Michael´s Fifth Year

[Galana]

7 minutes ago, shazdwn said:

Is the wildlife particularly badly behaved there 😂?

Yes. The woods are full of Teddy Bears having illegal picnics during Lockdown.

[shazdwn]

11 hours ago, Galana said:

Yes. The woods are full of Teddy Bears having illegal picnics during Lockdown.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Dave Williams]

On 4/23/2020 at 10:39 PM, shazdwn said:

Interesting link, I had no idea the UK has “wildlife crime officers”. Is the wildlife particularly badly behaved there 😂?

 

No arrests were made of Llandudno's wild goats which were practicing theft of plants and flowers from lots of private gardens.

[Galana]

3 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

No arrests were made of Llandudno's wild goats

That's because of language problems. The cops were speaking Welsh and the Goats Baa barian.

[michael-ibk]

342/E84.) Black Grouse (Lyrus tetrix) / Birkhuhn

 

Axamer Lizum, Tirol, 26/4/20. Special mission today to get this bird - got up at 0500 am to be up high in the mountains before all the hikers and skiers. And success, we did find five of them doing their courtship dance. Very nice to observe. They don´t allow close approach (still hunted here in Austria unfortunately) but still - my very first Black Grouse.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

343/E85.) Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) / Alpendohle

 

Axamer Lizum, Tirol, 26/4. Very common in our mountains. In Winter they descend down to the city.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

344/E86.) Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) / Bergpieper

 

Axamer Lizum, Tirol, 26/4. Super-abundant high up in the Alps, did only a rough count today but easily more than 60.

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

345/E87.) Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) / Steinadler

 

Axamer Lizum, Tirol, 26/4. I could still kick myself for not getting a better photo but this bird took me completely by surprise. I do see Golden Eagles from time to time when hiking, but only ever as tiny specks flying high in the sky. This young one (a second year bird) was sitting in a bush pretty low down in the forest where you don´t really expect Golden Eagles. I just saw something huge fly out and frantically pressed the shutter. All subsequent shots  were OOF - a real pity, since it´s exceptionally rare here to see Golden Eagles so close.

 

[michael-ibk]

346/E88.) Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) / Wintergoldhähnchen

 

Axamer Lizum, Tirol, 26/4. Not uncommon but tiny and not easy to see. Their high-pitched song (which I still constantly confuse with Firecrest) is the best way to try to locate them.

 

[michael-ibk]

347/E89.) Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) / Alpenschneehuhn

 

Axamer Lizum, Tirol, 26/4. The one which made this hike today so totally worth it. I heard their "call" (it´s really not very melodious, more like a machine not working) and went closer up to inspect some rocks. Surprisingly I was able to locate it and was already happy to see one at all. Then it flew out, right over me and landed on the other side of the hill, not too far from me. I was in snow up to my hip when trying to get closer but totally worth it - a super accommodating individual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

It was an extremly excellent birding day for you, Michael! You are doing really good job with adding to the count, and some spectacular birds for Europe.

[michael-ibk]

Thanks Alex, it was a nice day indeed. A mobile "habitat shot":

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

What a beautiful and special collection! Amazing photos and video of the Rock Ptarmigan (never seen one), Black Grouse, a Golden Eagle, Water Pipit (only ever seen one years ago) and Alpine Chough. A good trip, indeed!

[Galana]

Well worth getting up early for.

I hope all the hikers and skiers are 'social distancing'.

[pedro maia]

Very nice birds, great reward for waking up early.

 

The first ski resort I visited in the Alps was Axamer Lizum, in march 1997!!

[michael-ibk]

8 hours ago, Galana said:

I hope all the hikers and skiers are 'social distancing'.

 

Most of them are but I really noticed yesterday that more and more people seem to be getting more careless. There were definitely some groups who were not adhering to the rules. Since our numbers have been developing really in a positive way unfortunately many seem to think we´re already through this - though all experts say we´re only in the middle or even at the beginning. 

 

We did the hammer well but if more and more people start disregarding the safety rules it does not bode well for our dance.

[Soukous]

super additions @michael-ibk, well worth the early start. Especially for me as I did not have to get up early or even step outdoors to share your good fortune. 

[Dave Williams]

Wow, from zero to mountaineering! Cracking collection of birds too. I remember catching sight of a Ptarmigan, my first ever, on a snowfield by the side of the road in Iceland. We stopped the car and I went in careful pursuit. Snow fields are potentially dangerous as they might be covering a deep ditch full of snow as that particular one was!! still, I got the shot I wanted!!!

Here in the UK no let up in the lockdown rules yet, Boris is back in charge and of course he has a changed outlook having experienced the virus first hand. I think you are correct in your judgement that if you ease restrictions people think the crisis is over, on the other hand if the restrictions are too limiting in the first place it's then  difficult to avoid giving people this impression . I do notice that on our daily exercise walk people by and large keep their distance, the only exception being joggers who just run past without stopping to make way or wait for you to get to a safe passing place. They are of course also the ones most likely to expel their breath a great distance as they are breathing heavily.

[xelas]

22 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

They are of course also the ones most likely to expel their breath a great distance as they are breathing heavily.

And none is wearing a facial mask! The stricter version of a lockdown will be replaced by a more softer version of social distancing. Wearing masks will become as normal as it is seen in Asia. People will need to get back to the work, vaccine is still some time in the future, and this pandemic is far from being over, and not even reaching its peak, in my opinion.

[Galana]

7 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

unfortunately many seem to think we´re already through this - though all experts say we´re only in the middle or even at the beginning. 

That is my big worry. The genie is not back in the bottle yet. Not the forum for this but to quote Churchill "It is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it IS (might be) the end of teh beginning."

Lockdown code says joggers must give way. If they don't, trip em up.

[Peter Connan]

Magnificent images from your walk Michael!

[michael-ibk]

348/E90.) Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops) / Wiedehopf

 

Inzing, Tirol, 27/4. I tried to find an Ortolan Bunting today which was seen in the morning. Failed - but was more than richly compensated with a sighting of my favourite bird. My first one in Tirol, and my best sighting so far in Austria. Upupup!

 

 

[PeterHG]

You are certainly mopping up the species again, Michael! Good for you and a beautiful bird indeed.

[TonyQ]

Wonderful additions @michael-ibk

Ptarmigan and Black Grouse, And then to get your favourite Hoopoe.

Well done!

[michael-ibk]

349/E91.) Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) / Nachtigall

 

Mils, Tirol, 28/4/20. The invisible bird. An impossibly loud singer but dastardly hard to see - such a skulker. Today I was lucky. My first sighting (and hearing!) of a Nightingale in Tirol, few of them come into the Alps.

 

 

This would already have been an excellent Nightingale sighting (and photo) by my standards.

 

 

A bit more.

 

 

Flying out

 

 

And then posing - now that was a surprise!