the family. We start with the sensational Temminck’s Tragopan. This male was feeding on a type of white fungus on the trail in the rain and was so intent on his meal that I was able to sneak up on him. I think the raindrops accentuated his rich colour.


And here is a female. In this group, it is most commonly the males who have become gaudy whilst the females have remained very cryptic and well camouflaged. Sometimes it can be very difficult to identify one female pheasant from another.


Next, the big and beautiful Chestnut-throated Partridge. This species is endemic to the forested slopes of the Tibetan Plateau and neighbouring areas and one of only two species in the unique Asian genus Tetraophasis, sometimes referred to as “Monal-Partridges”.

The Chinese Grouse is closely related to Hazel Grouse and endemic to the central Chinese mountains. This is a female (male has black throat).

Since I don’t have good photos of other pheasants, I’ll include of other photos of birds that spend a lot of their time on the ground. Let’s start with one of the highlights of my trip up to the Tibetan Plateau – the Black-necked Crane. Before this trip, this was the only northern hemisphere species of crane I had not seen so I was very keen to get out in the high altitude grasslands to look for them. Scanning the grasslands and wetlands between tents and yaks I soon spotted a family – can you see the three cranes in this photo?

Moving closer, here is an adult feeding


And a youngster (already quite big) with parent.

Also up here breeding were Ruddy Shelducks.

And I found a few shorebirds too such as this Wood Sandpiper.

Also on the ground were several lark species, the most common of which was the Oriental Skylark. This is a juvenile.

And a lark that will be familiar to a lot of northern hemisphere folks – the Horned Lark (Shore Lark) also breeds up in these grasslands.


And why not leave the ground and take off – flying gracefully above the grasslands, the beautiful Black Kite or Black-eared Kite (depending on whether you split the species into 2 or not). These two images give you a further sense of the habitat up on the Tibetan Plateau.

You can view more images from China at: http://artusophotos.com/

Portrait: Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owls begin strengthening their pair bonds in the middle of winter. As the breeding season approaches, which for this species is very early, the pair will often roost close together. This handsome couple is roosting together six weeks before breeding. The female is on the right (larger and, in this case, paler). This pair exhibits some of the typical range of colour variation found in Manitoba.


Of course, they are not always side-by-side.

And sometimes they engage in some interesting behaviour – here they seem to be kissing. The female is standing up and the male “lying” in the boughs.

Once they choose a nest site, they do not take long to start breeding. In Manitoba, suburban pairs will often lay in February, pairs in rural areas later. This mild winter of 2006 saw some exceptionally early nests in Manitoba with laying beginning in mid January. Egg laying in 2007 in Winnipeg did not begin until February (which is still early compared to long-term averages). In 2008, the earliest egg laying was 26th January but in the colder 2009 the first nest I found incubating was on February 19th. Incubating females sit very low on the nest as they must keep the eggs warm with their brood patch (when it is -30°C, they cannot leave the nest for more than a few minutes).

When the young hatch the females start to sit a little higher but still use their contour feathers to brood the chicks.

On warmer days they may sit very high

As the young start to get bigger, and can thermoregulate better, she may sit beside them. You can see the remains of food items in the nest.

The male roosts close to the nest and brings food for his family. As the chicks get bigger, the female will start to leave the nest for long enough to hunt. This female has caught an eastern cottontail in broad daylight (cottontails are plentiful in suburban Winnipeg).

Not rabbit again mum! Actually suburban owls have quite a diverse diet and they have not apparently made a dent in the cottontail population (as many gardeners constantly point out to me).

Most of the nesting efforts I have observed in our area have produced two chicks. Sometimes they have just one chick, but other times there are three.

In roughly 6 weeks, their plumage has gone from pure white to buffy and they are ready to leave the nest.

Sometimes they “branch”, i.e. leave the nest to perch in branches in the same tree above the nest. Some studies suggest that branching increases their likelihood of survival by reducing predation risk.

Out of the nest! This chick fledged on 31st March 2006 (earliest recorded fledging in Manitoba) and tried hard to maintain an air of humility when photographed on their first night out... or is that befuddlement?

Here are some more portraits of recently fledged youngsters. You'll notice how the flight feathers are the most fully developed and that the back is already quite developed (adult-like), unlike the fluffy down of the underparts, which is retained the longest.

From their first seemingly timid short hops out of the nest, they must quickly learn to fly. This often involves a lot of flapping to strengthen their muscles before they actually let go. Gradually, they gain confidence…

And a little encouragement always helps!

Flight brings many adventures but landing always seems the most difficult task to master. They even have to learn one of life's lessons that I struggle with, viz. to get upright again sometimes you have to let go first!

Soon, they become adept… even at landing

And can fly clear across large open areas, even across rivers.

By mid August they have all but completed their first prebasic moult and look like their parents. In the photo of the youngster stretching, notice the somewhat pointed shape and uniform wear of the remiges indicating a hatch year bird.

Siblings still hang out together, sometimes striking poetic poses...

Perched out like this, they may look their adults; however, they haven’t mastered hunting on their own yet and their parents still answer their raspy begging calls.

They are also good at getting up to mischief!

Not sure what they're up to but...

This youngster has decided to tear into a piece of bark and rip it off the branch – practice perhaps for dismembering prey.

And they still like to bug their parents. Mum (upper right) does not seem too impressed with her wee-un's antics.

...but, in the blink of an eye, they will strike out alone, off to terrorise the night sky... gracefully!

...and purposely!

You can see more of my owl photography at: http://artusophotos.com/3_Nightbirds/index.htm

Portrait: Eastern Screech-Owl

I have decided to start a portrait series exhibiting interesting aspects of the behaviour and ecology of a particular species. I thought I should start with my favourite group - owls. In fact, why not start with the species I have spent the past 4+ years researching - the Eastern Screech-Owl (Megasops asio). These photos are all taken in Manitoba, Canada, at the northern limit of this species' range. Here is a portrait of a male grey Eastern Screech-Owl... you can see the tufts are held in a relaxed position here. Due to the cold dry climate in Manitoba, red morph birds are extremely rare here (<1%).


The underpart pattern of the Eastern Screech-Owl offers superb camouflage with the bark patterns of many eastern North American deciduous trees. This male is roosting in an American elm. Notice how his pattern matches the grooves in the bark.


This female is equally well camouflaged...


The photo below shows an adult taking off and using powerful strokes to gain height quickly. Note the strong rufous colouration of the thighs, which is shown on many grey morph adults in Manitoba.


This next shot shows the extended underwing of an adult that has just fed two fledglings. Note the greenish wash on the base of the primaries and the pinkish wash to some of the underwing coverts. Such colour on the underwing is common in both adults and juveniles, although I haven't reached any firm conclusions about its significance yet. You'll notice this feature in other photos on this page.


Eastern Screech-Owls catch a lot of their prey on the ground. In the breeding season much of their prey is invertebrate. Here two different adults illustrate some of their worming strategies: the pull and the pounce.


Moths are one of the few items usually caught in flight. The fledgling shown here eating a moth (fed by parents) is only 3 days out of the nest.

An adult brings a caterpillar to the nest (in a Wood Duck box) while the chicks compete for the best position in order to be fed first (there are two more chicks inside the box).



Though invertebrates may constitute as much as 70% of captures when feeding young (the photos above are just a few examples), many birds and mammals are also consumed. Here, clockwise from the top left corner: an adult with a House Sparrow, an adult carrying a North American Deermouse with one foot, a cached Meadow Vole, a cached Catharus thrush (probably Swainson's), an adult feeding a Meadow Vole to a fledgling, and an adult feeding a Cedar Waxwing to a fledgling. Cached items permit capitalising on a glut for times of inclement weather. Sometimes they are placed in a roost tree, sometimes in the nest proper, and sometimes in an alternate cavity.


Mother and child: after a month in a dark cavity, a chick joins their mother in expanding their worldview.



Squabbling siblings: three chicks peek out of a nest with a large opening (left), but sometimes there is only room for one at a time (right).



Nothing like a little mischief to learn about the world...

Five fledglings of a brood of six (the other is just a few wings away, as are mum and dad) roosting in an oak.

And here are all 6 from a different brood. In Manitoba, brood size ranges from 2 - 6 and is correlated with seasonal precipitation levels.

Getting a little older: By late July - August, the fledglings are looking less fluffy and have begun to hunt for themselves, starting with small items such as beetles captured on the ground (right) or on branches. The wing feathers are among the first to develop and so, at this stage, fledglings look more adult-like from the back than from the front (compare two photos on left). In the upper left photo you will notice the pattern of white splotches on the outer primary coverts which are retained throughout the first year. The outer webs of these feathers will become entirely white by their second/third year.

By September, they are looking very adult like, except if there are any down feathers remaining they sometimes look a little like a misfit in their own coat. If they survive their first winter, they will hopefully complete the cycle and breed the following spring.

More of my photos of owls are viewable at: http://artusophotos.com/3_Nightbirds/index.htm