mvecht's 2nd year

[mvecht]

February 2nd, Nivaa Denmark

 

#19 Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

[mvecht]

first true EBC of the year.

15 minutes after sunrise using a camera phone with a camera I only have had for a few days.

#20 Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) Copenhagen Denmark February 3rd.

Waxwings are winter visitors to Denmark and move around quite a lot in search of berries.

I may or may not see them again this winter. A pleasant surprise in the parking lot at work. Waxwings make a beautiful sound which is typically described as the ringing of a silver bell. At least 50 birds were seen/heard.

 

Edited February 3, 2020 by mvecht
typo

[mvecht]

A visit to the local Arboretum provided a nice variety of typical Danish winter birds.

Buzzard migration started today with 10+ birds seen.

#21 Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Horsholm Denmark 8 February.

[mvecht]

#22 Short-toed treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla), Horsholm Denmark

Another low light situation. iso 6400

 

[mvecht]

#22 Short-toed treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla), Horsholm Denmark

Another low light situation. iso 6400

 

[mvecht]

A powerful storm is approaching so only time for a short walk this morning.

some distant #23 Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), mainly males, Hornbaek Denmark 9 February

 

[Dave Williams]

Some cracking birds in amongst those. 

[mvecht]

Today was basically the first week day in the year with decent weather!

February was the rainiest recorded in the 140 years of records being made in Denmark.

@michael-ibk started the year with some discussions regarding subspecies. For this reason I had been waiting to present

#24 Eurasian Nuthatch

Sitta europaea comes with two subspecies in Denmark.

Sitta europaea europaea (in Denmark known as whitebreasted). Typically found in the Eastern part where the population limks to Scandinavia

07 March Horsholm arboretum Denmark

 

 

Sitta Europaea caesia aka  darkbreasted. Lives in western Denmark and is linked to the Central European population.

Notice the much darker breast even though the picture was taken in early January where the plumage is much duller than it would be today.

January 1st, Skanderborg Denmark (from the sofa)

 

[mvecht]

a slightly better shot of a Waxwing than a couple of weeks ago but very difficult lighting

Arborteum in Horsholm

 

[mvecht]

#25 Tufted duck (Aythya fuligula)

Arboretum Horsholm, Denmark

[mvecht]

#26 Greylag goose (Anser anser)

Arboretum Horsholm, Denmark

[shazdwn]

Love those waxbills, what gorgeous birds and you did well with the poor light 

[elefromoz]

 

@mvecht, "Buzzard migration started today with 10+ birds seen"

 

I witnessed this a few years ago in Spain, so exciting, standing on a rooftop watching them pass. We don't have a "migration" here of course, but every year an Oriental Honey Buzzard  or two finds its way down our way and causes great excitement in the Birding world.

[mvecht]

@elefromoz   My new home can be great for spring migration if the wind is in the right corner. Yesterday we had 93 Cranes in small groups of 4 -17 individuals passing over or near the house as well as 30+ Buzzards. Unfortunately all of them too high or distant for pictures. Today my wife had a wake of 19 Buzzards right over the house.

We are hoping that the main migration will come soon and that we get the right winds to bring them near our house. Potentially we can have 5000+ Cranes and 3000+ Buzzards in one day if we are really lucky!

Nice that you got to see an Oriental honey buzzard. I had my first ever in Israel last year.

My wife and I are planning a Spring trip to Eilat, Israel in 2021 where on a good day you can see 50,000+ raptors migrating.

[elefromoz]

On 3/10/2020 at 2:13 AM, mvecht said:

5000+ Cranes and 3000+ Buzzards in one day if we are really lucky!

On 3/10/2020 at 2:13 AM, mvecht said:

My wife and I are planning a Spring trip to Eilat, Israel in 2021 where on a good day you can see 50,000+ raptors migrating.

 

I can't begin to imagine....

[mvecht]

Today had the right weather for good migration.

Wind from Southeast and sunny.

Lots of Buzzards through the day but only 1-3 at a time. I have probably seen more than 300 today.

Due to the good weather most were flying high.

#27 Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

 

a few other raptors seen including a Red kite and this female Sparrow-hawk

 

[mvecht]

We were on the lookout for Cranes as well.

In the morning we had app 100 birds ner the house but too far away for photos.

We went to the Arboretum in Horsholm but no luck until we left the park.

#28 Common Crane (Grus grus)

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by mvecht

[mvecht]

and as soon as I uploaded 3 more waves of Cranes came by the house

[pedro maia]

Cranes don’t stop there, they just pass by?

[mvecht]

@pedro maia   occasionally a few will overnight, but they are all headed for Sweden. First stop for most of them is Hornborgasjön, where they will rest, dance and mate before going to their individual territories further north in Sweden. Last year app 27,000 Cranes were gathered in April at Hornborgasjön. https://visitsweden.com/trandansen-hornborgasjon/

 

Cranes do breed in the Western part of Denmark with a few hundred pairs but not in the Eastern part near Copenhagen.

[michael-ibk]

I can´t compete with your Cranes but apparently one is stopping over 15 km from me, will try to find it tomorrow. :-)

[mvecht]

@michael-ibk I hope you find it!

[mvecht]

Working from home due to Covid 19.

Went for a short walk at lunch time. No restrictions on this yet. Weather was lousy with rain, so ISO 6400

Two nuthatches were making a lot of noise, so we started looking around and found this:

#29 Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)

Kokkedal Castle, Denmark

Quite early in the year to see a chick out of the nest

 

 

[mvecht]

#30 Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), Mikkelbor Denmark, March 18th

[pedro maia]

You get many different owls over there, how lucky.