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It was also great to finally travel overseas again, meet a lot of people I did not know (and some I did), to be in a new country… and not just the new country, but its best birding area, where almost all local hotspots are yellow (150+ species) and several are ochre (200+ sp.), impressive for Central Europe.
That green grass is not a meadow; it is growing in water deep enough for swimming ducks. The dot in the center of the second photo is a lone Mexican Duck flying just over the water. Most of these are migratory species, for which Lake Cuitzeo is a vital wintering ground. Still life with Avocet and Shoveler.
I should say trying to start my car because the battery had died overnight and it would not start. There was one other birder out there, scoping for the Montauk Christmas Bird Count, and he let me know that the guillemot had not been seen though he had spotted a Glaucous Gull and a Harlequin Duck. Common Loon Gavia immer.
But, as I detailed last week , that drive to the Pacific Coast was a rather spectacular failure, because of a highly unseasonal rain, and my failure to recharge my camera battery. But this time, it would be in the afternoon, with strong winds and brilliant sunshine… and a full camera battery. And where was the nearest beach?
This species is still uncommon in the Balkans and despite the recent spread, Kalamas is the most reliable site for it in Greece (and this made my only second ever observation of them in Europe). I reach for my camera, only to realise that the batteries were flat. Could they possibly be…? The canals aren’t bad for birds, either.
In my younger days I was very keen on what is generally known as Big Day Birding, or trying to see as many species of birds as possible in one day. Called The Big Bird Race , it tells the story of how my team, representing Country Life magazine , recorded 155 species in 24 hours in East Anglia (Suffolk and Norfolk).
Not a cover species The Black Kite is not actually black, but of course, misleading bird names are not exactly rare. No surprise then that the species is listed as Vulnerable. But then, sanity (or maybe respect for you, the reader) prevailed. Fortunately, they are quite common in Shanghai. It is also called Chinese Bulbul.
The days for me to add to my Little Big Years species count are getting fewer and fewer, and with it, my budget. That, and 10 days back on the way was going to be a great to recharge the batteries after a long round-the-world trip. Out on one of the rocks that were visible during low tide, a small group of Harlequin Ducks had gathered.
It is a birding challenge where a team of birders stays in one spot for the entire day to see how many species they can record for their location. As always, we were high above the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, perched precariously on the platform atop Battery Harris, the old artillery battery built to defend New York Harbor in World War II.
As always, we held our sit high atop Battery Harris at Fort Tilden on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. A pair of flyover American Black Ducks , a flock of Green-winged Teal winging west way out over the ocean, and surprisingly, all three of our expected falcon species were all seen relatively early in the morning.
We had persevered through four years at the top of Battery Harris Platform and could bring our experience to bear on the task of trying to record as many species as possible on a single day from that single spot. At 8:30AM we were already at 53 species and we knew we still had many more easy birds to find.
And seeing as there were good northwest winds overnight, weather radar had shown lots of birds taking off, and the winds were expected to continue from the north through the morning, I decided that I would make my way to Fort Tilden at first light and install myself on the Battery Harris Platform. It wasn’t a duck.
In addition to having more participants, we had more bird species, 76, beating out last year’s inaugural effort by two whole species. We really had to work hard for our 76 species this year too, and it makes me wonder if it will possible to ever break a hundred species from the platform during an October big sit.
172 lists were shared and 1004 species were seen, both records for October, so well done beats! African Black Duck – Anas sparsa. White-faced Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna viduata. Mandarin Duck – Aix galericulata. Fort Tilden–Battery Harris Platform. has reached 54. 22 Oct 2019. 22 Oct 2019.
All birds are equal on this list; parking lot birds or pelagic species, breeders or fly-overs, all will be accorded the same status and each shall be worth 1 credit on the list. Plumed Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna eytoni. White-faced Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna viduata. Comb Duck – Sarkidiornis melanotos.
All birds are equal on this list; parking lot birds or pelagic species, breeders or fly-overs, all will be accorded the same status and each shall be worth 1 credit on the list. Plumed Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna eytoni. White-faced Whistling-Duck – Dendrocygna viduata. Comb Duck – Sarkidiornis melanotos.
The reason for this particular camera is that I need a camera that takes AA batteries for when we are away from power for weeks on end and is not too large for travelling. There are Japanese made Eneloop Pro AA batteries that will last for over 1000 photos quite easily nowadays, so this is my ideal camera. Ducks of Herdsman Lake.
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