Michael´s Fifth Year

[Peter Connan]

Magnificent stuff Michael!

[elefromoz]

@michael-ibk,beautiful photos of course, nice to see you're able to enjoy some sunny days out at this time of the year.

[michael-ibk]

On 1/9/2020 at 10:36 AM, Soukous said:

Will you be keeping this up for the whole year Michael?

 

No idea, I might get bored with it after a while, but for now I´m enjoying finding out about the names. Don´t think I will bother with the foreigners though - two weeks from now btw!

[michael-ibk]

26/E26.) Eurasian aka Common Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) / Gimpel

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 15/1/20. A bird I don´t see much more often than five to ten times a year so delighted to get it that early. "Pyrrùlas" is a word Aristoteles used for a bird. Since "pyrrós" is Greek for blaze red he was probably referring to Bullfinch. A bunch of different subspecies (nominate, europaea, iberiae, rossikowi) but the differences are subtle (mostly concerning the colour of the upperparts and the wingbar). The Azores, however, have their very own Bullfinch which is a good species in its own right.

 

[michael-ibk]

27/E27.) House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) / Haussperling

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 15/1/20. Surprisingly, only one subspecies in Europe. The controversial "Italian Sparrow" (whiter cheeks, chestnut cap, more distinct supercililum) is now widely accepted as a full species. We have some interesting individuals here (very close to their range border) showing clear "Italian" attributes. Boring scientific name, it simply means "Domestic Sparrow".

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

28/E28.) Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca) / Krickente

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 15/1. Male Teals don´t like me, I always find it easier to get close to the unfairer sex. We´ve had "Anas" (simply Duck), "crecca" describes their call (also note the similar German name). Apparently rooted in the Swedish name "Kricka".

 

[michael-ibk]

29/E29.) Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) / Reiherente

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 15/1/20. The most common Duck after the Mallard in my area.  "Aythya" is, as mentioned before, a name Aristoteles used for unspecified waterfowl. The Tufted Duck shares this genus name with Scaups, Pochards and Ferrugineous Ducks in Europe. "Fuligula" means "The Little Sooty one".

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

30/E30.) Red Kite (Milvus milvus) / Rotmilan

 

Münster, Tirol/Austria, 15/1. My reliable spot for this beautiful raptor delivered again. Stays for the winter unlike its migrating cousin, the Black Kite (Milvus migrans). "Milvus" was a generic Latin name for all kind of bigger birds of prey like Goshawks, Bussards, Harrieres and Kites. Our German "Milan" is borrowed from French. We have a ringed bird right now but so far nobody managed to read it - would certainly be interesting. This ring stuff is pretty cool, just today I found out that a BH Gull seen around Chiemsee last week was ringed in Poland more than two years ago.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

31/E31.) Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) / Silbermöwe

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 6/1. In case you´re wondering why I´m bothering with a subpar photo of such a common species - it is not for me! Herring Gulls as more Coastal birds are very rare Winter visitors, and this was the first time I´ve ever identified one in my area. Took me some time, and I ran this bird by some of our local experts, but the leg colour, head marks and wings show that this is pretty certainly a third Winter Herring Gull. "Argentatus" is "clad with silver", so our German name is much closer to the Scientific name. As discussed in previous BYs the English name is somewhat confusing for me - our "Heringsmöwe" is the Lesser Black-Headed Gull.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

32/E32.) Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) / Singschwan

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 15/1. Starting the 2020 ebc-parade. A rarity here, and only my second sighting of this bird. Much, much shier than their cousins to my chagrin, always keeping far away. The type species of the genus, so it´s simply "Swan Swan". The English name (like our German "Schwan") probably is rooted in the Indogermanic "suen" (swooshing) referring to their noisy flight.

 

[michael-ibk]

33/E33.) Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) / Spießente

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 15/1/20. My nemesis Duck. Every year I´m tormenting myself with getting a half-decent picture of a Pintail, and every year I fail. So to spare me sorrow and heartache I´m getting past that with posting an ebc right now and be done with it.  "acutus" is "Sharp, Pin-Shaped" of course.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by michael-ibk

[pedro maia]

Nice pictures Michael, I particularly like the kite, raptors are always among my favourites.

[Galana]

Good to see some further additions are keeping you active and about. I don't see any EBCs here. for me they are more than acceptable.

Love the name "Little sooty one".

The slightly 'yellow' tinge on the Whoopers indicates the birds have come in from Northern Russia. Our Icelandic ones don't have that.

Cygnus. Which came first the constellation or the bird? The bird. Ancient Greek name for Swan.

The Whooper's flight sound is relatively quiet, unlike its Polish cousin, so Swish sounds about right.

And Whooper of course relates to its bugle like call. Might not translate well but in English we "Whoop for joy"!

Onomatopoeia comes to birding. Try it.

[pedro maia]

3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

26/E26.) Eurasian aka Common Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) / Gimpel

 

Chiemsee/Germany, 15/1/20. A bird I don´t see much more often than five to ten times a year so delighted to get it that early. "Pyrrùlas" is a word Aristoteles used for a bird. Since "pyrrós" is Greek for blaze red he was probably referring to Bullfinch. A bunch of different subspecies (nominate, europaea, iberiae, rossikowi) but the differences are subtle (mostly concerning the colour of the upperparts and the wingbar). The Azores, however, have their very own Bullfinch which is a good species in its own right.

 

 

I would like to see one of these, I know where to find them but don’t know how to find them .

 

Curious fact, in Portuguese they are called Dom-fafe, apparently after one of their German names, Dompfaff.

[xelas]

Chiemsee still delivers. Great Bullfinch, I need to go get them also. EBC ... no way, Michael. You will have to try harder, much harder . A sure way to get an EBC is to set the shutter speed at 1/30 sec ... for BIF .

[mvecht]

@michael-ibk    A short comment to your swan song for #32. The Whooper swan (and the Arctic swan) do not make noise from their wing beats. Only the Mute swan does this. They are however very vocal when they fly.

[Galana]

12 minutes ago, mvecht said:

The Whooper swan (and the Arctic swan) do not make noise from their wing beats.

Not really so.

The other swans and some geese do create a soft 'swish' with their primaries in flight. Even Pigeons do.

It the old aeronautical physics at work. Lift needs energy, waste energy is noise. Even Hummers do it.

[mvecht]

@Galana

I am sorry. I had not read your reply to @michael-ibk in post 63.

 

[TonyQ]

Beautiful additions, and none that can be called EBC (yet!)

It looks like you have been having good weather.

[elefromoz]

Great shots of the Red Kite, I feel lucky to have seen this beauty on both my Europe trips.

[Soukous]

as has already been commented, your Red Kites are beautiful. And your 'little sooty ones'.

[Zim Girl]

Love the Bullfinch and the Red Kite - cracking pictures!

[Kitsafari]

oh please @michael-ibk you'll always be an EBC-wannabe. you'll have to learn from the master, or should  I say Mistress, that is Moi. Your EBCs are my normal standards. tsk tsk. you'll have to try harder.

 

That red kite and bullfinch (so plump!) are lovely! 

[shazdwn]

EBC? Can someone enlighten me as to what this stands for? 

[Tdgraves]

9 minutes ago, shazdwn said:

EBC? Can someone enlighten me as to what this stands for? 

 

@shazdwn Every Bird Counts....