Michael´s Fourth Year

[michael-ibk]

294/E45.) Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) / Gartenrotschwanz

 

Winklern, Carinthia, 21/4. One of our more common garden birds. Formerly classified as a Thrush relative but now known to be an Old World Flycatcher. The male looks distinctive enough but it´s not always easy to tell the rather drab looking females apart from the very similar (but even more "boring" looking) Black Redstarts.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

295/E46.) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) / Höckerschwan

 

Chiemsee, Germany, 17/3. A very common species, and probably the boldest waterbird. Can even be quite aggressive towards humans when nesting, a friend of mine was ferociously attacked as a small child and to this day is very nervous around them.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

296/E47.) Garganey (Spatula querquedula) / Knäkente

 

Tiebelmündung, Carinthia, 20/4. A small dabbling duck I´m quite fond of. Unlike many of their cousins this is a strictly migratory species with the whole population moving off to the South (mostly Africa) in winter.

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

Not my favourite familiy but to get them out of the way ...

 

297/E48.) Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) / Rabenkrähe

 

Tiebelmündung, Carinthia, 21/4. One of our most common birds, and I do feel that there´s just too many of them. Most biologists say their impact on other birds is exaggerated but I confess to not be entirely convinced. Persecuted and hunted in our area (like all Corvids) so quite wary here.

 

 

298/E49.) Northern Raven (Corvus corax) / Kolkrabe

 

Münster, Motorway reststop, Tirol, 22/4. I´ve mentioned in another thread that it´s one of my birding embarrasments that I still find it very tricky to tell this bird (the heaviest passerine) apart from a Carrion Crow. It is bigger but it´s kinda hard to tell when they are not sitting next to each other, and the other features (heavier bill) are quite variable. So the best way to ID them is when they are airbound - the wedge-shaped tail is very characteristic.

 

 

299/E50.) Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) / Nebelkrähe

 

Tiebelmündung, Carinthia, 21/4. It is so similar in morphology and habits to the Carrion Crow, for many years they were considered by most authorities to be geographical races of one species. Hybridization observed where their ranges overlapped added weight to this view. However, since 2002, the Hooded Crow has been elevated to full species status after closer observation; the hybridisation was less than expected and hybrids had decreased vigour.

 

Edited May 23, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

300/E51.) Black Kite (Milvus migrans) / Schwarzmilan

 

Münster, Tirol, 22/4. Unlike its Red cousin this bird is vacating Austria in winter and migrating South to much warmer climates, they travel as far as South Africa. I have found quite a reliable place for them a few years ago, a motorway reststop with compost works close by.

 

 

 

 

[Dave Williams]

300 up! Well done. Some excellent additions, love the Whinchat shot and the flight LRP is a bit special!

[pedro maia]

Congrats on the third century, I bet you still have lots of birds to post before of those from down here, which I’m really curious to see.

[Tdgraves]

Well done on 300, here’s to the next 300?!?

[michael-ibk]

Thanks Dave! Long live blurry backgrounds, the red in the whinchat shot is actually a rooftop.

[michael-ibk]

1 minute ago, pedro maia said:

Congrats on the third century, I bet you still have lots of birds to post before of those from down here, which I’m really curious to see.

 

Thanks, Pedro, I´m afraid so, might take a little while. I really need to pick up speed a bit, Seewinkel is still to be done, and then I still have a trip report to do!

 

Just now, Tdgraves said:

Well done on 300, here’s to the next 300?!?

 

Thank you Tracey, I think 500 might be in the cards but don´t really expect to top 600 again. Gabon still coming, yes, but there will be much overlap with Bots for the "easy" birds, and I shudder to think about all those extremely tricky to even spot jungle species.

[Galana]

Congratulations on the third century. Well deserved and like Mr Tortoise I think the LRP in flight is special.

[TonyQ]

Well done on reaching 300. Superb plover in flight, and always interesting to see what is common in different area - boring Redstart indeed!

Edited May 23, 2019 by TonyQ

[PeterHG]

Congratulations on #300 and looking forward to even more!

[Kitsafari]

15 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

 

Thanks, Pedro, I´m afraid so, might take a little while. I really need to pick up speed a bit, Seewinkel is still to be done, and then I still have a trip report to do!

 

 

My neck has grown loooong waiting for your trip report. You have only 2 months to complete it. 

 

Congrats on the 300th and what a beaut to show for it. up and on to the next 300. no problem.

[Peter Connan]

Great shot and great achievement to get to the 300!

 

A friend of mine reckons Crows and Cockroaches will be the last species left on Earth...

[xelas]

Congratulations on #300, Michael! With all the Seewinkel birds still in the hat, the hare will have to hide in that same hat  very soon.

[michael-ibk]

Thank you everybody! :-)

 

301/E52.) Little Grebe aka Dabchick (Tachybaptus ruficollis) / Zwergtaucher

 

Stausee Reißeck, Carinthia, 2/3. Our smallest Grebe.  There are six currently-recognized subspecies, separated principally by size and colouration. Ours is the nominate ruficollis. Like all grebes, it nests at the water's edge, since its legs are set very far back and it cannot walk well.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

302/E53.) Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) / Waldlaubsänger

 

Winklern, Carinthia, 21/4. Not a bird I see very often, IIRC I did not have one in my previous two BYs. Popped up in my fathers´s garden of all places, pretty certainly only moving through.

 

[michael-ibk]

303/E54.) Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) / Teichhuhn.

 

Tiebelmündung, Carinthia, 22/4.Probably the most common rail species, except for the Eurasian coot in some regions.

 

[michael-ibk]

304/E55.) Coal Tit (Periparus ater) / Tannenmeise

 

Fulpmes, Tirol, 7/4. They used to be regular guests at our feeders. But early last year our neighbour felled an old spruce in his garden for safety reasons. That must have been their "home" because they were nowhere to be seen afterwards for a long time. This year they have returned, and I´m quite happy about that.

 

[michael-ibk]

305/E56.) Red Kite (Milvus milvus) / Rotmilan

 

Chiemsee, Germany, 20/1. A raptor which has declined for quite a long time but they seem to be making a small comeback in our region, sigthings are becoming more and more common. They are not faring so well in other areas. Some scientists believe the continued success of their close cousin, the Black Kite, is a problem for them and that they are outcompeted by that bird.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

306/E57.) European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) / Rotkehlchen

 

Tiebelmündung, Carinthia, 20/4. Undeniably one of Europe´s most popular birds. Attempts to introduce it into Australia and New Zealand in the latter part of the 19th century were unsuccessful. Birds were released around Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin by various local acclimatisation societies, with none becoming established. There was a similar outcome in North America as birds failed to establish after being released in Long Island, New York in 1852, Oregon in 1889–1892, and the Saanich Peninsula in British Columbia in 1908–1910

 

[michael-ibk]

307/E58.) Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) / Goldammer

 

Gaisau, Tirol, 9/3. Our most common Bunting, and actually the only relatively common Bunting in Austria. Some Corn Buntings are still holding out in the east, there are some very isolated populations of Cirl and Rock Buntings, and the Ortolan Bunting is just found during migration, having gone extinct as a breeding bird a few years ago. That´s about it, all others popping up would be "birding sensations".

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2019 by michael-ibk

[Dave Williams]

Yellowhammer is an uncommon species here in the UK, well in North Wales anyway. By co-incidence I was thinking of going looking for the first I would have seen in years on Wednesday but the forecast looks poor now. 

Interesting to hear about the attempted release of Robins in North America and Australia. Why would you do that I wonder?

[michael-ibk]

I can only imagine maybe people wanted to have a familar "birdface" from home around?