Djoorabiddi Dead

It was devastating today to confirm the stationary signal Djoorabiddi's transmitter had registered over the past few days was indeed the result of his death. I took the above picture of him and the dead kangaroo next to which he was found, yesterday. This shows the scene as I found it, and it features several suspicious 'items' which point to the death not being an accident. For one, the dead kangaroo on which Djoorabiddi looks to have been feeding on is weeks old. Also, his PTT is upside-down, and the harness has been cut off and left next to the carcass. More will be revealed as investigations into Djoorabiddi's death, including x-rays and a post-mortem, are carried out. Keep track of my Instagram page for the latest updates. RIP you magnificent creature Djoorabiddi. Forever may you soar.

Djoorabiddi's Journey

It was very exciting to see Djoorabiddi's Journey feature in the West Australian Newspaper just prior to Christmas. Although it doesn't seem very long ago that I was plucking him off the eyrie in the Perth Hills to fit the transmitter, with camera crew from Channel 10's 'The Project' filming every move, more than 12 months have now passed. Since beginning dispersal in March this year, this remarkable eagle has moved 10, 000km across this vast continent. Click on the above image to enlarge it and read the full article.

On Country with Martu on ABC

Despite it being a particularly dry year at Matuwa, our recent GEMG-supported field trip to monitor the Wedge-tailed Eagle population was packed full of action as usual! One of the most exciting elements was the filming of some of the two-way science activities carried out by ornithologists, students and teachers from the Wiluna Remote Community School, CSIRO and Central Desert staff and volunteers.

Click here and watch the video put together by ABC journalist Rhiannon Stevens, which gives a fantastic overview of what has now officially become 'Warlu-wurru week.'

Homecoming?

It's been quite a while since we checked in with Kuyurnpa, our longest-tracked Wedge-tail that was satellite-tagged nearly FIVE years ago. My focus on the 2017 and 2018 sample of juveniles, however, doesn't mean that I haven't been watching her tracking data with eagle eyes. The pattern in her behaviour observed when we last read about her movements has not changed much during the last 12 months, with this fifth-year eagle moving between the Carnegie lakes system and the Fortescue Marsh area every few months. Just over a month ago, however, Kuyurnpa made the ~700 km journey south from Roy Hill and roosted close to the northern boundary of Matuwa. Since then, she has behaved 'like a fox patrolling the boundary of a chicken pen', making almost weekly 'incursions' onto Matuwa, sometimes roosting the night, usually in places I know (from our map of eagle nests) are away from active breeding sites.

The below map (click to enlarge) shows one such foray, where she moved from a roost ~20 km north-east of the Matuwa homestead, spending several hours over Lindsay Gordon Lagoon (just south of Kapiburror's nest), before moving off Matuwa again to roosting on the neighbouring property Wongawol.

On another occasion (last Saturday), she soared into Matuwa from the south and actually spent the night roosting in a tree under which I have walked, on the southern banks of the same lagoon. This makes July 2018 the month in which Kuyurnpa has roosted within 25 km of her natal nest more times than any other.

Tracking data showing the 14th July 2018 roost site on the southern bank of Lindsay Gordon Lagoon.

It will be so exciting to observe her movements in closer detail over the coming weeks! As we get further into the 2018 Arid Zone breeding season, I'm really interested to see whether Kuyurnpa's seemingly 'desperate' attempts (ok that's a bit too dramatic!) to enter the breeding population continue, and she ends up settling in a breeding territory close to the nest on which, half a decade ago, she came into this amazing world.

Eagles Everywhere!

Last week I gave a presentation about my eagle tracking research and preparing for this gave me the opportunity to put together the above map, which shows the recent movement paths of all surviving juvenile Wedge-tailed Eagles satellite-tagged in 2017. It's really interesting that Gudju and Kapiburror (black and white) haven't moved far from their natal home ranges at Matuwa, and amazing how birds like Darlyininy and Djoorabiddi (red and green) have 'met up' in the vicinity of Lake Argyle, thousands of kilometres from their natal nests in the Perth region. I'm looking forward to compiling the data and investigating the reasons (most likely to be climatic/rainfall-related) behind these movements. Currently I'm working on my first PhD paper about the post-fledging and dispersal behaviour of these birds, so I'll post more updates on that as they get off the ground!

Juvenile Satellite-tagging Summary

After an extremely busy field season last year, I've spent some time over the New Year break catching up on summarising the data I managed to collect, and reflecting on all the juvenile eagles fitted with GPS/Satellite Transmitters. Thirteen birds were satellite-tagged in 2017, bringing the total number of juvenile West Australian 'wedgies' tagged to 22 (including Kuyurnpa and Jarrkanpa, who were fitted with transmitters in 2013 and 2014, during my pilot study). All birds have been named using traditional Aboriginal languages from the two study sites where my PhD research is being carried out: Noongar in the Mundaring/Perth Hills region, and Martu at Matuwa (Lorna Glen) in the arid zone. Summaries of these members of our Wallu-wurru (4 males, 4 females) and Wailitj (7 males, 5 females) families are shown in the images above and below (click to enlarge). You can read more about the individual tagging events on my personal blog by clicking the name of the eagles listed below.

Thank you so much to all those amazing people who supported the crowdfund which covered the cost of most transmitters deployed in Perth, as well as the other groups like the GEMG, Whiteman Park and Tronox for sponsoring individual birds. More information on their movements will be uploaded soon!

Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area:

Kuyurnpa
Jarrkanpa
Goonta
Malya
Karlbartu & Djootabay
Kapiburror
Yapu
Junjurru
Gudju

Mundaring (Perth Region):

Wailitj
Korung
Kala
Yirrabiddi
Walyunga
Darlyininy
Ngooni & Naakal
Djoorabiddi
Baakininy
Moonah
Kwidi

Theme Thirteen: Lucky for Some

I've just returned from Matuwa Indigenous Protected Area in central Western Australia, where a fantastic team of volunteers assisted with my ongoing Goldfields Environmental Management Group-funded research on a breeding 'population' of Walluwurru / Wedge-tailed Eagles. This harsh environment normally has insufficient prey for most of the ~40 pairs of eagles to breed successfully each year, but good rainfall earlier in 2017 resulted in the most productive breeding season recorded since research began in 2012, with an amazing THIRTEEN eaglets hatched! Thanks to the fabulous team from Fortescue Helicopters, we were able to assess the productivity of this 'population' from the air, and it was a fantastic sight to spot 'white specks' on familiar nests from a distance, then hover overhead and confirm the presence of a plump, healthy eaglet!

A 'white speck' on this Wallu-wurru eyrie is a giveaway that this pair has successfully hatched a chick.

As part of my PhD research, I fitted GPS/Satellite-transmitters to four of these birds, devices that will allow us to track the eagles' first movements away from their outback nests and beyond. I was lucky enough to actually watch the first flight of one of the tagged eagles 'Kapiburor' (a Martu word for 'stormy/rainy day', pictured above), as he launched from his eyrie on his brand new but powerful set of wings...

Kapiburor launches on his maiden flight.

Kapiburor was a lucky find and we managed to fit him with a satellite-transmitter on Friday 13th October, just days before he fledged, before heavy thunderstorm activity set in for the evening. He wasn't the first eagle to be tagged though - five days prior, we were very excited to have located a brood of 'twins' in the neighbouring breeding home range, offspring of our well-known adult male Wedge-tail 'Wallu', who (together with his mate Wurru) was recorded as rearing two chicks successfully for the second time in three years!

This brood of 'twins' Djootabay (left) and her brother Karlbartu was a highlight of the field trip.

Above the fenced enclosure was another nest with a single large eaglet, aged about 9 weeks and almost ready to fly. It was wonderful to spend time on country and visit this site with Martu elders and teenage students from the Wiluna Remote Community School, who chose a very appropriate name for the juvenile. 'Yapu', which means 'rock' in Martu Wangka, was named after a fairly large piece of ironstone which I found on the edge of his eyrie, possibly brought in by the adult eagles after being stuck to a large prey item (such as a young kangaroo or Australian Bustard) which could have had sticky, exposed flesh after being left on the ground for several days after being predated. We have recorded rocks in eagle eyries on a few occasions in the past few years, but these have normally been located on failed nests where eggs have been deserted by hungry females and subsequently predated by other birds such as Black-breasted Buzzards (known to use rocks as egg-breaking tools), and possibly crows.

Yapu was fitted with a satellite-transmitter and returned to his eyrie soon afterwards, and we are anticipating his departing flight with great excitement! It will be amazing to follow his progress from the high nest ridge, down to the plain country where his parents hunt, and far beyond when his juvenile dispersal phase begins.

Yapu, a gorgeous eaglet aged ~9 weeks, was named after a large rock found on his eyrie.

On the final day of fieldwork I went in to check on Djootabay and Karlbartu and was very pleased to find them both with bulging crops, full of freshly killed rabbit and goanna observed on their eyrie.

Female eaglets like Karlbartu (left) are much bigger than males.

This gave me a good opportunity to take photographs of the eagles in the wonderful setting sunlight. Each bird's sex was apparent from its relative head length, with Karlbartu (a female, below left) have a much more elongated cere and exposed bill than Djootabay (a male):

After giving these absolutely stunning birds a 'goodbye and good luck' blessing, I returned to the Matuwa camp to pack up. This was by far the most memorable trip to Martu Country I have been privileged to undertake, being one of high productivity, both for the eagles, my research, and the fabulous friendships forged with more members of the Martu community. As a parting gift for my research and engagement with the locals, I was given a beautiful 'Wantu' - a mat/blanket made by teacher Debbie and teenage girls from Marlu (Red Kangaroo) skin. This fabulous gift brought tears to my eyes and I feel so lucky to be able to work on country with these beautiful people.

The next generation of Walluwurru researchers!

It is always wonderful to spend time with Martu women elders at Matuwa.

Huge thanks to Dani, Ben, Renae and Kristal ('Team Eagle'!) for dedicating so much time and energy to helping with my research, to the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions for their ongoing logistical support, to the GEMG for their wonderful financial support, and of course, to the traditional Martu elders for endorsing this work to be carried out on their ancient land.