Michael´s Second Year

[michael-ibk]

72/E72.) Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) / Mandarinente

 

A bird originating from Eastern Asia (where it´s decreasing) but feral populations have been spreading for a long time now in Europe. This bird seemed to be nesting on the top of a dead tree.

 

[michael-ibk]

73/E73.) Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) / Jagdfasan

 

Abundant in the area. Introduced by the Romans in Europe as a hunting bird and long since a familiar bird here.

 

 

The much duller female:

 

 

I only ever see them on the ground so was surprised about this one a bit higher up:

 

[michael-ibk]

74/E74.) Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) / Graureiher

 

A common bird all over Austria, and I have already taken quite a few pictures of it this year. Problem is, fishermen hate them with a passion, and so they are mostly very shy and wary. Here in the Nationalpark it´s much easier to approach them a bit closer.

 

[michael-ibk]

75/E75.) Great Egret (Ardea alba) / Silberreiher

 

A familiar bird from pretty much all over the world. Not as common in Austria as the Grey Heron but still widespread.

 

 

 

Two Herons together:

 

[michael-ibk]

76/E76.) Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) / Seidenreiher

 

Also a common sight on safari but actually a very rare bird here in Austria. Seewinkel is one of the very few places with a good chance of finding them. Best told apart from the Great Egret by its yellow feet - and the smaller size.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

77/E77.) White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) / Weißstorch

 

A lovely trademark sight in many of our Eastern small villages - they often nest on rooftops, most Seewinkel villages have a few breeding pairs.

 

 

 

Here with a frog not having a very good day:

 

 

 

After the kill is before the next hunt.

 

[michael-ibk]

78/E78.) Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) / Schilfrohrsänger

 

All these little brown water-based warblers are an ID-nightmare but the Sedge Warbler is relatively easy because of the distinctive supercilium. Moustached Warblers have this as well but they are much rarer and have a darker head.

 

 

Not a very shy bird:

 

[michael-ibk]

79/E79.) Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) / Drosselrohrsänger

 

An extremely noisy bird, and extremely common - there seems to be one every 50 metres or so. But much shier than the Sedge Warbler, and once they dive down in the reed they are impossible to find again.

 

 

 

http://www.xeno-canto.org/369910/embed

Edited May 31, 2017 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

80/E80.) Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) / Turmfalke

 

The most common Falcon in Middle Europe, and Seewinkel is a very good place for them. This one was taking a dust bath:

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

81/E81.) Red-Footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus) / Rotfußfalke - NEW

 

Much, much rarer than the Kestrel, and the first time I´ve seen this species. Purely by accident - some bird was flying over me and I just took some shots, only when checking the pictures did I realize what it actually was. A decreasing species much over its area but there are also some good news - it has begun breeding again in Austria for the last few years.

 

Edited May 31, 2017 by michael-ibk

[Dave Williams]

Some excellent photographs included in the list. Interesting the Great Egret is considered common to you, Little Egret isn't. Here it is the opposite but there are signs that Great Egret is on the increase. Cattle Egrets will be next I suspect.

[xelas]

Beautiful weather, no rain ! Any luck with woodpeckers??

[PeterHG]

Thanks for giving me a taste of the Seewinkel area, @@michael-ibk, both with the scenery and the bird shots! You certainly got some good ones there. Wonderful to hear the song of the Great Reed Warbler and to learn that is a common bird over there. I Holland there are fewer than 100 pairs left, so their future here is quite uncertain.

[michael-ibk]

@@Dave Williams

 

Great Egret is very common in Seewinkel, and not really a rarity in other areas of Austria, especially in the lowlands. But as mentioned nowhere near as common as Grey Heron. Little Egret is a special bird to see. Cattle Egret - there are a handful of birds every year now, especially around Lake Constance. But an exceptionally rare sighting still in Austria, people are asked to file a report to an avifaunistic commission when they see one.

 

Sorry, @@xelas , I´m promising good weather for you next time. And yes to the Woodpecker this time.

 

Thanks, @@PeterHG , a few more coming up. I´m sure you will enjoy the area. The song of the Reed Warbler will soon be very familiar to you. Sad to hear that they are decreasing in Holland, why is that? That said I´m not sure how widespread they are in Austria. Lake Neusiedel, however, has one of the most extensive reed belts in Middle Europe, and that is of course perfect for them.

[michael-ibk]

82/E82.) Black-Winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) / Stelzenläufer

 

Seewinkel is the only region in Austria where this beautiful bird is breeding. They had gone extinct here in the late 19th century but have begun repopulating the area in the late 90ies. And these days they are a very common bird there in summer.

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

83/E83.) Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) / Säbelschnäbler

 

One of my favourite waders, and - like the Stilts - a very common sight in Seewinkel, and only there in Austria. I´ve read that there are about 150 breeding pairs here which does not seem right to me - in my impression there are many more, so maybe the population has increased. At one little salt lake ("Lacke") alone I counted almost 40 birds.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

84/E84.) Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) / Kiebitz

 

Without a doubt Seewinkel´signature bird, and found all over the place. Easy to forget, then, that this is a bird with huge problems, it´s classified as "Near Threatened". Modern agriculture has taken most of their habitat away, and it´s very difficult for them to find suitable breeding grounds.

 

 

Easy to identify even from far when they are flying, they have a very distinctive wing pattern (and just to prove to @@xelas that the weather was not always good.)

 

[michael-ibk]

85/E85.) Great Bustard (Otis tarda) / Großtrappe

 

One of the most impressive birds in the area, weighing up to 15 kg (but still able to fly). Only a few scattered populations remain in Europe, the most numerous ones in Spain and Portugal. In Austria only a few 100 remain but at least their numbers are pretty stable. They are shy and can only reliably be found in one special are between April to end of May, maybe beginning of June, when the males are still displaying. After that they go into hiding and are almost impossible to see. We were not very lucky with them this time, they kept very, very far from the roads, so nothing more than a few record shots were possible.

 

[michael-ibk]

86/E86.) Common Redshank (Tringa totanus) / Rotschenkel

 

A common breeding bird in the area. I always enjoy hearing their "song" when they are flying.

 

 

 

http://www.xeno-canto.org/281155/embed

Edited June 1, 2017 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

87/E87.) Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus) / Blutspecht

 

Very similar to the Greater Spotted Woodpecker but the moustachial stripe (hope that´s the correct term, the black stuff under the eye anyway) does not connect with the black nape so their face pattern is a bit more whitish. Also the red on the belly has a slightly different, more pinkish hue. A lucky sighting - I was checking out a place known for Barred Warbler which was not at home but the Syrian was.

 

[michael-ibk]

88/E88.) Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) / Seeregenpfeier

 

A super rare bird to find in Austria, and proof that wikipedia is sometimes wrong: The German edition at least claims it only breeds in coastal areas - wrong, because four or five pairs have made Seewinkel their home for quite some years now. I was aware of the general area they could be found but had no real hope of finding them, Plovers are tiny after all. But when I was checking out a small soda lake I got lucky. Real lucky because this bird was not shy at all.

 

 

 

 

 

And speaking of Plovers, I can´t resist posting a few shots of Little Ringed Ones (already in the count) since they were so accommodating. Common Plovers are also in the area but contrary to their name they are far less common in Austria than its yellow-ringed cousin.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2017 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

89/E89.) Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) / Goldammer

 

A regular bird all over Austria, and I already took a few photos of this species in 2017, but this one was posing particularly nice.

 

[michael-ibk]

90/E90.) Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) / Waldohreule

 

Definitely one of the hightlights. Long-Eared Owls are one of the most common Owls in Middle Europe but given their secretive nature they are never easy to spot. But this bird was found at exactly the same place as last year, and has become a bit of a celebrity among birders here.

 

 

 

Especially because they have chicks!

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

91/E91.) Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) / Rauchschwalbe

 

I´d guess this is the most numerous bird in Austria in summer. Still, not easy to get a decent shot of, so I was delighted when this bird was resting very close on the fence while we were in a hide.

 

[michael-ibk]

92/E92.) Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) / Ringeltaube

 

A widespread bird but so far I´ve found it difficult to get shots of them at home. When I was in Brussels I was surprised to find that they were around in the city a lot, and almost as tame as the feral ones. Well, this one was patient enough with me.