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Crested and Proud

10,000 Birds

A crest is a “comb or tuft of feathers, fur, or skin on the head of a bird or other animal” Birds use them for display purposes – they can be either recumbent (not noticeable when not erect) or recursive (noticeable in all states). Quite a few bird species have crests. Crests are made of feathers.

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The return of the Old Man

10,000 Birds

There’s something wonderfully primeval about the Northern Bald Ibis: it has the look of a bird that really ought to be extinct. The fact that it’s not is quite surprising, as this curious bird has come very close to the brink. Sadly, they no longer breed in Algeria, while in Turkey no free-flying birds remain. (In

Morocco 215
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Whooper Swans at Lake Kussharo, Hokkaido

10,000 Birds

On the one hand, they are very easy to see in Germany, swimming in public parks or teaching pensioners how to eat bread. On the other hand, their white color and their considerable size made me see them as somewhat arrogant birds – the white Golf convertible of the bird world.

China 203
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Birding Yibin, Sichuan

10,000 Birds

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). As sound photography has not been invented yet, I will therefore focus on the other birds encountered here.

Italy 181
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The Collins Bird Guide, 3rd edition

10,000 Birds

The Collins Bird Guide covers Europe, North Atlantic islands, much of North Africa and the Middle East. The 1st edition from 1999 was a complete revolution in just about everything, but predominantly the quality and realism of illustrations, showing what a field guide could be and seriously raising the threshold for other publishers.

Europe 247
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Birding Singapore

10,000 Birds

The only bird-related activity I can think of is looking at bird photos I took in Singapore in 2015, and adding some irrelevant comments to them. Presumably, birds living in Singapore do not understand German. Writing this post, I have been in lockdown in my Shanghai compound for 60 days. “Odd, me?”

Singapore 210
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Birding a monastery: Zhaga, Western Sichuan

10,000 Birds

But it seems the birds like this habitat, probably as this is a rare more open area on these otherwise mostly heavily forested hills. The monastery is quite large compared to a bird guide (Bella from Alpinebirding on the left-hand side). And compared to birds, for that matter. Please consult your own bird guide for more details.

Birds 202