Michael´s Fifth Year

[PeterHG]

A beauty! That would have been a lifer for me. We do get the occasional Rosy Starling here, but it's usually a juvenile

[michael-ibk]

On May 29th our hotels and B&Bs were finally allowed to re-open. On May 29th we were in Seewinkel - nobody can accuse us of wasting time. ;-) BY regulars will know that this is my favourite birding place in Austria, and it´s always helpful to boost the numbers. First a few general photos and duplicates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

379/E124.) Dunlin (Calidris alpina) / Alpenstrandläufer

 

Seewinkel, 29/5. A regular migrant in Spring and Autumn. I was afraid we´d have missed all the waders but luckily a few stragglers still were present. And the good thing about going that late was that all were already sporting their full breeding plumage.

 

[michael-ibk]

-/E125.) European Bee-Eater (Merops apiaster) / Bienenfresser

 

Seewinkel, 2/6. Definitely Austria´s most exotic looking bird. Already seen in Tanzania this year. The colony is doing well, I roughly  counted about 60 birds. They are very used to their visitors, and one can get reasonably close. Our timing was not the best, we only visited on the way back home in the afternoon so not the best light. But still one of my very favourite places to be any time of the day.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

380/E126.) Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus) / Blutspecht

 

Seewinkel, 2/6. A last-minute-save. Had looked for this bird in all its usual spots all weekend but it stubbornly declined to show up. The very last try was a success finally.

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

381/E127.) Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) / Brandgans

 

Seewinkel, 29/5. A regular breeding bird in the area, and they seem to get more confiding every year. Some years ago  we could rarely get a half-decent picture.

 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Lovely shots and sightings!

[Galana]

Excellent trip and results.

I enjoyed the duplicates as much as the new ones..

[TonyQ]

A great trip to take advantage of your lockdown changes.

The Bee-eater is stunning!

[michael-ibk]

382/E128.) Eurasian Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) / Dohle

 

Seewinkel, 2/6. Sharing the colony with the Bee-Eaters.

 

 

Don´t know what this one was doing - sunbathing?

 

[michael-ibk]

383/E129.) Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) / Dorngrasmücke

 

Seewinkel, 30/5. Not that common at all, in fact I think this is my first Austrian picture. But maybe I´ve just overlooked them before, several individuals were singing so tirelessly that it was not too difficult to find one this time.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

384/E130.) Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) / Fasan

 

Seewinkel, 30/5. Probably the easiest bird in the area to get, they are all over and not very shy. In fact one needs to take care not to run one over when driving.

 

[michael-ibk]

-/E131.) Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) / Flussregenpfeifer

 

Seewinkel, 1/6. Our regular Plover, already seen in Tanzania this year. Unfortunately we missed Kentish Plover. Again it´s a very difficult year for waders, all the soda lakes are completely dry, so they went into the reed belt of Lake Neusiedel where one can´t go.

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

385/E132.) Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra) / Grauammer

 

Seewinkel, 1/6. A very rare bird these days, their population has totally crashed. Only holding out in the far East of Austria. @xelas, I´m pretty sure this is the same bird you photographed last year - at least it´s the same bush.

 

[michael-ibk]

386/E133.) Great Bustard (Otis tarda) / Großtrappe

 

Seewinkel, 30/5. They are easily found in the area, I´ve never missed them. But unfortunately they always stay awfully far away from the roads. One would think that after all these years they´d get more relaxed about people but no.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

387/E134.) Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) / Haubenlerche

 

Seewinkel, 2/6. While Eurasian Skylarks are all over the place their cousins are harder to get. Finally found them on our last morning.

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

388/E135.) Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) / Kaiseradler

 

Seewinkel, 31/5. A good old ebc just to make @Galana happy. Hopefully I can better this sighting later in the year on a return trip.

 

[michael-ibk]

389/E136.) Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) / Kampfläufer

 

Seewinkel, 31/5. Normally around in good numbers but by now all but three birds had left the area. Unfortunately none of the spectacularly looking breeding males among them.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

390/E137.) Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) / Kiebitz

 

Seewinkel, 2/6. The most common wader in the area, Seewinkel´s signature bird. Saw plenty of them but never really close, the other waders were friendlier to us.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

391/E138.) Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) / Löffler

 

Seewinkel, 2/6. This is Austria´s only breeding area for them. The best place to see them is early morning on the road cutting right through the reed belt to the "Seebad", lots of stuff flying over then.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

392/E139.) House Martin (Delichon urbicum) / Mehlschwalbe

 

Seewinkel, 2/6. What happened to the beak of this one? It´s collecting mud for nestbuilding.

 

[michael-ibk]

-/E140.) Red-Backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) / Neuntöter

 

Seewinkel, 1/6. Last spring I had been worried because we hardly saw any. Probably they´d just arrived very late, this year they were very common and easy to see. Another one already seen in Tanzania.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

-/E141.) Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) / Pirol

 

Seewinkel, 1/6. Not exactly stellar shots, this is such a tough bird to get a picture of. Their song was heard in many, many places but they always hide up in the canopy. Another Tanzania duplicate.

 

 

A youngster

 

[TonyQ]

More excellent photos.

Could the Jackdaw be eating the mud? There are marks on the soil that could be beak marks (I don’t know if Jackdaws do this!)

[michael-ibk]

393/E142.) Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) / Raubseeschwalbe

 

Seewinkel, 31/5. Quite a rarity here. But I´ve seen them so many times elsewhere that I was quite surprised when I found out it´s actually a new one for my Austria list.