Zvezda & Alex Part V: The Hare Strikes Back

[xelas]

These two birds were "on hold" from January, yet lacking any better sightings, let me just post them.

 

 

BY 408 / SI 070

Great Grey Shrike - Lanius excubitor

 

Ljubljansko Barje, 12-Jan-2020

 

 

BY 409 / SI 071

Eurasian Bullfinch - Pyrrhula pyrrhula 

 

female

Ljubljansko Barje, 12-Jan-2020

 

[Soukous]

nothing wrong with those 2

[Soukous]

nothing wrong with those 2

 

That takes you to 409, one past Michael. Close competition. 

[xelas]

A rare and unexpected guest to our garden, only 1 sighting this year.

 

 

BY 410 / SI 072

Hawfinch - Coccothraustes coccothraustes

 

Ljubljansko Barje, 24-May-2020

[Galana]

That's the sort of visitor I would welcome.

Well done.

[Soukous]

3 minutes ago, Galana said:

That's the sort of visitor I would welcome.

 

surely for that to happen you would need a garden

[Zim Girl]

Congratulations on the 400 Alex.  Some lovely local birds, especially the Hawfinch.

[Dave Williams]

The Great Grey Shrike is an excellent capture...I have never even seen one. 

[xelas]

The Hare is sweating profusely as he tries to keep his nose ahead!

 

 

BY 411 / SI 073

Northern Lapwing - Vanellus vanellus

 

 

Ljubljansko Barje, 2-Jun-2020

 

 

BY 412 / SI 074

Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus

 

 

Ljubljansko Barje, 2-Jun-2020

[xelas]

Getting new additions to BY becomes more difficult by each day.

 

 

BY 413 / SI 075

Pied Avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta

 

 

Škocjanski zatok, 13-Jun-2020

[michael-ibk]

Nice to see an Avocet chick!

[Soukous]

3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Nice to see an Avocet chick!

 

yes, and a much nicer photo than mine.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Soukous

[xelas]

Today Tanja and me visited Arboretum Volčji Potok where this guy waited for us.

 

BY 414 / SI 076

Song Thrush - Turdus philomelos

 

Arboretum Volčji Potok, 22-Jun-2020

[Kitsafari]

congrats for entering the atmospheric levels of the 400th. I'm very much enjoying your beautiful birds.  

[elefromoz]

@xelas, wow, 400+, great team effort!

[xelas]

Finally, those in power allowed me to join a (small) local birding outings. Social distancing and mask wearing when indoor. It was in the Karst area, and there were 3 target nocturnal birds: Tawny Owl, Scops Owl and European Nightjar. We have missed the Tawny, heard the Scops and saw the Nightjar. As this year not much bird photography is in the planning, I am admitting below photo to 3 categories: BIF, B&W and EBC .

 

 

BY 415 / SI 077

European Nightjar - Caprimilgus europaeus

 

Pivka, 31-Jul-2020

 

For those interested, we have seen both the male and the female; above is the male as it has white spots on the outer two tail feathers.

[Soukous]

33 minutes ago, xelas said:

European Nightjar - Caprimilgus europaeus

 

I'll take your word for it. 

[michael-ibk]

Cool - have never seen a Nightjar (in Europe). 

[xelas]

And I took the word of our guide, @Soukous ... although, with bare eyes the bird was recognisable, not to mention we have heard it singing.

 

Michael, I was also surprised that there are about 400 species  examples that can be relatively easy to find in that area.

Edited August 2, 2020 by xelas

[michael-ibk]

400 species in Pivka? Nice - so no excuses for you anymore, that´s not too far from you, so go out and get them all! You are missing 323!

[xelas]

Oh, Michael, you are really going to make me improve my English ; so there are around 400 birds of the Nightjar specie in that area. If I would be able to find one on my own, well, that is a question to be answered in future years.

[Galana]

2 hours ago, xelas said:

above is the male as it has white spots on the outer two tail feathers.

I see them clearly. NOT!

Not good enough for the EBC. You must try harder!

And whilst I have seen many Nightjars I have yet to see a European in Europe.

[PeterHG]

Any photo of a Nightjar is a memorable one, EBC or not!

[pedro maia]

Great EBC Alex, Itried a few times to get the nightjars here (there are 2 species) they occur 30m from home, and I already saw 3 or 4 but wasn’t able to take pictures, now it’s to windy but I still hope to get at least one this summer.

Edited August 2, 2020 by pedro maia

[Peter Connan]

Nightjar in flight is special. No matter how bad, it's probably better than anybody else's!

Edited August 2, 2020 by Peter Connan