From this pile of logs onwards, we need to be completely silent,” says Georg Messerer, our guide through Romania’s southern Carpathians. His head cocks 45 degrees as a bird starts chirping. “Nuthatch,” he whispers, reaching for his binoculars. “And two red deer.” Georg directs our gaze to a row of apple trees, where sure enough, […]
Tag: Long-tailed Tit
More Pygmy Owls
This blog is at risk of becoming Simon’s Pygmy Owl blog, but this is the time of year when they are relatively easy to find and they are a great bird! My birding day started with the Maridalen bird but he was sat quite high up and soon flew to other side of a large […]
Spotted Crake
I had a bit of an epic survey day today, leaving home at 05:00 I was at Dagenham Docks (even less glamorous than it sounds) by 07:15. After this survey I had to cross Greater London in a north-west direction to St Albans. So having started so early I had a little time to play […]
My local Patch – Germany
Species photographed on my local patch in Germany included: Red Kite, Black Kite, Black-necked Grebe, Greylag Geese, Long-tailed Tits nest building, two Long-tailed Tits completing their new nest, Coal Tit, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine Falcon and Goshawk. Black-necked Grebes
Oslo in a nutshell
I took in quite a few of Oslo’s best localities today in chilly temperatures but without the rain that was forecast and with few new birds. Maridalen had 3 Lapwings in the morning but 6 by the afternoon which were stood on the ice – hopefully these (and more to come) will breed in the […]
Some eye candy and a polar brute
After yesterday’s fiasco I had to do penance to both the environment and my body and hope to regain some credit with the Bird Gods. As I had a lunchtime appointment in town with some nice cheese (courtesy of Egil Ween, one of Norway’s top birders, Værøy regular and importer of exclusive foods) it was […]
The long-tailed tit – successful, adaptable, sociable, and oh so cute
A brief, high-pitched “see-see-see” sound, followed by the appearance of half-a-dozen tiny balls of fluff, each attached to what looks like a protruding stick. Then, more calls, as these flying lollipops flit from one tree to the next, pause, grab an invisible insect, and then move rapidly on. Encountering a flock of long-tailed tits on […]
Twite in the sun
The weather today was gorgeous and I was down to a t-shirt before noon. But days with blue skies are generally speaking poor for birds and today was no exception. I stuck to Maridalen where I hoped some raptor migration might save the day but the only I raptors I had (Sparrowhawk, Goshawk and Buzzard) […]