Michael´s Fourth Year

[PeterHG]

Absolutely great shots of your Seewinkel trip, Michael. This brings back good memories of our own trip there, assisted by all your tips and pointers! Like you, we simply loved the Bee-eater colony. Sad to read, though of the decline of species like Corn Bunting, Skylark and Godwit. The Corn Bunting has already lost the battle here and the other two are struggling. We are fortunate in still having a number of breeding pairs of Black-tailed Godwits close by, but their numbers go down every year. And what a good find your Lesser Kestrel was, you must have been really excited about that!. 

[xelas]

Excellent photos (as always) and some educational info thrown in as a bonus ... that is why we are so happy when Michael and Andreas are inviting us to join them at Seewinkel. With all the rain we have had in May, those dry lakes must be full to the brim. Congratulations on taking the No.1 relay pole in this year Big Year race .

[TonyQ]

Excellent collection from Seewinkel, and congratulations on 100 from Europe.

I really enjoyed the Ruff sequence- the range of colours is remarkable 

[michael-ibk]

12 hours ago, PeterHG said:

And what a good find your Lesser Kestrel was, you must have been really excited about that!.  

 

To be totally honest I did not even realize when taking the photo, only after checking the pictures I though "Hm, that´s an unusual looking Kestrel." I consulted a FB group then with a mobile picture of the camera display and it was immediately confirmed - and brought many Austrian birders to drop everything and rush there!

 

10 hours ago, xelas said:

Excellent photos (as always) and some educational info thrown in as a bonus ... that is why we are so happy when Michael and Andreas are inviting us to join them at Seewinkel.

 

Only our pleasure Alex!

 

And many thanks everybody!

[michael-ibk]

339/E102.) European Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) / Trauerschnäpper

 

Still a few more from Seewinkel. Pied Flycatcher is not one I see often so I was quite happy about this sighting. A naughty one: This species practices polygyny, usually bigamy, with the male travelling large distances to acquire a second mate. The male will mate with the secondary female and then return to the primary female in order to help with aspects of child rearing, such as feeding.

 

[michael-ibk]

340/E103.) Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) / Trauerseeschwalbe

 

Seen on our last morning when it was already raining cats and dogs (which prompted us to depart much earlier than initially planned). I reacted too late to a flock of a somewhat erratically flying flock so an ebc was all I got. Gone as a breeding bird in Austria but still a regular (although not very numerous) migrant in Spring and Autumn.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

341/E104.) Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) / Waldohreule

 

Apart from the Short-Eared Owl presented earlier this is still the only Owl species I´ve ever seen in Austria. They are very easy in Seewinkel, for many years now they are breeding at the very same place, and it´s usually not too difficult to find the right tree - just look at people pointing up with their lenses.

 

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

-/E105.) White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) / Weißstorch

 

Already seen in Botswana. Very common, almost every village has at least one pair nesting on a roof, often right in the very centre.

 

[michael-ibk]

342/E106.) Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) / Wiedehopf

 

The second Hoopoe in the count - our European version is a different species than the African one I already covered in the Botswana part. You all know by now that it´s my favourite bird. Quite decent sightings this time, it´s not every time in Seewinkel I manage a photo of them - although I´ve always seen them. Last Seewinkel bird - for now, if I´m desperate enough I might still post some more ebcs a bit later in the year.

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

343/E107.) Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) / Kormoran

 

Tiebelmündung, Carinthia, 22/4. There are only three confirmed colonies in Austria (Seewinkel, Lake Constance and some floodplain forests in Lower Austria) but they are still quite common in other places as well, some as migrants, some as winter guests but also residents.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

344/E108.) Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) / Wacholderdrossel

 

Gaisau, Tirol, 9/3. Quite a common winter guest but scarce as a breeder. The Old English word feldefare perhaps meant traveller through the fields. Another version traces it back to feala-for.

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by michael-ibk

[pedro maia]

I didn’t know you are a fan of hoopoes, I would have tried to find them for you close to Alcochete.

[Dave Williams]

I have only ever seen one Long-eared Owl, nice find!

 

[Zim Girl]

Beautiful pictures from Seewinkel Michael, but the Long-eared Owl is my favourite.

[Kitsafari]

On 5/24/2019 at 9:49 PM, Peter Connan said:

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...

 @Peter Connan he/ she must have forgotten mosquitoes.

[Kitsafari]

love the owls! 

 

On 5/29/2019 at 1:27 AM, michael-ibk said:

 

To be totally honest I did not even realize when taking the photo, only after checking the pictures I though "Hm, that´s an unusual looking Kestrel." I consulted a FB group then with a mobile picture of the camera display and it was immediately confirmed - and brought many Austrian birders to drop everything and rush there!

 

 

 

I hope they saw it too?

[Soukous]

super Marsh Harrier Michael

and of course so many others too

Edited May 30, 2019 by Soukous

[michael-ibk]

10 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

I hope they saw it too?

 I´m afraid not, a lot of birders rushed there but most without success, only one other guy managed to find it.

 

Thanks, the Owls are an annual highlight, they are very reliable, and always with fledglings at that time of the year.

 

On 5/29/2019 at 12:29 AM, pedro maia said:

I didn’t know you are a fan of hoopoes, I would have tried to find them for you close to Alcochete.

 

Don´t worry Pedro, I do love them but was more focused on getting birds which do not occur here at home. Next time?

 

But let´s talk about last time before that. One of the most delightful - and surprising - things about becoming a member of the virtual Safaritalk community years ago was how many of its great members I would later be privileged to meet - or even travel with -  "in the real world". My friends,  I´m happy to have met so many of you in person already, and am looking forward to getting to know even more.

 

Two weeks ago I was in Lissabon, and there I finally met the most important Safaritalker of them all - none other than the legendary @Game Warden. We shared a really fun - and sumptous - dinner, and I was happy to express my gratitude about "our" incomparable Safaritalk in person. Matt, you´re such a fantastic man, and I hope this was the first meeting of many! What made this encounter even better that @pedro maia also joined in on the fun - again, such a pleasure meeting you! And Pedro was kind enough to take me around Friday afternoon to some of his favourite birding spots - well, I got jealous a bit, I wish I had "hunting grounds" like that so close to home. Additionally I also used a birding company, Birdwatching Lissabon, to explore more of the Tagus estuary (only about half an hour from the city). I could have been a more lucky with the weather which was fantastic when I arrived in Lissabon (but had to sit around in office buildings the next days) and got pretty lousy when I was trying to up my score.

 

So, back to business - all following photos from the Tagus Estuary, May 17th and 18th.

 

345/E109.) Dunlin (Calidris alpin) / Alpenstrandläufer

 

Mid-May is still good migration time - I thought. What I had not really considered that Lissabon is obviously a lot more South than Austria (D´oh, to quote Homer Simpson), so of course birds are moving through a bit earlier than here. Actually I was told May to July are the "worst" months and winter pretty fantastic - lots of migrants don´t bother to go further and just stay there. We still managed to find two Dunlin flocks - one of the most common wader species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

346/E110.) Iberian Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) / Blauelster

 

A lifer for me - I just wish the sun would have had the decency to fight through the clouds to celebrate the occasion. Long treated as Azure-Winged Magpie, a bird occurring in Eastern Asia. The huge distribution gap was always considered very weird, and indeed recent genetic analysis has shown them to be distinct at species level.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

347/E111.) Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) / Brandgans

 

Not my first sighting of this species this year, quite many of them around in Seewinkel where they are doing very well. Almost the entire European breeding population meets for the moulting phase (when they cannot fly ) on an island off the Netherlands coast, the "Großer Knechtsand".

 

[michael-ibk]

348/E112.) Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) / Einfarbstar

 

They would have been pretty easy in the city where they are quite tame but played hard to get in the countryside. Its range is more or less confined to the Iberian peninsula (and some neighbouring areas). As a non-migratory species they do meet with "our" Starling in winter when the latter species travels to warmer climates.

 

[michael-ibk]

349/E113.) Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus) / Fahlsegler

 

Very, very similar to our Common Swift but slightly more "sandy", a bit lighter on the chin and - the best ID mark IMO - a somewhat scaly-looking belly.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

350/E114.) Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) / Rosaflamingo

 

Always such a delight to see this iconic bird. To me they say "Africa" just as much as Lions and Elephants. Actually I don´t think I even realized they do occur in Europe until a few years ago. Very common in the area, and the best way to seem them was actually a stop on the motorway.

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

351/E115.) European Serin (Serinus serinus) / Girlitz

 

Probably the most common Passerine in the area, singing from every tree and wire. Here at home they are yet another struggling species in a hard decline. I haven´t seen one at all so far this year in Austria.

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

-/E116.) Black-Winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) / Gleitaar

 

Already seen in Botswana. Pedro made a big effort to find one for me and his perseverance paid off. Not more than an ebc unfortunately but still my very first BW-Kite in Europe, felt good. We do have one here in Austria right now, big excitement over that in our local birding world.