Jump to content

Michael´s Third Year


michael-ibk

Recommended Posts

Well done with the Water Rail- great shots out in the open. The Crossbill is very colourful.

Sorry to hear about you camera. Was it the rain and humidity? 

600 seems to be in sight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, @TonyQ. Yes, exactly - the sealing is coming off everywhere and the fast wheel on top is loose and is only functioning when I buy it flowers and say "please baby".:unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some really good progress Michael!

 

Hope they get the 7D back on the road.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great photos again. Top marks to the Water Rail in the open. Sorry about the camera. Hope she gets better soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also love the Water Rail pictures.  I have never seen one but hoping to try and find one before the year's out.

Ohh, shame about your camera, hope repairs don't take too long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everybody, I hope so too. Even though I´ve had it sent in to Canon 10 days ago they haven´t even given me an estimate of the repair costs yet.^_^

 

573/E205.) Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) / Rostgans

 

Lake Constance, 5 & 10/10. Not a native but sightings are becoming more and more common. It´s a migratory bird, breeding in South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia and wintering in the Indian subcontinent. Feral Shelduck have bred successfully in several European countries. In Switzerland (less than 1 km away from this sighting) the ruddy shelduck is considered an invasive species that threatens to displace native birds. It´s an agressive bird which tries to drive off all other ducks from its breeding grounds  Despite actions taken to reduce numbers, the population there increased from 211 to 1250 individuals in the period from 2006 to 2016.

 

large.Rhein_168_Rostgans_uva.JPG.77c69ee

 

As you can see, no shortage of Ducks at Lake Constance.

 

large.Rhein_308_Rostgans.JPG.ca70ec38d80

 

Couple more from my last outings there:

 

large.Rhein_214_Bekassine.JPG.52f3834892

 

Common Snipe

 

large.Rhein_220_Schwarzkehlchen.JPG.8bc2

 

Stonechat

 

large.Rhein_230_Bartmeise.JPG.70e7ae9766

 

large.Rhein_217_Bartmeise.JPG.bb7af973af

 

And my faves, the Bearded Reedlings. Plenty of them around.

 

 

Edited by michael-ibk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

574/E206.) Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) / Kiebitzregenpfeifer

 

Lake Constance, 12/10. A pretty rare bird in Austria, only seen during migration. Usually late autumn is a good time for them, and this was true this year as well. I found nine of them, six of them together which is a bit unusual since Grey Plovers are solitary birds and tend to move alone or in very small flocks. Unfortunately all of them kept their distance.

 

large.Rhein_289_Kiebitzregenpfeifer.JPG.

 

I had much more photo fun with this very obliging Dunlin. I sat down at the shore when I saw two of them. After a while they started to ignore me and approached closer and closer to me until this one was within metres. As confiding as it was this one has to be a juvenile which has not yet learned to fear humans.

 

large.882454737_Rhein_73_Alpenstrandlufe

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave Williams

I haven't got a Dunlin yet either and they are common around here!

I have been waiting to get a close up but that's a whole different ball game. Well done on yours Michael, excellent capture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Indeed, a lovely shot!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@michael-ibkLooks like an opportunity for trade. Swap you one goldie for a 'silver'.

I find Dunlin quite approachable if you let them come to you by sitting still.

Nice portrait.

Edited by Galana
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very good Dunlin shot! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

575/E207.) Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) / Mäusebussard

 

Stubaital, 14/10; Chiemsee, 24/3, and Lake Constance, 5/10. I´m giving up on getting a good one. Our most common raptor by far, I see them almost every day, often very close to the road but they are very wary and don´t like to pose at all.

 

large.178043922_Eulenwiesen_1_Musebussar

 

large.163271832_Chiemsee_17_Musebussard.

 

large.737345102_Rhein_126_Musebussard.JP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

I´m giving up on getting a good one

 

Those are good enough, for me anyway!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well, maybe I´m too picky, and yes, there are lots of species I have worse pictures of (some of them coming up soon) but I do find Buzzards really frustrating - last Sunday I think I saw 20 of them, most of them very close to the road. I´m positive they always perch where they know I just can´t stop for them because of traffic and then they laugh about me and jape that, no, I will never get a close-up. :-)

 

576/E208.) Eurasian Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus) / Beutelmeise

 

Maria Elend, Carinthia, 3/11. A good catch for me yesterday, quite a difficult bird to get here. Penduline Tits are very localised birds, they favour lakeside and riverine swampy vegetation and a good mixture of emergent vegetation, including reeds, with reedmace, poplars and willows. There are only a couple of confirmed breeding areas for them in Austria. They are not very well researched and so there is even uncertainty about their movements but it is believed that most birds in our area migrate to the Mediterranean in Winter.

 

large.41569328_MariaElend_1_Bartmeise.JP

 

large.1231839272_MariaElend_11_Bartmeise 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

most of them very close to the road. I´m positive they always perch where they know I just can´t stop for them

I share the pain.

I think there are two sub species. One that hides and flushes just as you get close before you see it, and another that perches in the open so you see it from a distance and slow down early for a shot when it waits until just before you focus before flying off with a chuckle.

It looks as though your Penduline Tit is doing the same. Nice capture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

577/E209.) Common Linnet (Linnaria cannabina) / Bluthänfling

 

Lake Constance, 12/10. A much more attractive bird in breeding season when the males show a lot of red on head and breast. While not really endangered globally this species is sharply declining in Austria - another victim of "efficient" agriculture. If you are a Eurovision fan a little fun fact for you: 2014´s runner-ups (to our Conchita Wurst) "The Common Linnets" are indeed named after his bird.

 

large.1423393730_Rhein_205_Bluthnfling.J

Link to comment
Share on other sites

578/E210.) Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) / Sperber

 

Lake Kerkini, Greece, 18/3. More rejects from the archives in my desperate attempt to reach 600. I know, some of you have these cool little raptors in your gardens but I only see them very, very rarely, so I doubt I´ll be able to get a better picture in the remaining two months.

 

large.Kerkini_400_Sperber.JPG.19d3cc5104

Link to comment
Share on other sites

579/E211.) Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) / Hausrotschwanz

 

Ramsgrubensee, Tirol, 30/9/2018. A common bird up high in the mountains in summer. A migratory bird which travels to Southern Europe and Northern Africa in Winter but more and more of them seem to stay even in the cold months but more so in the lowlands.

 

large.Ramsgrubensee_3_Hausrotschwanz.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

580/E212.) European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) / Rotkehlchen

 

Lake Kerkini, Greece, 17/3, and Fiumicino, Italy, 10/11. Arguably one of Europe´s most popular birds, especially in the UK. An old British folk tale seeks to explain the Robin's distinctive breast. Legend has it that when Jesus was dying on the cross, the Robin, then simply brown in colour, flew to his side and sang into his ear in order to comfort him in his pain. The blood from his wounds stained the Robin's breast, and thereafter all Robins got the mark of Christ's blood upon them. Interestingly a very similar legend is known here in Middle Europe but not for Robins but our Common Crossills (see last page): Not only is their colour a result of the blood of Christ but even the shape of their bills an outcome of their role in the crucification. They tried to remove the nails with them and got deformed in that process.

 

large.Kerkini_295_Rotkehlchen.JPG.f641fc

 

large.Rom_23_Rotkehlchen.JPG.77e4c30fb1d

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave Williams

A Robin at 580 and in November. Can't be bad! 600 can't be far away.Go for it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An end to the brilliant and colourful South American chapter but a beginning to the BIG 6-00. Go, Michael, GO! your hard work ethos and that determined glint in your sharp eyes will make mincemeat of that threshold.

 

Love that story about the robin. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah @michael-ibk, so close! I do hope (and trust) you'll find 20 more. What a great story about the Robin and the Crossbill!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

581/E213.) Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) / Kornweihe

 

Seewinkel, 28/10. I used a working trip to Vienna to snatch some birding time at Seewinkel, our best birding destination here in Austria, hoping to get some winter guests. My timing could have been better, the weather sucked, and just one week later 1000s of Cranes would arrive, along with all the White-Fronted Geese, and some seriously good rarities like Brent Goose, Pink-Footed Goose, Red-Breasted Goose and even a Sociable Lapwing, only the 14th ever record for Austria. And my efforts with my spare 70d really made me appreciate my 7d more than ever before - fortunately, I got it back from Canon one week ago, good as new (hopefully). For repair costs of EUR 400,-- it should be.B)

 

Anyway, back to this click: Hen Harriers breed farther North but are regular winter guests in Austria, especially in the lowlands. It used to be a breeding bird over much of Middle Europe but has long since gone extinct as such in most countries here.

 

large.Seewinkel_65_Kornweihe.JPG.b1cb755

 

large.Seewinkel_7_Kornweihe.JPG.e8910a87

 

large.Seewinkel_4_Kornweihe.JPG.7b4b4282

Edited by michael-ibk
Link to comment
Share on other sites

582/E214.) Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) / Raubwürger

 

Seewinkel, 28/10. Breeding generally takes place North of 50° Northern latitude in Europe but this bird is another regular arrival in the cold season - again generally in the lowlands only. Occassionaly, even animals as large as young Stoats are devoured by Shrikes.

 

large.1503299160_Seewinkel_78_Raubwrger.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy