Bird photography in your backyard: What to consider

20 small birds are constantly on the move between a garden bush and the nearby birdhouse. Right away I can identify Great Tits (Parus major), Blue Tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), Nuthatches (Sitta europaea), Greenfinches (Chloris chloris), Goldfinches (Carduelis carduelis) and House Sparrows (Passer domesticus). While Great Tits and Blue Tits prefer to fly to the feeder,… Continue reading Bird photography in your backyard: What to consider

Junger Kurzfangsperber auf Warte in Anatolien

An einem Felsvorsprung direkt oberhalb der Straße südlich von Erzurum sitzt ein dunkel wirkender Greif mit kräftiger Streifung auf der Unterseite. Die Iris ist dunkel. Sehr schön. Soll das etwa der von mir vorhin gesehene, kreisende Sperber (Accipiter nisus) sein. Die Sitzhaltung erinnert eher an einen kräftigen Falken. Nein, perfekt, das ist ein Kurzfangsperber (Accipiter… Continue reading Junger Kurzfangsperber auf Warte in Anatolien

Living on their own: a new life for Northern Goshawks

The quiet, early morning in the morning pine forest in the south of Brandenburg is penetrated by high, persistent begging sounds. Yesterday morning the young in the nest of the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) could still be seen very quietly on the nest and on a branch a little above the nest. In the meantime… Continue reading Living on their own: a new life for Northern Goshawks

Goshawk in the nest

After a thunderstorm, the wind has died down, and the morning rays of the sun shine through the tops of the Pine trees (Pinus sylvestris). Nothing seems to be happening in the nest of the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), which was occupied 2 years ago. But suddenly something white moves, something shaggy. The white something… Continue reading Goshawk in the nest

Winter roosts and Red Kites

Just before sunset there some activity is in the air. Red kites (Milvus milvus) can be seen against the dark winter sky. They gather. Dozens of Red Kites perch on tree tops spread across various spruce trees. Again and again Red Kites flies up, does a few laps over the snow-covered landscape, then change the… Continue reading Winter roosts and Red Kites

Eichelhäher im handfesten Streit im Winter

Eine ausdrucksstarke, dynamische Szene der sich im Flug vehement streitenden Eichelhäher (Garrulus glandarius) ist kein Kinderspiel. Die beiden Streithähne sind großartig mit offenen Flügeln und den schönen Farben vor der offensichtlich winterlichen Kulisse in Szene gesetzt. Ein echter Tanz der Häher. Ein wunderbar dynamisches und lebendiges Bild! Die technische Umsetzung heißt in erster Linie beide… Continue reading Eichelhäher im handfesten Streit im Winter

AZERBAIJAN – a birding trip in late migration time

INTRODUCTION The goal was to use 4 days off and a public holiday to go on another birding trip to a distant country after the corona pandemic had ended. This was also a reconnaissance trip to investigate birding destinations in western Asia. We didn’t want to linger long with stopovers at any airport. So the… Continue reading AZERBAIJAN – a birding trip in late migration time

Kurzfangsperber: Zug und Vorkommen in der Nord-Ost Türkei

Im Kaukasus kommt der Kurzfangsperber bis auf 1.000 m NNvor; ausnahmsweise wurde er bis in 2.000 m Höhe in Armenien beobachtet. Das ist die lapidare Aussage im Handbook of the Birds of the World – Volume 2 im Band „New World Vultures to Guineafowl“ von Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal, die auch im… Continue reading Kurzfangsperber: Zug und Vorkommen in der Nord-Ost Türkei

Juvenile Goshawk in Anatolian sky

An Accipiter hawk does fly low over the nicely constructed road south of Erzurum. I jump out of the car and keep on shooting with my Canon EF 400mm 1:4 DO IS II USM on a Canon EOS R 5. At home, I sort out the images. When viewing in Lightroom, my first thought is:… Continue reading Juvenile Goshawk in Anatolian sky

Young Levant Sparrowhawk in eastern Anatolia

On a ledge just above the road south of Erzurum sits a dark-looking raptor with heavily striped underside. The iris is dark. Very beautiful. Is that the bird, I had seen circling and identified as a Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) earlier? The sitting posture is more a reminiscent of a powerful falcon. No, that’s a… Continue reading Young Levant Sparrowhawk in eastern Anatolia

Northern Goshawk dripping wet in the rain

The rain is long awaited in southern Brandenburg, roughly 40 kilometers south of Berlin. The weeks before it had rained only sporadically. In the evening it was said that more than 10 liters / square meter had dropped. After strong thunderstorms with heavy heavy rain, the weather situation only calmed down slightly at night. There… Continue reading Northern Goshawk dripping wet in the rain

An unusual tenant in raptor nest: Greylag Goose

A head looks cheeky from a huge nest 8 meters high in a European Larch (Larix decidua) in a sparsely leafy, mixed forest. The orange-pink beak is conspicuous and, in connection with the gray-brown head, only allows one breeding species to be itentified: a Greylag Goose (Anser anser). The bird sits crouched on the nest… Continue reading An unusual tenant in raptor nest: Greylag Goose