Michael´s Sixth Year

[Soukous]

6 minutes ago, Galana said:

I used my dad's camera for wildlife photography but I had to give up as the gunpowder flash scared the birds off.

[Peter Connan]

Being a comparative youngster, my dad didn't have one of those. He did at one stage have a flash which had five separate bulbs. Each bulb gave only one exposure, so after five exposures the flash needed replacement.

Fortunately, he had more modern ones as well. He mostly used those which had a battery pack which un-bolted from the flash when the flash was mounted to the camera. The battery pack hung from one's shoulder on a strap, and was about the size and weight of a motorcycle battery. The ones which just clipped onto the top of the camera did not have enough battery capacity for the type of photography he was doing.

[Soukous]

3 minutes ago, Peter Connan said:

Being a comparative youngster, my dad didn't have one of those. He did at one stage have a flash which had five separate bulbs. Each bulb gave only one exposure, so after five exposures the flash needed replacement.

Fortunately, he had more modern ones as well. He mostly used those which had a battery pack which un-bolted from the flash when the flash was mounted to the camera. The battery pack hung from one's shoulder on a strap, and was about the size and weight of a motorcycle battery. The ones which just clipped onto the top of the camera did not have enough battery capacity for the type of photography he was doing.

 

I used to have one of those when I worked in wedding photography. Not quite a motorcycle battery but heavy enough.

[michael-ibk]

10/E10.) Hen Harrier (Circus cyaenus) / Kornweihe

 

Mils/Tirol, 6/1. Our special winter guest seems to be gone unfortunaely. I saw it from afar when I took this picture. Now it has snowed a lot making it so much more difficult for birds of prey to find mice. I guess this bird will have moved on to greener pastures, nobody has seen it for two weeks now.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

11/E11.) Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) / Blaumeise

 

Mils/Tirol, 24/1. One of our prettiest birds, on a walk today.

 

[michael-ibk]

12/E12.) Eurasian Siskin (Spinus spinus) / Erlenzeisig

 

Mils/Tirol, 24/1. One of our most common forest birds but not an easy one to photograph. They tend to stay far up. Lucky that a flock today was more accommodating.

 

 

[michael-ibk]

13/E13.) Coal Tit (Periparus ater) / Tannenmeise

 

Mils/Tirol, 24/1. Not sure, this could be our most common bird. They are everywhere in the forest - but rarely in gardens. Same issue as with the Siskins.

 

[michael-ibk]

14/E14.) Long-Tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) / Schwanzmeise

 

Mils/Tirol, 24/1. One of my local favourites. Highly nomadic birds. Looks like the Northern subspecies caudatus.

 

 

And a bonus Robin just because.

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Good to you keeping it ticking over. Excellent Siskin!

[PeterHG]

Beautiful new additions, @michael-ibk, I've never even come close to taking a photo of a Siskin like yours! Funny that the Coal Tit is so common over there. It's been years since I last saw one.

[shazdwn]

Beautiful hen harrier 

[elefromoz]

A lot of cuteness on that walk

[Kitsafari]

still loving those small birds (trying hard to avoid all that tittering...) 

[michael-ibk]

On 1/24/2021 at 10:29 PM, PeterHG said:

Funny that the Coal Tit is so common over there.

 

Well, it´s not a bird you see all the time. But once you go into the forest you can hear them everywhere. And often see them hopping between trees (mostly high up). We have a LOT of forest here in Tirol, and so I guess they must be more numerous than the classic garden birds.

[michael-ibk]

15/E15.) Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensi) / Wiesenpieper

 

Angath Dam/Tirol, 30/1. A good one for me. I don´t see Meadow Pipits every year in Austria, they only breed in a select few areas in the East. Some of them move through during migration of course - and surprisingly a few decide to spend the Winter here.

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

16/E16.) Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca) / Krickente

 

Angath Dam/Tirol, 30/1. A bird I usually get at Chiemsee where they are plentiful. But with Germany closed off for us that´s not option this year. Tirol is not a country of lakes, so they are not common here. A flock of 15 chose a small dammed area of our major river, the Inn.

 

[michael-ibk]

17/E17.) Long-Tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) / Eisente

 

Angath Dam/Tirol, 30/1. The reason I went to this place - a lifer for me! Long-Tailed Ducks are extreme rarities in Austria. They are high arctic breeders and normally don´t reach Middle Europe. The bird was tormenting me - when we arrived it was on the other side - very close to another birder who must have gotten killer shots. Naturally, when we crossed over after a while it decided to move to the other side where we had just left.

 

Still, very happy to see this one - it´s great when a "mission" like this succeeds. The bird has been around for a week now, but of course there´s never a guarantee when you go longer distances. As a matter of fact, usually they seem to sense one is coming for them and hide away on purpose.

[Galana]

Good to see this. I have only seen one or two ever.

[shazdwn]

Fantastic long-tailed duck sighting, even if it wasn't cooperating.  Congratulations

[xelas]

It must be a tough task for you to find a bird that is a lifer! Congratulations! BTW do you have a total of your birds?

[Soukous]

14 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

a lifer for me! Long-Tailed Ducks are extreme rarities in Austria

 

It would be a lifer for me too. 

There have been sightings in Suffolk but, as you say, it is a long way to drive for a bird that will probably have gone by the time you get there. 

[michael-ibk]

30 minutes ago, xelas said:

BTW do you have a total of your birds?

 

Of course - ebird is good for that. 252 in Austria, and 1481 world-wide. I thought it should be more when I started entering my data. But countries like Brazil or India happened before I became serious about birding, so I don´t have good numbers from those. Ebird also tells me I should really go to Columbia - the country with more than 1200 potential ticks for me. What do the others have? I know more experienced-birders have way more, a friend of mine has just passed 4,000. What about @Galana, you must have really high numbers?

[Galana]

1 hour ago, michael-ibk said:

What about @Galana, you must have really high numbers?

To be honest I don't really know. I do keep trip lists as a measure of effort expended which sort of led to an African list total but I have never bothered with a world total as such. A few years back my regular 'trip' companion mentioned he had one (he is much more traveled than I) and offered to compile one for me from my records. He had some sort of whizzo programme.  Well what with the obvious duplicates from various parts of the world you can guess where that led. Last time I looked it was around 2600 but personally I think it is over the top as even a quick glance shows birds from places I have never been and/or have no recollection of ever seeing.

More reliable is my "African list" maintained on a Spreadsheet (if I remember to update it) which shows 1302 as at March 2020.

Now why did you not raise this question last year when I could have spent lockdown hours more gainfully employed than redecorating the house?

[PeterHG]

4 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

What do the others have?

My Bird Journal app tells me I have 1656. The last one was the Lesser Redpoll earlier this year. And I do think Colombia could add a lot to your list, Michael, besides being a beautiful country to visit.

[Soukous]

Hmm, I don't think I'll be entering this particular contest.