Michael´s Fourth Year

[xelas]

Lovely bullfinch to celebrate the #500 of the Big Year 2019! Congratulations, Michael!

[Peter Connan]

Magnificent bird, magnific3nt photo and magnificent achievement!

[pedro maia]

Very nice that bullfinch for your 500, congrats Michael.

[PeterHG]

 Congratulations on #500, @michael-ibk! A beautiful Bullfinch! Keep pushing though, for I'm only 150 behind you ;)!

[Zim Girl]

Well done on getting to 500, Michael, and with a really lovely Bullfinch.

[Soukous]

You're still racing along Michael. Well done on reaching 500. 

Love;y Bullfinch as well, much more colourful than mine. 

[michael-ibk]

On 10/11/2019 at 8:58 PM, Tdgraves said:

Congrats on 500 @michael-ibk will it be enough??!? 

 

I´m pretty sure it will not. Come on guys and gals I believe in you!

 

On 10/13/2019 at 12:07 AM, PeterHG said:

 Congratulations on #500, @michael-ibk! A beautiful Bullfinch! Keep pushing though, for I'm only 150 behind you ;)! 

 

Pfff, 150 - that´s easy, the equivalent of a pretty good (but not exceptional) trip after all.

 

And many thanks everybody!

[michael-ibk]

Time to clean house, a few ebc-leftovers of some speices I cannot really hope to still get a better one this year. Migrants.

 

501/E178.) Grey Plover ( Pluvialis squatarola) / Kiebitzregenpfeifer

 

Tagus Estuary, Portugal, 18/5. From my short trip with @pedro maia. Had hoped to find some in Autumn but it was rainy during a short Lake Constance outing (where they normally stop on their way South in reliable numbers) and so I just spent three hours there instead of a planned full day. No Plovers! :-(

 

 

-/E179.) Little Stint (Calidris minuta) / Zwergstrandläufer

 

Already seen in Botswana. Carinthia, Tiebelmündung, 31/8. First time I´ve seen them there. This area is a good example how quickly nature bounces back. For decades it was drained to make way for agricultural use. Three years ago it was renaturised and has already become a remarkable birding hotspot in very short time.

 

 

-/E180.) Little Bittern ( Ixobrychus minutus ) / Zwergdommel

 

Tagus Estuary, Portugal, 18/5. Another leftover from a very productive day with Pedro. Already seen in Gabon this year where I did not really expect to see this bird.

 

 

502/E181.) Sand Martin (Riparia riparia) / Uferschwalbe

 

Tagus Estuary, Portugal, 18/5. Believe me, it´s a Sand Martin, I do have a witness!

 

[michael-ibk]

Ha, and I found another glorious ebc from Portugal!

 

503/E182.) Cetti´s Warbler (Cettia cetti) / Seidensänger

 

Tagus Estuary, Portugal, 18/5. A dastardly difficult bird. The only place I´ver ever seen them a bit more user-friendly is that unpronouncable and unspellable place in Slovenia @xelas gets many of his clicks.

 

[michael-ibk]

504/E183.) Feral Pigeon (Columba livia domestica) / Fels oder Straßentaube

 

One from Bulgaria´s Rhodopian Mountains, 29/6. For a while I thought it cold be a proper wild Rock Pigeon (no city around for many many miles, right habitat) but the colouration really does not fit.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

505/E184.) Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) / Waldwasserläufer

 

Tiebelmündung, Carinthia, 31/8. And one last wader I really was not very lucky with this year - a heavy crop of a very distant shot.

 

[pedro maia]

Good to see you still have some leftovers from down here but the little bittern was before we had lunch because I never saw one.

[michael-ibk]

Ah ok you´re right of course - that was very close to the "House of the Little Owl".

[michael-ibk]

506/E185.) Pygmy Cormorant (Microcarbo pygmaeus) / Zwergscharbe

 

Seewinkel, 12/9. Come Spring, come Autumn, we have to go to Seewinkel, and it´s always double the pleasure because we share this with @xelas and Zvezda - this has become a very nice tradition.

 

The only place in Austria where this bird occurs.

 

 

At the very same spot I got my best photo of a Purple Heron in Austria so far - easier in Africa!

 

 

[PeterHG]

Amazing colours in the Purple Heron shot, @michael-ibk. Really beautiful!

 

[xelas]

12 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Come Spring, come Autumn, we have to go to Seewinkel

 And we blame Michael for this ; always a great birding in a perfect company!

[Kitsafari]

such a gorgeous bullfinch to hit the 500. so what's for 600? 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

On 10/16/2019 at 12:16 PM, Kitsafari said:

so what's for 600? 

 Unless I quite my job nothing - unfortunately I´m out of holidays! And no fun working trips neither. :-(

 

Not much more in the pipe I think, certainly not enough to get me there. But I´d like to pass the #200 barrier for European birds at least.

 

507/E186.) Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) / Klappergrasmücke

 

Seewinkel, 13/9. I have to thank Zvezda to get even this glimpse of the bird, she went to the other side of the bush to steer it a bit more towards me. Like most Warblers principally insectivorous but also take to berries in autumn.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

508/E187.) White-Tailed Eagle (Haliaeetua albica) / Seeadler

 

Seewinkel, 13/9. A really terrible picture but beggars can´t be choosers. At least the white tail is there - so an adult obviously.

 

 

Also had a sighting of a Hobby, not a bird I see very often (but already in the count from Bulgaria).

 

 

And an interesting Kestrel - seems to be a leucistic bird:

 

 

[michael-ibk]

509/E188.) Northern Shoveller (Spatula clypeata) / Löffler

 

Seewinkel, 13/9. Spring is a much better season for this bird, the males look spectacular then.

 

 

And a female Pheasant just because I quite like this picture.

 

 

And a Green Woodpecker - my second sighting this year (although I do hear them much more often).

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

510/E189.) Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria intepres) / Steinwälzer

 

Seewinkel, 13/9. The region is always the best bet for rarer migrants coming through, and this year it was Turnstone time. Probably not too exciting for you folks in the UK or down in Portugal but a very rare bird in inland Europe. Obviously two immatures who have not yet been given reason to fear humans - they were incredibly nonchalant about us, Same with some Dunlins who hung around with them.

 

 

 

 

They were quite the stars that weekend:

 

[Galana]

Well done.

One that really stands out is the Hobby.

A good crop and you have an action shot with those claws coming for the prey.

 

No time left? Not even for a weekend in IOM or Scotland where I could get you a few more for your score?

[Peter Connan]

Great shots of the Turnstones!

[michael-ibk]

Very tempting @Galana, but I thing I better leave that for a nice spring break. How´s the weather in your corner in November?

[pedro maia]

With a couple of weekends you’ll reach the 200 mark in Europe easily, nothing is guaranteed but we will surely have some good weather until the end of the year and I also need help to try to reach 200 in Portugal, that goal is getting harder and harder.