This is a selection of my photos that i have taken while conducting research in the kalahari and the isle of rum. Next to some of the photos there is a brief description of the biology behind the picture.
pictures from the isle of rum
The study on the Isle of Rum red deer population has been going for over 40 years and has amassed over 1300 deer skulls
Female (hinde) and small male skulls are stored in fish boxes stacked in the laundry building at Kilmory
There is a large range in size between juvenile and adult deer skulls for both males and females
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The work involved measuring the cranial capacity of skulls. We used glass beads to gauge their volume.
To get a proxy measure for the deer's size we measured the skull length
Antlered stag skulls are stored along the beams of the laundry
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drongo pictures
Fork-tailed drongo landing after a failed foraging attempt
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Fork-tailed drongo taking off on a flight to hawk insect prey
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Pied Babbler Begging
I want more! photo: Alex Thompson
Pied babblers have a prolonged period of post-fledging care. Youngsters remain dependent upon adults for food for upto 9 weeks post fledging.
Young fledgies photo: Alex Thompson
Young fledglings are very bad at flying, and spend the majority of their time in the safety of trees. This means adults have to provision them in the trees.
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Reward photo: Alex Thompson
Fledgling pied babblers follow foraging adults, frequently begging for food.
Wing flap photo: Alex Thompson
Fledgies begging is complex, involving accoustic begs, wing flapping and gapeing to attract provisioning adults.
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Babbler Behaviours
Play photo: Alex Thompson
Pied babblers regularly spend time playing. But often very young fledglings don't quite understand when others want to play. Babblers will often play 'chase' around the base of bushes or jump through the branches of trees.
Stop begging! photo: Alex Thompson
Adults will repremand fledglings who beg too much. Fledglings will then beg less to the adults who have repremanded them.
Not alone photo: Alex Thompson
Babblers are not the only inhabitants of the Kalahari and they have frequent and complex interactions with heterospecifics.
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Aggression photo: Alex Thompson
Competition between siblings can often be fierce, especially among females. Fights involve chasing, jumping on one another, pinning each other down and pecking.
Chorus photo: Alex Thompson
Pied babblers are a territorial and very vocal bird. They regularly give group displays on their boarders. The birds may also use these displays for more than just boarder defense.
Allopreening photo: Alex Thompson
Pied babblers are highly social and groups will often spend long periods of the day preening each other, especially after and encounter with a neighbouring group.
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Cuckoo
Brood parasite photo: Alex Thompson
The loud begs of fledgling cuckoos can often be too much for young adults to resist.
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On the ground photo: Alex Thompson
Fledgling cuckoos will even come to the ground to recieve food from terrestrially foraging adults
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Random Babblers
photo: Alex Thompson
photo: Alex Thompson
photo: Alex Thompson
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photo: Alex Thompson
photo: Alex Thompson
photo: Alex Thompson
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