10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2024

Jacob suggested the Wagbachniederung, a well-known wetland that is particularly popular amongst photographers for being one of the few locations in Germany where Purple Herons breed. The highlight however was a Black-necked Grebe in full breeding plumage at short distance – easily my best sighting of this very attractive bird.

Squirrels 235

Squirrels South Africa Germany Ducks 235

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2011

A locally famous one, if you are birding in Germany’s North-East, is the outhouse of the bird ringing / banding station on a small island called the Greifswalder Oie (page sadly only in German, but it has some pictures of the place). Now, the “but&# : It wasn’t always like this in Germany. Where are the birds?

Germany 162

Germany Birds Iraq Breeding 162

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2013

It breeds in a broad and not quite coherent band from Iceland in the west through central Europe and southern Scandinavia all the way to eastern Russia, wintering in Africa, parts of India, and Southeast Asia to Australia. Birds Germany godwits shorebirds' Somehow – given our current weather – I can relate. .

Germany 188

Germany Russia Iceland India 188

10,000 Birds

MAY 31, 2015

Germany is currently experiencing something for which the English have no nice expression. The specificities of languages … Anyway, so Germany this year is essentially filled with mice, like the one shown here, which – so far as I know – is a vole where you come from. You’re not a vole or a gerbil.

Fox 166

Fox Rodents Gophers Germany 166

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2024

On the one hand, they are very easy to see in Germany, swimming in public parks or teaching pensioners how to eat bread. Another location factor is highlands versus lowlands – Whooper Swans breeding in Icelandic lowlands had a much higher breeding success than the highland birds ( source ).

China 242

China Iceland Whales Whaling 242

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2011

Germany currently has a population of around 500 breeding pairs, which is a significant improvement over the 50 pairs left in the early 1970s. This bird, a migrant from further North or East in Germany, was the first Black Stork I saw around Heidelberg since moving here in the summer of 2008.

Germany 153

Germany Asia Russia China 153

10,000 Birds

JUNE 2, 2013

Germany is not really within the species’ breeding range, and there is only one area where the herons have bred continuously and successfully since the 1970′s: Waghäusel, an area of former waste water ponds of a – now closed – nearby sugar plant. Birds Germany herons and egrets Waghäusel'

Germany 159

Germany Asia Europe Africa 159

10,000 Birds

MAY 18, 2024

While this bird is not uncommon in Germany, I have only seen this species once in the region around Bonn (which I should probably blame in part on the infrequency of my birding outings). Incredibly, this was the first time I saw a male of this species in breeding plumage (plus the first time I heard its song, just as for the Wryneck ).

Germany 224

Germany Birds Parrots Africa 224

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 8, 2019

Barn Swallows are pretty much anywhere in the world (I just saw them back in Germany). But the way it is, familiarity breeds (relative) contempt. The Chinese Pond Heron is another attractive bird, particularly in its breeding plumage. During my last trip to Germany, several people pointed out locations of Common Kingfisher.

Germany 145

Germany Cattle Blackbirds Birds 145

10,000 Birds

MAY 21, 2020

It can still be an entirely opposite end of a continent, but – if you are residing in Europe – the flight can be as short as one (from Germany) to two hours (from UK). Only this time, you do not feel like inhaling the same air circling through the plane on a ten hour flight. Top-5 hotspots.

Serbia 317

Serbia Sanctuary Bosnia Birds 317

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2015

While the differences are restricted to just a few features, they give the birds such a distinct appearance that we (a group of three seasoned birders from Germany on a trip to Kyrgyzstan in the late 1990s) failed to identify our first indicus as a House Sparrow.

Sparrows 246

Sparrows Italy Kyrgyzstan Asia 246

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Always interesting to see the same species both in Germany (in my parents’ garden) and in Shanghai. Not that easy to spot outside of the breeding season, though relatively quite common. Raptors are relatively rare at Nanhui, so to get a good shot of an Eastern Marsh Harrier in the nice early morning light is a joy.

2019 220

2019 Japan China Owls 220

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

In the non-breeding season, Common Merganser all look pretty much like females. Not a bad look though – more attractive than the male breeding plumage, I think. Upon learning about my background, he asked me whether we have Yaks in Germany. Carrion Crows like to think of themselves as very modern birds.

Birds 250

Birds Germany India 2018 250

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2019

The Kerkini Lake National Park is my favourite birding area in the whole of the Balkans and while I’ve been here in April and again (migration), September (migration), October (coffee break), December and January (wintering), this was my first time in the breeding season, in May. But nowadays, they, too, breed here, about 20 pairs this year.

Greece 203

Greece Pelicans Buffalo Fish 203

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Introduced breeding species and species recorded only as escapees now have all species illustrated (they were not in the #2) and those illustrations larger than before. Forget occasional escapees, there is an established feral population successfully breeding in the north of Germany, which was 131 birds strong last year.

Europe 264

Europe Birds Woodpeckers Ireland 264

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2015

Birders in Europe mostly see Great Egrets outside their breeding season, when their legs are mostly black with a hue of orange on the upper parts, their bill is yellow and their cere is, too. Until a friend sends you pictures of a very small Great Egret in Germany in winter – with bright pink legs, a black bill and a turquoise cere.

Asia 198

Asia Europe Germany Breeding 198

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2012

Leading scientists, conservationists and aviculturalists from Europe and South-east Asia met at Walsrode in Germany recently to formulate a rescue plan. Concern for the future of this species is such that the WPA and BirdLife International-Vietnam Programme are working together to organize immediate action.

Vietnam 161

Vietnam 2000 Germany Asia 161

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2017

Here in central Europe, dippers – more precisely the White-throated or European Dipper – are rather common breeding birds in many areas. In Germany for example, they are breeding in practically every hilly or mountainous region south of the North German Plain and are not really rare if they occur in a certain region.

Germany 100

Germany Hamburgers Austria 2016 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2017

However, one of the little sweet candies Germany still enjoys today from its own disastrous colonial past is the Common Guillemot, or Common Murre. Germany has only one high seas island it calls its own, the mighty (from a birding perspective) island of Heligoland. km²) in the German Bight, approximately 70 km off the coast of Germany.

Germany 100

Germany Denmark Namibia Breeding 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 6, 2016

The key to solving the puzzle of Germany’s large white-headed gulls was banding juveniles of all forms in their breeding colonies and the fact that some humans find immense joy in driving around garbage dumps, looking at birds with pricey scopes and trying to decipher tiny codes on plastic or metal rings of various shapes and sizes.

Kazakhstan 132

Kazakhstan Germany Ukraine Asia 132

10,000 Birds

MAY 27, 2024

Given how far Hokkaido is from Europe, it seems a bit surprising how many bird species wintering on this Japanese island have a name starting with “Eurasian” Or how many of these species I have also seen in my parents’ garden in Germany. One would hope that in Germany, the situation is a bit different.

Iran 213

Iran Germany Research Humane 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 18, 2012

It is very likely that the white morph was directly promoted in captive breeding and favoured in releases to establish feral populations. A happy family of Mute Swans at Waghäusel in south-western Germany, post-trading era. Furthermore, it is more frequent in females than in males. So much for the blessings of beauty.

Feral 176

Feral Europe Asia North America 176

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Driving from France or Germany to Greece, you are likely to pass through my hometown of Belgrade and continue south following the E75 through the FYRO Macedonia. Other species of interest include the southernmost breeding population of Greylag Goose in Europe, Goosander (at bigger and deeper Megali Prespa), Hazel Grouse (at Mt.

Greece 182

Greece Albania Macedonia Europe 182

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 21, 2016

In July 2013, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources held a meeting in Bremerhaven in Germany, to decide whether to turn the Ross Sea into a marine protected area. There are 11 species of birds that breed in the Ross Sea region. The region is also a major habitat for petrels. And the Mammals.

Russia 188

Russia Penguins Whales Whaling 188

10,000 Birds

MAY 13, 2022

Please keep that in mind if you ever think that Germany’s only contributions to the world are highways and world wars. Finally, the Yellow Bittern is one of my favorite birds in Singapore, and it is much easier to see here than in its breeding grounds in Shanghai.

Singapore 255

Singapore Birds Zebras Feral 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 21, 2016

I am not entirely sure whether most birders outside Germany know or realize that Germany still has a decent population of one of Europe’s most attractive and desired bird species: the Great Bustard Otis tarda. Now that I might have wetted your appetite, here’s where and how to find them in Germany: 1.

Germany 103

Germany Mongolia Abandon Abandoning 103

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2011

The Common Swifts have left Germany behind as their journey South has begun. Now, I can see how this may surprise some readers, but the underlying reasoning is quite comprehensible: Common Swifts breed in small crevices and cavities of cliff faces, and old buildings make for some terrific secondary habitat. That is early.

Elephants 173

Elephants Neglecting Europe Breeders 173

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2011

One of Britain’s recent colonisers the Mediterranean Gull begins to arrive in bigger numbers every year as post-breeding dispersal takes hold. To date individuals have been recorded from nine different countries in Europe; our Med Gulls are coming from Germany, Holland, Poland and other countries as far east as Serbia.

Poland 157

Poland 2009 France Europe 157

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 5, 2012

It also used to be a rather common bird in the South of Germany, but the German population has crashed and collapsed (almost?) If it still breeds in Germany at all, which it might do, it is so rare by now that pairs do not get reported to anywhere except to the relevant nature conservation authorities. That was it.

Cattle 124

Cattle Germany Iran Breeders 124

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2024

Then sometimes when you see these birds actively regaining their energy and getting ready for defending territories and breeding, they give the impression that their migration had just been a short jog around the block rather than a marathon across desert, mountains, and oceans.

Soreing 214

Soreing Owls Woodpeckers Eagles 214

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2023

Yibin is a typical smallish Chinese city (which in China means slightly above 850,000 people in the metro area, which would make it the fifth-biggest city in Germany but does not get it into the top 100 in China). But then, would a lady pheasant be pleased to be described as “large”? What a weird world.

Italy 225

Italy China France Eggs 225

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 9, 2021

Its closest living relatives are the Chinese and the Japanese grosbeak of East Asia” The main difference is that I have seen the hawfinch – but only the hawfinch – in both my parents’ garden in Germany and in Shanghai. Great Cormorants are also very good at just loafing around.

Birds 261

Birds Japan Germany Ducks 261

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2013

Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Germany was not a birding nation, at least not by international standards. In the good old tradition of Stresemann and Mayr we were an ornithological nation, gathering systematic data on bird numbers and distribution of our regular breeding and wintering birds.

France 174

France Vet Germany Breeding 174

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

The problem is that Blackbirds are incredibly common in suburban and even urban areas of Germany. But who can say if this is a normal occurrence at the end of the breeding season, possibly related to them being more secretive during their moult, or if this is not normal? In suburban Germany, this will essentially mean a silent spring.

Blackbirds 154

Blackbirds Germany Shelters Rodents 154

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2024

Black-headed Gulls were also breeding in the wetlands in large numbers, becoming very agitated when a Western Marsh-Harrier quartered low over the reeds. Their breeding mounts in the wetland were removed, probably because things were getting out of control with photographers.

Sri Lanka 241

Sri Lanka South Africa Transported Africa 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2014

They need to go north to breed and we will anxiously await the return of the adults and the juveniles later in the year. You have to have a lot of respect for all migratory birds when you imagine the lives they live and the incredible journeys they make to enable them to breed and to continue to survive in a changing world.

Belarus 162

Belarus Cameroon Taiwan China 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2013

May – Migration’s Peak and Breeding Begins. August – Germany and More Local Birding. We had a wonderful family vacation in Germany and the Czech Republic during which I managed to do a bit of birding. April was also the infamous Bird Love Week on 10,000 Birds. May is when the bulk of the birds come back.

2012 149

2012 Czech Republic Hedgehogs Hungary 149