mvecht's 2nd year

[mvecht]

BY 2020 has been started by a kind moderator 

I will join the BY again with the main target being to beat the 101 birds I had in Denmark in 2019 and possibly also the total of 230.

I am currently very busy packing down the house as we will be moving to the other end of the country next week, so my "sofa" will only be producing for a few days this year.

The new place will have lots of interesting birdlife nearby, but I dont expect to see much from the house except maybe for some crane and raptor migration in spring.

My travel plans for 2020 are not fixed yet but I do expect to have a few trips to some exotic Islands that may give me a few nice endemics. More about that later.

One species that I will not be able to see clode to my new home is:

 

#1 Crested tit (Lophophanes cristatus)

This bird only lives in the western part of Denmark

January 1st, Skanderborg Denmark (from the sofa through a dirty window in poor lighting)

[Galana]

Can I buy your Sofa pls?

If Crested Tit is a great example of what it can produce I want it.

[TonyQ]

@mvecht  what a wonderful bird to start your new Big Year (I have never seen a Crested Tit!)

Good luck with the move and I hope you are happy in your new home.

[Kitsafari]

is the birding sofa going with you to the new place? a lovely tit to kick off 2020 with. 

[michael-ibk]

Great to kickstart your Big Year with the coolest Tit! Looking forward to your second edition, particularly those islands you are mysteriously alluding to!

[mvecht]

@michael-ibk  Hawaii is one of the Islands on the list but it will be a working trip so I dont know much time I will have for birding.

@Galana  @Kitsafari  the sofa is still not for sale   It will move with me. Unfortunately the new garden will be much smaller.

@TonyQI love the Crested tits but I mainly see them in the winter time when feeding them. In the summer they are quite elusive. After the move I will unfortunately no longer be able to see them on a regular basis.

[xelas]

Lovely Crested Tit, @mvecht. And welcome to BY 2020. Hawai’i has some fantastic birds but they are really hard to photograph. Which island will you go to?

[PeterHG]

Ah, starting off with a bird I have never been able to take a photo of! Good luck with the move and I look forward to cranes and raptors from the new place.

[mvecht]

@xelas  the trip to Hawaii is not cut in stone. The conference is in Oahu but I may try to sneek in a few more days at one of the other Islands.

Edited January 4, 2020 by mvecht

[mvecht]

@PeterHG Crested tits are tricky in their natural habitat but they do love the margarine I put out for them

[pedro maia]

4 hours ago, mvecht said:

@PeterHG Crested tits are tricky in their natural habitat but they do love the margarine I put out for them

 

They also like the seeds I gave them today .

[Zim Girl]

A Crested Tit through a dirty window in poor lighting would be good enough for me!!  I also have never seen one.

[elefromoz]

@pedro maia, hope the move went/going well. How interesting that the Crested Tit has been elusive for some of the Birders here. We saw them regularly around the Costa Brava a few years back, making me assume they were very common everywhere. A very cute little bird indeed. 

[pedro maia]

14 minutes ago, elefromoz said:

@pedro maia, hope the move went/going well. How interesting that the Crested Tit has been elusive for some of the Birders here. We saw them regularly around the Costa Brava a few years back, making me assume they were very common everywhere. A very cute little bird indeed. 

 

I´m not moving anywhere .

[elefromoz]

@pedro maia Ha ha, been away too long...

[mvecht]

Finally done with the move so had a chance to do some birding today and now to catch up with ST which I have not done for quite a while.

Grey overcast winter days in Denmark dont give you a lot of light.

18 January, Raadvad Denmark

#2 White-throated Dipper (Cinclus clnclus)

 

 

[mvecht]

#3 Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus). 18 January Nivaa, Denmark

 

[xelas]

Dippers in Denmark are very sociable creatures to let you approach them at such close distance!

[mvecht]

@Xelas   normally not. However this is a special location close to Copenhagen. There are actually a few crafts shops next to the canal. so always people around.

This year the water levels are very high so only 1 or two birds around. Normally there would be 4 birds in a 100 meter stretch with multiple photographers, so these birds get used to people. The one bird I photographed end of last year was extremely shy and I think I had 10 attempts before I got a photo!

The next bird however is not camera shy at all.

[mvecht]

Today I went "twitching".

Some winters a few birds will visit Denmark. This winter 3 birds. One had a traffic accident and is no longer, the other is app 100 km away and this one only 20 km away

in a very nice forest that can also offer nice birds like Black woodpeckers. I saw none today but a fellow photographer saw 3 in the same tree (2 males and a female).

This bird has been around for a couple of months but do stil attract visitors in reasonable numbers. There were 6 other photographers during the hour I spent there.

I have seen this Owl in Denmark before and they are normally very relaxed with spectators. The major challenge is that they sit relatively high in the trees so it is hard to get them to look directly at you. After an hour you end up with a sore neck 

 

#4 Northern hawk -owl ( Surnia ulula), Gribskov, Denmark 19 January

 

 

[Galana]

Great photos Martin. Pleased the house move went well.

[mvecht]

@Galana thank you. The move was fine, but I hope I dont have to do it agaian for another 10 years!

PS the name is Michael

[roseclaw]

That hawk-owl! 

[mvecht]

Later in the day I went to the North coast not too far from the castle of Hamlet to those of you familiar with Shakespeare.

In the past Gannetts were mainly seen after strong westerly winds but recently they have taken to hunting along the shores in this area.

#5  Northern gannet (Morus bassanus), Hornbaek Denmark, 19 January

 

The Eiders in the background may be used later in the year 

The country in the background is Sweden.

 

 

[mvecht]

First thing in the morning I went to a local reserve called Nivaa. This is actually the area where I grew up and learned about birding.

It is a mixture of beach, beach meadows, reedbeds and a small adjoining forest. the reserves sees a god migration of waders, raptors and cranes.

#6 Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) in early morning light. Nivaa Denmark. January 19th