mvecht`s Big Year

[mvecht]

@PeterHG  thanks for the correction. I agree with you about the Little Grebe being a Smew. This has now been corrected now.

Not much experience with Smew in winter plumage.

I was also thinking Dunlin but if looks quite big if you compare to the duck I left in the picture for size comparison. 

[michael-ibk]

On 1/10/2019 at 7:23 PM, mvecht said:

@Dave Williams  I will need an early lead  as I will not be able to keep it for long just birding in Denmark.

Unfortunately no major trips planned for this year except a week in Sicily.

Maybe my business trips will add some, but I will probably not be as lucky as in December last year, where I saw a Kingfisher diving, while my train in Japan was crossing a small river.

 

I´ve found that working trips in Europe can be incredibly productive. I tend to add one day when possible, and am usually very happy with even shortish birding trips around or sometimes even in the cities.

[mvecht]

@michael-ibk   A sofa shot of a Buzzard. I see this bird several times a week when it is hunting worms or moles in sight from our living room.

Please note that it probably sees me better than I see it so I can not move around. Even lifting the camera will scare it so I appreciate your comment of this being a difficult bird to photograph.

Edited January 13, 2019 by mvecht

[mvecht]

Extremely windy today but still did a lunch walk.

#36 Common gull (Larus canus)  Skanderborg Lake 13th January

I got a little closer to the Whitetailed Eagle today but still too far away for very good shots

In another thread there has been a discussion regarding bins vs camera. Today I could certainly have used a scope.

My wife spotted a very distant thing in a tree that might be a bird. I took a few photo`s and then we tried to get closer. The next spot where we could see the bird was not a good angle and as I was trying to find a better angle my wife was scanning the lake and in the mean time the bird disappered into the trees without us noticing.

I will show two photos. The first mainly to describe the surroundings and the second one was my best shot.

Any ideas which bird it is?

I am leaning towards short eared or  Long eared Owl.

[Galana]

Well done with the Gull and the Eagle.

The Owl? My money would be on Tawny Owl although it looks bigger perhaps?

Least likely would be Short-eared in my opinion.

[mvecht]

@Galana 

Thank you for your valued opinion.

I think I can see a yellow left eye with black pupil which would exclude Tawny.

According to my bird book Tawny and LE/SE are very similar in size so I would not base any guess on size. Also the owl is not sitting up straight which makes judging of size difficult.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by mvecht

[Dave Williams]

I certainly can't add anything on the ID, one of those that you probably have to let go really although if you can crop it even further perhaps. I have seen SEO in similar circumstances and the yellow eye and the fact it's out in daylight make it a possibility. I have only ever seen a LEO once and that was at the ringing hut on the Isle of May in Scotland but it had been caught in a net trap by some bushes. I guess it depends on the terrain as to where they sit.

As for the bins vs camera , having both is nice but as you say a 'scope can be better still at this range!

[mvecht]

@Dave Williams   Unfortunately the picture has been cropped as much as possible. The distance was app 400 m`s.

The national data base does not provide any guidance as neither LE/SE have been recorded in the area for a while.

Tawny is nesting in the area and I hear it regularly but if it really is a yellow eye I can see in the picture, Tawny is not a possibility.

Edited January 14, 2019 by mvecht

[PeterHG]

I don't really think it is possible from this photo to discern whether it is a yellow eye one is seeing. It might just as well be a play of shadows around a closed eye. The black pupil would also be much bigger compared to the yellow around it and the whole 'eye' here looks disproportionally large. The shape of the owl looks wrong for a LE and the perch rather unusual for a SE (though not impossible, of course).If it disappeared in the trees, as you say, that does not sound like a SE either. I think @Galana 's Tawny Owl may still seem a fair guess. This is quite an interesting owl-guessing game you have presented here 

[mvecht]

The sun was shining today so time for another walk at the local Skanderborg Lake

18th January

#37 Great Black-backed Gull (Larus Marinus)

Lots of waterfowl but no new species.

The Whitetailed Eagle made a short but distant appearance.

The mystery Owl did not show up today but my wife saw it without binoculars yesterday.

This species had eluded me so far

#38 Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)

[mvecht]

#39 Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)

Skanderborg Lake 21 January.

A very difficult bird to photograph as it moves around very quickly in dense cover.

 

The Danish name "Fuglekonge" means king of birds.

According to an old tale all the birds were looking to appoint a king of all birds and decided to have a compettion who could fly the highest.

Eventually the Golden eagle were flying higher than all the other birds but as soon as it landed the other birds noted a tiny bird sitting on top of its head that had been hiding in the Eagles feathers and thus declared the Goldcrest the winner.

Some versions take it even further and claim that the yellow on the head was because it came too close to the sun

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by mvecht

[michael-ibk]

Interesting, I know that story well, but here it is the Winter Wren - which is a "Zaunkönig" (King of the Fence) in German.

[Galana]

The Goldcrest legend is also known to children here too.

Great shooting too. One of my bogey birds. Seen often but the very devil to capture.

[mvecht]

Today has been very misty so I was not too hopeful for number 40.

The day started with an unsuspected visitor on the terrace. This is only the second time I have seen Goldfinch by the house.

So what to do for number 40?

A Hoopoe had been reported in a very nearby village so off to find it.

In Denmark these sigthings are not too crowded. This was the third day the bird was reported eventhough it has been around for 2 months according to people in the village. My wife and I were looking around the village together with 4 other birders until my wife got the first glimpse.

The bird was not very relaxed so for the first two sightings we only had about 10 seconds until the bird settled on a rooftop 50m from where we had parked our car.

Hoopoes typically visit Denmark 10 -15 times per year

#40 Eurasian Hoopoe (Epops Upopa)

#41 Bullfinch  (pyrrhula pyrrhula)

The Bullfinch is quite common in Denmark and normally I would have them feeding on the terrace.

However no luck so far so I will go with an EBC shot

Edited January 22, 2019 by mvecht

[PeterHG]

A couple of very good birds, @mvecht ! A Hoopoe over here would be easier to find in a village, but mainly because you would be guided by the crowd of twitchers and photographers ticking off or clicking off a rarity ;). A Bullfinch as a regular garden visitor, that is not bad at all!

[Dave Williams]

Nice find with the Hoopoe. A Waxing was reputed in a local back yard to me along with a Rose-coloured Starling that's been there for months. Decided I'd take a look despite the appalling weather but no joy for me.

You are keeping the pace going Michael, well done.

[michael-ibk]

A Hoopoe wintering in Denmark? Fascinating, is that happening regularly? I had no idea some of them would stay in Europe - though that change in behaviour is becoming more and more common with some species like Blackcaps or White Storks.

[mvecht]

@michael-ibk  as mentioned we get 10 -20 birds a year in Denmark. I believe most in spring, but it is not that uncommon to see them in winter.

More and more birds winter here. Common crane is a good example.

[mvecht]

Winter has arrived. 25cm snow expected over the weekend which is actually quite uncommon in Denmark.

To day was just cold and a bit misty.

A walk along Skanderborg lake produced a lot of sigthings but not too many pictures.

Sightings of Red Kite, Snipe, Wren, Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Magpie and Jay but none of them wanted to be photographed.

Shortly after returning home I was on a business call as my wife watched a Sparrowhawk fighting two Crows from her sofa!

@michael-ibk I was thinking of you as I had two different Buzzards just lazing in trees.

Only new bird today.

#42 Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)  25 January Skanderborg lake.

[Galana]

1 hour ago, mvecht said:

I was on a business call as my wife watched a Sparrowhawk fighting two Crows from her sofa!

I would have hung up!

And got my wife a camera for her birthday!

[mvecht]

The weather has been pretty bad so not too much birding.

Today I had two new species from the sofa (though the window that has not been cleaned )

These two birds used to be very regular visitors in our garden but since we cut down a number of trees to get a better view they have more or less disappeared.

#43 male Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

#44 European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) hiding in the tree

Around lunchtime the weather was quite nice so we took a walk along the lake. I got a glimpse of two Water Rails but did not see the Black Redstart that someone else had spotted. It had been a very cold night so most of the lake was covered in ice strong enough to support the resident Whitetailed Eagles.

Notice how much bigger they are than the Hooded Crow and also that the female to the left is bigger than the male.

They were seen at a distance of app 500m so not the best photo.

[mvecht]

Another trip to the local lake

I see Ravens almost daily but always in the air and at a distance.

Today I tried getting a shot

#45 Raven (Corvus corax)

other than that there was not much happening by the lake.

Back home I got a quick EBC/sofa shot of

#46 Marsh tit (Poecile palustris)

In Xelas report there has been discussions of Marsh vs Willow Tit. This is 99,99% a Marsh Tit. Not that I heard any calls but in Denmark there is a fairly sharp border line for Willow tits app 100 km south of where I live and it is actually quite rare for the Willow Tits to go North of that border.

Sorry for the bad photo.

A male Bullfinch showed up today sitting in the trees and occasionally picking some seeds on the terrace

[Galana]

Nice Bullfinch.

[mvecht]

Today started with light snow and being very dark.

I did get a new bird today.

#47 Eurasian Magpie (pica pica)

 

As I was working I felt that some one was watching me.

He actually stayed for 20 minutes, left for 10 minutes and then came back for half an hour

Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes)

Edited January 31, 2019 by mvecht

[mvecht]

The day had a little more going on as daylight was fading.

I have been trying to get shots of Jays but the have been very shy so I have to go with this EBC for now hoping to get a better shot later in the year.

Another sofa shot.

#48 Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

As it was getting dark we had another visitor in full view from our living room. We see them quite often in the summer but it had been a while since I last saw one of these.

Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

Picture takenat a 200th and iso 6400 and even pushing so a bit noisy.