Hello and good evening,
the time for the Early-Morning-Birdwalks has begun. They usually take place between the middle of April and the middle of June on Sunday or on Holidays, every time at a different village in our area. The times and places are always published at the middle of April in the newspaper. Unfortunately I can't take part at every walk, because I often have to work at weekends and holidays. I hope you don't mind if I post some pictures here of the walks I have taken part at.But I warn you beforehand: The walks usually start between 05:30 and 06:00 AM, so it can still be a bit dark then, and with my quite simple camera the pictures might turn out dissatisfying. I hope you enjoy them all the same.
May 1st 2014: Today's walko took place between 06:00 and 09:15 AM at a town named Oberrodenbach. It took us through fields and woods and back through the town.
First we've seen this beautiful little Wren
A Serin
A Black Redstart (please trust me, it is true)
A Green Woodpecker
A sequence of Redstart-pictures (not Black Redstart, but the other). It is only the third time ever that I've seen one, but it is the third time in a week.
A Totem-Pole with Eagle and Owl
A Yellowhammer
We've seen not only birds, but other friendly creatures as well
The "professionals" at "work" (I felt a bit ashamed with my small and simple Sony Cybershot HX20V)
And last but not least: Some Starlings
There were so many more birds to be seen or heard: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Cuckoo, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Lesser Whitethroat, White Wagtail, Swallow, Firecrest, Heron, Robin, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, wonderful Nightingales and on almost every other roof a Blackbird. And we were lucky with the weather, just a slight drizzle at the beginning, but it got better. And many "usual suspects" took part, so there was also much talk after such a long time.
Kind regards,
Bente
Your walk sounds lovely Bente & the pictures were great. I'm glad your weather got better, it has rained on & off all day today. We managed a quick walk around the local lanes late in the day, but there were very few birds.
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
I do like the sound of your early morning bird walks - best time to see them :-) Your camera might be small, but at least you're not having to carry around all the extra weight ;-)
"Let loose the Kraken!"
The early morning is certainly the best time to see birds. What a great selection you found. I would be highly delighted if I saw all those. The weather here has been very grey and quite wet. Not a great start to May.
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Hello and thank you very much for your interest.
I agree, the early hours are such a wonderful thing when you like to listen to birdsong and appreciate the look of the rising sun and the dew on the grass.
Alan, thank you very much for your encouraging comment.
Stuart, you are so right about the size and weight of my camera. This was exactly why I bought it. My previous one is now more than 14 years old and four times as big, so it turned out to be quite fastidious on hiking-trips. I always had the problem to stow it away quickly when I needed two free hands or when it started to rain, apart from that I only now realised how bad the zoom was.
Bob, TJ ad Hazel, I really hope that weather gets better and that you can go on beautiful outings during the weekend.
Kind regards, Bente
Hi Bente
It's lovely to look at everyone's photos and hear about what they are seeing whatever the type of camera, and sometimes I think we are too busy searching for that perfect photo that we forget to have a really good look at the birds. As the others have said, what a fantastic selection of birds you saw on your walk. I love walking in the forest early in the morning (I don't do if often enough). It's great to be out whilst a lot of the world is still sleeping - so peaceful all around.
I'm doing an early-ish walk myself in the morning (7.30 am start) looking for redstarts that come and nest in Sherwood Forest at this time of year. Fingers crossed I might even see one, but I'm sure there will be plenty of other birds around. They can be difficult to spot at this time of year with so many leaves on the trees!
See my Flickr photos here
https://www.flickr.com/photos/115745582@N04/
Wow Bob,
I wish you a very pleasant trip then!
Although I must say that I am a bit envyous: Maybe you will see Hoopoes and Wrynecks! Good luck for that, and please take a lot of pictures.
Yours, Bente
Unknown said:It would be nice, but at least I am going on holiday next week so I hope that the weather is kinder in Sicily(-:).
I've been to Sicily twice, Bob, once in the Spring and once in the Autumn. I assume this is not a birding trip but if Mrs Bob permits, the favoured area at this time of year for migrants seems to be the south-east coast around Siracusa. Should be plenty of migrants including raptors coming through if they haven't all been shot. I loved Sicily, great food and architecture. Give my regards to Inspector Montalbano if you see him. LOL. (BBC4 television joke,Bente).
Unknown said:Give my regards to Inspector Montalbano if you see him. LOL. (BBC4 television joke,Bente).
By the way: If you ever come to Germany, be careful when you visit an area called "Eifel". We have a TV-Crime-series here that takes place there. The area is very rural and looks so peaceful, but since a young female Inspector from Cologne has been transferred there, there is one murder after the other.
Regards, Bente
Evening Bente, what brilliant sightings you got on your early morning walk, sound like a lot of fun and a good time to see the early birds, very envious of that collection, would love to see some of those beauties. Well done with the photos, they are lovely and a good record of your wonderful bird and wildife walks.
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Regards, Hazel
Wow, wish I could see those birds here on an early morning walk, thanks for sharing them, Bente.
Jim
My Pictures
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