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Your advice for a first time birder.


Game Warden

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Referring back to an earlier comment, you simply can’t call yourself a birder until you’ve visited at least one sewage farm.:D

 

Normally I would never be without a bird book, I have a fabric pouch/bag strapped to my belt to carry the book in, it is then there whenever I want it and I have somewhere to quickly put it when using my bins or taking a photo, much more convenient than carrying it in a daypack. It does depend a bit on the book though and where I am, birding in Ecuador once I simply gave up carrying the book I had, just because it was so big and heavy. It was my first time in South America I didn’t really know any of the birds at all  or the book, so it took me too long time to even find the right part of the book and our bird guide seemed to have the whole book inside his head anyway, he would tell me what it was before I’d got even close to the right page in the book. Recently I bought the second edition of the Birds of Africa South of the Sahara, this is definitely a book to have in the car or leave in camp it is just too heavy to carry, if you have a lot of other gear.

 

I would never consider a camera to be a substitute for binoculars, but digital photography has made a big difference to identifying birds, in allowing you take a shot and then view it straight away on the back of the camera and zoom into to check if the bird really does have an eye-ring or whatever it is. Back in your safari camp/lodge you can then view an even bigger version on your iPad or laptop, if you have one and sit down with the book and really workout what the bird is, without having to rely on memory. As long as your photo is reasonable, you can’t argue too much with a photo, so it helps if you’re in a group and can’t quite agree, if you’ve got a photo to refer back to.

 

I would never though watch birds through my camera, because I just have a 100-400mm lens and the view is nothing like as good as through my binoculars, unless the bird is very close in which it may be too close for my binocs to focus on.

 

That point brings me to the subject of scopes, even a little mini-scope will give you much more magnification and a better view than binoculars, however, for the beginner if you are just doing general everyday birdwatching strolling around your local park or patch of countryside, a scope is unnecessary and impractical. As a beginner if you don’t have binoculars already, you should spend your money on buying the best pair you can afford, following the advice given here on ST in various earlier threads on binoculars, that you can look up. Really as a beginner you only need binoculars and a bird book. Once you get a lot more serious then you might want to think about a scope, in certain situations having a scope can be a major asset, particularly when dealing with large flocks of say waders or gulls, terns, ducks and geese and other waterbirds. Whether you are in the UK sitting in a bird hide on a nature reserve on the Somerset Levels, looking at a wetland full of wintering ducks, or you standing on the edge of a saltpan outside Walvisbaai in Namibia, looking at feeding waders, having a scope is a big advantage. Being able to scan big flocks with a scope to identify each species and hopefully spot the odd one out that turns out to be a rarity, makes a big difference, especially if some of the birds are some distance away. Waders can be quite difficult so the extra magnification is a big help. A scope is also very useful for scanning cliffs, mountain and hillsides looking for raptors or mammals for that matter. Basically, for situations where you are staying in one spot much of the time, a scope can be a great thing to have at a safari camp that has a good view, so that you can scan for wildlife, at times when you’re not out and about and some camps do have their own scopes, although heat haze can be a problem with high magnifications during the middle of the day. 

 

The drawback to scopes, is that with a big scope you really have to use a tripod, except when in a car, then you need a clamp of some sort, although you can just use a beanbag. With a mini-scope you can get away with a monopod, I’ve used this combination on safari, but it’s not as useful as a tripod. For travelling a big scope and tripod is a fair bit of extra weight, which may be a concern if you are flying on small planes and subject to weight limits. Quickly getting onto small birds with a scope takes some practice but will give you a really great view, if you want to lug a scope and tripod around with you. Almost all professional bird guides carry scopes, they are very well practised at getting birds in the scope, when you are guiding a group ensuring everyone sees a bird is difficult. Explaining exactly which branch, of which tree the bird is on is a challenge, with a scope you get it on the bird and then invite each person to have a look, if the bird stays, they all get a good view.

 

With a scope on a tripod you can also take your eye off the bird to look through your book and then take another look if the bird is still there, without having to search for it again, as you have to with binoculars. If you are an artist and perhaps wanted to take up sketching and painting birds then you’d use a scope for the same reason.

 

If anyone is thinking of getting a scope, for general all round birding. you want one with an angled eye-piece, rather than a straight scope, with a straight scope you will seriously struggle if you’re trying to point it at a bird in the top of say a rainforest tree. If you were just intending to use it primarily at home to view waders and shore birds and the like then having a straight scope wouldn’t matter.

 

Also, you can use a scope for photography, if you want to get into digiscoping, you won’t take such great photos as you would with a proper camera lens combo, but you can buy various adapters to allow you to attach anything from a smart phone to a DSLR to a scope. If you already have a scope and just a basic camera this can be a good inexpensive way to take general bird photos as a record say for a ‘big year’ if you are not too bothered about the quality. Here’s a demo video for Swarowski digiscoping using their universal camera adapter. 

 

 

 

On the subject of photography, many what I would call birders who take photos (as opposed to bird photographers), including various bird guides I’ve met, generally like to use a fixed focal length 400mm f.5.6 lens such as Canon produce. I have Canon’s 100-400mm Mk II zoom, this I think is a great general safari lens for the amateur photographer, but I would bet that when shooting birds, for all but the largest birds, I would always be using it at 400mm and never zooming out. If your sole interest really is in just recording the birds you’ve seen and not shooting all kinds of other subjects, there’s no need for the zoom, bird guides have to take photos, because they will need to have shots of a good few of the birds, they see to put in the trip report, they will have to write after each trip. The fixed 400mm lacks image stabilisation, but with practice you should have no trouble shooting handheld, and it should produce a sharper image than my lens does, it’s also somewhat lighter and a good deal cheaper, even with a cropped sensor 400mm is a little too short, but if you crop your shots it’s good enough most of the time. Crops of photos taken with the fixed 400 as opposed to my 100-400 should be better if you are getting a sharper image, if you need to carry a scope, binoculars, a book and maybe as some guides do, sound recording kit then you wouldn’t want a larger lens combination.         

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If you are setting up a "bird restaurant" in your garden, please consider the bird's safety.

 

The domestic cat is a fierce and efficient predator (at least as far as birds go), so make sure the feeding station and the water are inaccessible to the neighborhood felines!

 

One of the foods I have found quite effective is the cleanings from the local butcher's saw. And hereabouts, it tends to be free too! I keep it in the deep freeze and then mould into holes drilled into an attractive stump.

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On 1/12/2019 at 1:40 PM, Game Warden said:

What tips have you all got for birding in the backyard?

 

Clean your windows regularly :)

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1 hour ago, Zim Girl said:

Clean your windows regularly :)

That's worth more than a 'like'. It brought a smile to my old countenance on this otherwise drab day.:D

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Towlersonsafari

@Peter Connan quite properly warns about cats

Quote

If you are setting up a "bird restaurant" in your garden, please consider the bird's safety.

 

The domestic cat is a fierce and efficient predator (at least as far as birds go), so make sure the feeding station and the water are inaccessible to the neighborhood felines!

And we have had various cats some who have shown no inteest in birds, or have been too old, and others-our lovely 2 rescue  Bengals wree a real terror.you have to site feeders near some cover to allow birds a fighting chance against sparrowhawks, and to get the birds to come to the feeders, so we found that using a border edging-only say 6-9 inches high, surrounding the cats ambush positions slowed down these very fast cats and tipped the balance in favour of the birds.

 

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Following on from above, our bird table and feeders are situated right next to a large bushy shrub, which gives them loads of cover and just a short hop to the feeders.  Can make you jump sometimes when you walk past and there is an explosion of birds from the bush where they are hiding.

All bird boxes/feeders etc are also well away from the boundary fences.

Never had a problem with cats in the garden, although any that do pass through tend to be more interested in the fish pond!!

 

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@Zim Girl Very valid point with the cover.

Early spring last year we took down some trees and bushes close to the terrace.

This year the number of species feeding at the terrace has gone down considerably so mainly tits, blackbirds and woodpeckers.

No Hawfinches, bullfinches, siskens, Greenfinches etc.

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2 hours ago, mvecht said:

 

Early spring last year we took down some trees and bushes close to the terrace.

This year the number of species feeding at the terrace has gone down considerably.

 

The one large tree I had in my backgarden used to attract all the birds before they launched themselves at the feeders/table. The tree got pushed over in the recent storms damaging a wall and it had to be cut down..

Similar response here, the birds are not sitting around waiting for the food now and overall less evident. Very sad

Edited by wilddog
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1 hour ago, wilddog said:

The one large tree I had in my backgarden used to attract all the birds before they launched themselves at the feeders/table. The tree got pushed over in the recent storms damaging a wall and it had to be cut down..

Similar response here, the birds are not sitting around waiting for the food now and overall less evident. Very sad

 

In my case,  we had been watching over a pair of spotted doves making a nest in a tree next to house,  well hidden among the dense branches and leaves. The parents had to deal with a morning of a govt agency fogging the area with chemicals to kill mosquitoes as there's an outbreak of dengue fever. Then the pruners came and severely cut back a few trees. They had cut back quite a bit of the cover of the doves' tree before i stopped them when they got too close to the nest.  The birds had been sitting on the nest the last few days as if making up for the lost hours. But today, because of the loss of cover,  the Asian koel came and snatched the 2 eggs when the parents went off to eat. Everyone in my household felt a huge loss, as did the doves. So it's not only the cats,  but the bigger birds that are predators as well. 

 

But just going back to the theme of this thread - start birding at home or around where you live. I bet there will be more birds once you really start looking for birds.  

Edited by Kitsafari
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On 1/16/2019 at 11:59 PM, Kitsafari said:

But just going back to the theme of this thread - start birding at home or around where you live. I bet there will be more birds once you really start looking for birds.  

 

~ @Kitsafari

 

In the wider region where I work, far from carefully manicured tourist spots, it's standard practice to eliminate birds in urban and suburban areas.

 

Mist nets, poisoned seed, and slingshot shooters are accepted means of controlling the avian population, typically viewed as being unclean.

 

To foster consciousness of the value of birds and avian diversity, a quiet challenge was instituted here, which had previously been effective during my years in Beijing.

 

Originally it was called the “Eight Club”, as eight is regarded as an auspicious number in folk beliefs here. Publicity was primarily by word of mouth.

 

The challenge was this: To spot and identify eight separate bird species (male or female, juvenile variations wouldn't count) in the four years before graduation.

 

After half a year in 2016, it was self-evident that the local bird population was so decimated that eight species was impracticable for most undergraduates.

 

Consequently, in 2017 the target was shifted to five species. That has brought about an increase in participation, as it becomes more attainable.

 

As domestic poultry or caged songbirds don't count, students seeking the recognition certificate need to strive beyond the ubiquitous sparrows and doves.

 

Almost no students ever reach eight, unless they're also mountain climbers. Five is possible, if they remain alert to less prominent, skulking birds.

 

At my home office window, sparrows, doves, redstarts, and tits have perched. Other birds have been spotted while walking in secluded. bamboo-sheltered campus paths.

 

While I've kept no strict list, since 2016 I've spotted around ten species here. In nearby mountain forests, several dozen species have been observed.

 

Despite the cultural predation on birds which is a deep-seated reality here, it's possible to spot them if one really looks, as you so wisely wrote above.

 

Thank you for your very nice comment.

 

Tom K.

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On 1/12/2019 at 9:40 PM, Game Warden said:

Back to the encouragement for those just starting out, who enjoy bird watching, with or without binos or cameras. And perhaps we could have a sub section for birds in the backyard, which may well see more members getting involved, asking questions, taking and posting photos without the need for the more expensive photography gear?

 

~ @Game Warden

 

A backyard/neighborhood bird section would attract me.

 

Not as a competition in any form, but rather for sharing photos of avian behavior.

 

I'd feel encouraged by such a section, geared more for low-key enjoyment of birds than tallying images of different species.

 

I've loved the backyard bird photos from @JohnR taken from his window.

 

That's more my speed. 

 

Thank you for this idea. Were it to ever come about, I'd be likely to occasionally post a photo or two.

 

Tom K.

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On 1/12/2019 at 9:18 PM, wilddog said:

My understanding is the BY is about Bird Watching ........with evidence. This off course must include photography but the quality of that photography is not the issue.

 

We are lucky to have lots of expert photographers here, with great cameras, that produce amazing photographs, which would grace any glossy bird ID book, bird magazine. But some of us are just amateurs so I hope others will not misinterpret your comment as I may have done.

 

The BY should be open to all as we all have to start somewhere.

 

Small beginnings. :)

 

~ @wilddog

 

What you've expressed above is one of the most cogent comments I've read in a long time.

 

It's also one of the nicest. Far more than usual, I feel compelled to thank you for articulating what I feel.

 

Small beginnings mean so much to me. Modest aims bring deep satisfaction.

 

Most of my friends (excluding academic colleagues) are hesitant, as they feel intimidated by the challenge of matching top quality nature photos.

 

Those with limited mobility, limited means, local scarcity of species have every reason to enjoy what they are able to spot.

 

Your comments above struck home to me as few do. Perhaps because my students here thrive when they feel welcome to do what they're able.

 

With Appreciation,

 

Tom K.

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Dave Williams
1 hour ago, Tom Kellie said:

 

~ @Game Warden

 

A backyard/neighborhood bird section would attract me.

 

Not as a competition in any form, but rather for sharing photos of avian behavior.

 

I'd feel encouraged by such a section, geared more for low-key enjoyment of birds than tallying images of different species.

 

I've loved the backyard bird photos from @JohnR taken from his window.

 

That's more my speed. 

 

Thank you for this idea. Were it to ever come about, I'd be likely to occasionally post a photo or two.

 

Tom K.

 

What most onlookers don't seem to realise is  the BY isn't a competition against one another, it's a motivation to get out there and do something. Nobody really cares who wins.The participants encourage each other and take great pleasure in poking fun too, not just at each other but themselves too.You have to be in it to understand that and not just an occasional visitor to the threads.

There is no reason why you can't start a Back Yard thread yourself Tom, go for it and I'm sure many will contribute. Trouble is some will shy away as they think it's a competition rather than a shared delight about what someone is lucky enough to have seen in their garden.

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21 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

What most onlookers don't seem to realise is  the BY isn't a competition against one another, it's a motivation to get out there and do something. Nobody really cares who wins.The participants encourage each other and take great pleasure in poking fun too, not just at each other but themselves too.You have to be in it to understand that and not just an occasional visitor to the threads.

There is no reason why you can't start a Back Yard thread yourself Tom, go for it and I'm sure many will contribute. Trouble is some will shy away as they think it's a competition rather than a shared delight about what someone is lucky enough to have seen in their garden.

 

~ @Dave Williams

 

Thank you for your helpful comment and suggestion.

 

I'm less than an occasional visitor to the Big Year threads.

 

This was the first visit in quite a long while, as much as anything to see how it's going in 2019.

 

Certainly you would know best about how others feel about the Big Year 2019 section.

 

My comment to @Game Warden above was nothing more than a positive response to the possibility which he raised.

 

Likewise, I responded positively to @wilddog after feeling moved by her comments regarding the high value of small beginnings for onlookers like yours truly.

 

These Winter days where I work and live birds are scarce, save for Parus monticolus, which seems to thrive in local frigid conditions.

 

That so many actively take part in Big Year 2019 benefits all.

 

Happy birding throughout 2019!

 

Tom K.

 

 

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~ Today I followed up on the advice I received, after a fashion. Who says that Safaritalk posts don't have any effect?

 

Due to luminous weather, a wee adventure occurred, accentuated by unexpected good fortune at the outset.

 

The results will be apparent in the near future, if the “foreign” Internet connection holds up.

 

Tom K.

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12 minutes ago, kittykat23uk said:

@Tom Kellie

 

This is a good field guide for china: 

 

A Field Guide to the Birds of China: Ornithology https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0198549407/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_MKzrCb5DVJAY8

 

~ @kittykat23uk

 

Thank you for your thoughtful suggestion.

 

In 2000 I acquired the Chinese edition, in Chinese, which has been a faithful companion for years.

 

There are several other bird guides for China and East Asia on my bookshelf, but the one you recommended is at the top of the list.

 

Reading them in 中文 has honed my reading for the natural sciences.

 

As it happens, the book will see heavy use through the evening, as a direct consequence of the wee adventure earlier today.

 

“Someone” got into the act when I was making the image for you. He loves to be a part of everything.

 

Tom K.

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Dave Williams

My memory isn't particularly good but I recall seeing Azure-winged Magpies and Crows in Beijing's parks, even in the Forbidden City. There were also Bulbul in the garden of the latter too. You are correct though, it's far from a birding paradise and all that smog probably doesn't help. I think if you travel a bit further afield your chances of seeing things will multiply severalfold.

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6 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

My memory isn't particularly good but I recall seeing Azure-winged Magpies and Crows in Beijing's parks, even in the Forbidden City. There were also Bulbul in the garden of the latter too. You are correct though, it's far from a birding paradise and all that smog probably doesn't help. I think if you travel a bit further afield your chances of seeing things will multiply severalfold.

 

~ @Dave Williams

 

Thank you for your kind comment. I'm very glad that you had bird sightings when visiting this country's capital city.

 

As indicated, I currently work in Central China, far from Beijing and the metropolises of the eastern region of this country.

 

This is the 20th consecutive year of serving as a life sciences professor in this country.

 

As my area of specialization is field ecology, every semester for two decades has included far-ranging field observation experiences with students.

 

I've also led small groups of students on safaris in Kenya, where they refined their field observation and measurement techniques.

 

The focus hasn't been on birds, but rather on teaching the fundamentals of thorough observation, whether of trees, invertebrates, small mammals or birds.

 

As you've helpfully noted, observation away from urban areas yields a wealth of species. Nonetheless, there are ample species present in cities, if one looks.

 

The comments previously posted in this thread concerned students of very limited means who are being encouraged to look for birds in and around the campus, rather than life sciences majors.

 

The hundreds of bird species I've observed during the years here, including dozens of endemics, were almost all seen in forested or riparian areas far from cities or towns.

 

One works with what's available. Although local constraints are substantial, and students here live and study in reduced circumstances, there are possibilities for making modest progress.

 

Diminished expectations work especially well here. That's why the “Eight Club” described above quietly adjusted to a goal of five bird species during four undergraduate years.

 

Those few students who have achieved eight species are lavishly praised and taken to a celebratory dinner. Everything is geared to local realities.

 

I trust that you'll understand that not everything is possible in certain situations. 

 

Tom K.

 

 

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For the complete beginner the place to start is in your garden if you have one, put out lots of bird feeders as mentioned and then just watch whatever comes in, a good easy way to learn how to identify the common garden species, and if you live in a cold country like mine is at the moment, whilst heeding the advice about predatory cats and raptors given earlier, place the feeders in sight of your kitchen or living room windows and you can watch the birds from inside your nice warm dry house. Some further advice I would add to that already given about bird feeding, it’s vitally important to clean and disinfect your bird feeders regularly to avoid spreading disease. Here’s some advice from the RSPB  

 

If you live in the UK, then this coming weekend you can engage in some citizen science and take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch from the 26-28th of Jan. I always do a count if I haven't already flown south for the winter, waking up to briefly white world a few days ago, I'm thinking perhaps I should have chosen to migrate a little earlier this year. 

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~ @inyathi

 

It snowed in Britain?

 

We're no longer receiving international weather news here, as yesterday more “foreign” search engines and news sources were made unavailable.

 

Bird feeders here are as rare as phoenix plumes. To the best of my awareness, I've never seen any birder feeder during the past three years.

 

When reading your timely advice above I realized that my concrete balcony rail feeding station was overdue for cleaning.

 

There's a shallow dish with clean water and a similar dish with millet seed. Commercial bird seed isn't sold here in pet shops or supermarkets.

 

Sunflower seeds are sold heavily salted. The only seed readily available is millet. It attracts a steady stream of diners.

 

When your annual southward migration occurs, I hope that any wildlife sightings will exceed your expectations.

 

Tom K.

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Thanks @Tom Kellie

 

Some snow up in the mountains and the hills especially in Scotland is quite normal, but where I am down south and only moderately high, it's fortunately not that common most of the time, although I returned from my Ugandan Adventure in March last year to be greeted by deep snow and the resulting chaos brought on by the so-called Beast from the East that delivered a severe touch of Siberia. I had heard from someone local the day before that they had had a bit of snow a few miles away, but I had not had any so opening the curtains that morning it was a slight shock to see a white world, but it was only a fairly light covering of snow not at all newsworthy and and all gone by the end of the next day. We still go through this ridiculous nonsense every year of betting on a white Christmas, which almost never happens, statistically it is always far more likely to snow around Easter time,  it doesn't happen too often, the Beast from the East was hopefully a bit of a one off, the last major snow before last year was in 2013 and before that in 2010. However, this means we're so unused to serious snow in this country, that it only takes a few inches to cause complete chaos, having been stranded at Heathrow once on the way to Africa, when almost all the flights were grounded, I'm always slightly nervous of even a light dusting of snow at this time of year, just in case it's a sign that more is on the way.  It looks from the weather forecast like that could prove to be the case, but I hope it won't be anything too serious. 

 

I counted my birds on Sunday morning, fortunately the weather was OK, but it still always quite a challenge watching bird feeders or flocks coming to pick up seed of the ground, because sometimes they just move so fast, that you are never quite sure whether you are really counting different birds or the same ones twice.  

 

Keep up the good work trying to encourage an interest in birds amongst your students.

 

Edited by inyathi
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3 hours ago, inyathi said:

counted my birds on Sunday morning, fortunately the weather was OK but it still always quite a challenge watching bird feeders or flocks coming to pick up seed of the ground because sometimes they just move so fast, that you are never quite sure whether you are really counting different birds or the same ones twice.  

 

Keep up the good work trying to encourage an interest in birds amongst your students.

 

~ @inyathi

 

The snow situation where you live is unlike anything I've ever encountered.

 

Snow here is typically light, with mild dustings from time to time. A serious snowfall is a once or twice per season event.

 

The challenge of making a reasonably accurate bird count must be daunting, when flocks are involved.

 

Presumably no flocks like Quelea quelea, eh?

 

Thank you for your kind encouragement.

 

If life science majors of the present generation of university students here increase their appreciation of birds, it may modify their outlook towards the natural world.

 

The work here involves planting seeds for a future generation to harvest. While one may not live to taste the harvest, others will.

 

That's the way it must be with environmental educators at all levels, around the globe.

 

Appreciating birds is a nice first step towards enjoying all that lives on this blue planet.

 

Tom K.

 

 

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@Tom Kellie  In Denmark the European Starling (Sturnus Vulgaris) is regularly seen in flocks of 500,000 birds and sometimes a million in spring or autumn

in the southern part of the country close to the German border.

The phenomenon is referred to as "Black Sun" and is considered a tourist attraction. The same can be seen in the UK but I dont know how high the numbers are. This is an incredible sight just like the quelea and often attracts lots of raptors.

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