Forensic Bird Photo ID Challenge

So here's the challenge: A) find the bird, B) tell me what it is.

At least as good as published photos of 21st Century Ivory-billed Woodpeckers!

Botched digibin'd shot through my 7X42s. Bird took off before I could set the zoom on my digital camera and get another shot.

Great Tits!

(photo: wikimedia commons)
Ah Europe, you gotta love a place where you can see tits every day and talk about them with a straight face! These little birds are everywhere. And so are their cousins--Blue Tits. Other tits, such as the Long-tailed Tits I saw this afternoon are less common, but not too hard to come up with.

Europe, the land of Great Tits!

Bar-headed Goose

Snapped a photo of this beauty yesterday in Hofgarten park in Düsseldorf. It's a Central Asian bird, and since this is Western Europe, it's just an escapee--not countable by most birding standards. But a beauty nonetheless. Düsseldorf is crawling with exotic birds--I see Rose-ringed Parakeets from India almost as often as the native House Sparrows. A pair of feral Ruddy Shelducks cruise up and down the Rhine near here, and I see Canada Goose and Egyptian Goose almost every day. On the other hand, and ironic I think, I have yet to see a European Starling here, while back in PA they are a dime a dozen.

German Duck Stairs

One of the things I get a kick out over here in Germany are the little stairs in all the fountains so baby ducks can get in and out of the water. Nice!

Birding Benrath Schloss in Düsseldorf

Benrath Schloss, a big pink palace in southern Düsseldorf is a great spot, but maybe not the birdiest set of grounds in mid-April. Lots of Chiffchaffs singing, a Blackcap, and the ever-present tits. Did add Song Thrush to the trip list there, and enjoyed watching a Wren shaking its wings in defense of its territory, and the courtship display of the Great Tits. Otherwise, mostly a big reflecting pool--complete with Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, and Great Cormorant. There weren't any Tufted Ducks there today (there were over a dozen last week), so had to settle for a couple Canada Goose, an Egyptian Goose, and a Moorehen.

Birding Hamlet's Castle (Helsingør, Denmark)

OK, very cool castle. Not many birds. Coot, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan in the mote. Jackdaws on the castle. White Wagtails on the grass and on the shore. Worth a stop for the scenery if not for the birds.

Birding Grenen, Denmark

Spent a nice couple of hours walking out to the northernmost spit of sand in Denmark this afternoon with my kids. Lots of great birds around (King Eider, Common Eider, Common Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Northern Gannet, etc.). Also some great birding graffiti scrawled on the old German bunker fortification on the beach. Not everyday you get to see birding graffiti!

Birding Hasseler Forst in Düsseldorf

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Hasseler Forst, a local park and birding spot here in Düsseldorf. I was able to find about 35 species while playing around with my kids--including Middle Spotted Woodpecker (my new favorite woodpecker!). A series of lakes is nearby at Elbseen, which held lots of waterbirds including Tufted Duck, Great Crested Grebe, and Eurasian Coot, as well as a Grey Heron rookery.

To get to Hassler Forst, take a bus to the Hassels Kirche stop, and take the road and path near the church back to the park. You first go over a highway crossing, and then in about a quarter mile you hit an area with conifers on both sides that is supposed to be good for Goldcrest and Firecrest (I only got the Goldcrest on my short visit).

Beyond the conifers is a train track, and take the path to the right through some oaks, where the Middle Spotted Woodpeckers are found. Also saw Great Spotted Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker here.

At the end of this path is a playground (for the kids), and you can take the path to the left to go under the train tracks to Elbseen. From there take the path to the right to get the best views of the lakes. About a half mile down this path is a viewing tower.

A great place to bird and I look forward to getting back there soon! Thanks to local birder Klaus Böhm for the directions!

Birding Dusseldorf

So far just the usual backyard birds in Dusseldorf: Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, Jay, Magpie, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Blackbird, Dunnock, etc. Did see three Yellow-legged Gulls near the Rhine yesterday.

In Belgium, saw Fieldfare at the Battle of the Bulge memorial in Bastogne, as well as a Pheasant on the road, and my first Swallow (Barn Swallow) of the year at St. Anne Chateau. Also Rose-ringed Parakeets at the royal palace in Brussels.

Once I figure out the bus system, should be able to start getting more birds soon.

Birdchaser in the eBird Top 10

eBird now has a new feature where you can see how you rank. I'm currently ranked #8 among all eBird users for species reported in North America (the ABA checklist area). Of course, that standing is only because the more senior top listers in the country aren't using eBird yet. I'd love to see my standing drop if more people were reporting their lists on eBird!

Wordless Wednesday: Swallow-tailed Kite

Shot with my point and shoot (x3 optical zoom) while driving as it flew alongside the highway.

Bad Photos of Good Bird: Snail Kite

OK, so my digiscoping was pretty lousy on this one, but I got over 50 shots of a Snail Kite hunting and eating snails at the end of Joe Overstreet Rd on Lake Kissimmee. Seeing some really cool birds, just need a better scope setup...

Loggerhead Shrike

Digiscoped through my old Bausch & Lomb Discoverer scope on a window mount on my recent Florida trip. You gotta love butcher birds!

Dead Hog

There were at least a dozen Black Vultures on this roadside feast when I first pulled up, but they scattered. Note also the dead 'dillo (click for closer view, if you dare!).

Florida Scrub-Jays

Had a chance to digibin and digiscope some Florida Scrub-Jays on Sunday. The following shots were taken with a hand held Canon PowerShot SD750 through Zeiss 7x42 BTs.

Squirrel Boobs

Not for the faint-hearted, today at work I got an eye full of this gal hanging on my bird feeder showing off all her glory!

Birdchaser on Martha Stewart Radio

Tomorrow morning at 8:30EDT I will be on Morning Living, a Martha Stewart Living Sirius Satellite Radio show talking about what is going on with birds in people’s yards this time of year—early migration, nesting, etc. If you have satellite radio, tune in for a few moments of fun bird news! Or you can get a FREE online trial subscription here.

I and the Bird #96

Inspired by Black Oystercatchers I watched earlier this week in California, here is the latest I and the Bird (#96). Just like an oystercatcher, you're gonna have to hunt for the juicy bird blog posts. Click on an oyster or starfish image to see what you can find. There's plenty of great meat to be had, and even some pearls. But you're gonna have to work for them! Have fun!




The next I and the Bird will be hosted by Great Auk-or Greatest Auk? Submit your posts there by April 2.

Big Sur Condor

After my talk this afternoon I slipped out of the Audubon California Assembly to drive down Highway 1 for a couple hours. Great vistas!

Highlight was a lone young California Condor (Condor #44) perched on a rock above the surf at Big Sur. Unfortunately, all I could get were these poor digiscoped shots through a handheld spotting scope.



It’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen a free-flying condor, so it was great to spend a few moments with this young bird.

Birding Asilomar

This morning before the Audubon California Assembly, a bunch of us went for a bird walk down to the beach. Great to see Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstone, Whimbrel, and Surfbirds. Star of the show was a Rhinoceros Auklet floating in the surf just offshore. Wonderful!