article thumbnail

July birding in Northern Germany

10,000 Birds

About two times per year, I spend a few weeks in Northern Germany – Visselhövede, to be exact. Some of the latter have actually stopped migrating and live in Northern Germany all year round. The post July birding in Northern Germany appeared first on 10,000 Birds. White Stork. Common Crane. Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Birds 79
article thumbnail

Northern Hawk Owl in Germany

10,000 Birds

First, most of Europe’s owl species are breeding in Germany anyway and are better found at other times of the year. I am not aware of a single twitchable Snowy Owl in Germany in the 21st century, and Great Grey Owl isn’t even on the German list. Well, very recent years.

Owls 56
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Trending Sources

article thumbnail

Red-necked Grebes in Germany

10,000 Birds

Europe has five regular grebe species, and all of them can be found as breeding birds in Germany. The rarest of the trio, Slavonian or Horned Grebe , only has a very small breeding population with a handful of pairs in Germany’s far North. Additionally, they mostly leave Germany during our winter. But first some context.

Germany 40
article thumbnail

How to see a Black Woodpecker in Germany

10,000 Birds

Black Woodpeckers are usually easy to find in Germany. At least one birder will now likely grab his war hammer and check flight availabilities from New York to Frankfurt as well as average prison sentences in Germany for first degree murder. Here in Germany, we have them. Yes, some birders may frown at this statement.

article thumbnail

Know Your Audience: A Ring-necked Duck in Germany

10,000 Birds

Yes, the Tufted Duck is the ideal suject for this blog: it is reasonably common here in Germany and not hard to photograph, yet to you it is probably the subject of countless day dreams scanning through endless flocks of Lesser Scaup. Birds Germany Ring-necked Duck Tufted Duck waterfowl' Like … the Tufted Duck !

Ducks 91
article thumbnail

Five Things I Learned While Birding in Germany

10,000 Birds

But this is a bird blog so I will stick to the birds here and simply share five things that I learned while birding in Germany or, to be more exact, while birding in Berlin. Mandarin Ducks are countable in Germany. What should I have learned while birding in Germany that I failed to learn? Nothing, that’s what!

Birds 82
article thumbnail

European Bison in a nature reserve in Germany

Reddit Animals

submitted by /u/HotHorst [link] [comments].

Germany 52
article thumbnail

First Outbreak of Usutu Virus in Germany

10,000 Birds

That is very cold for the south of Germany. This thrush is extremely common in urban and suburban Germany and one of the most conspicuous bird species here, comparable to the American Robin in North America. Last summer, birders suddenly started to notice that the Blackbirds were gone from their yards around Heidelberg.

Germany 79
article thumbnail

Another post about owls

10,000 Birds

For those still reading on after this introduction, this is about Barn Owls I have seen in Germany in summer 2018 and winter 2019 – rural Northern Germany, to be more specific. In December 2019, I found a roosting barn owl on my last day in Germany. More owl photos here.

Owls 99
article thumbnail

Wood pigeon visited our flat today (Germany)

Reddit Animals

submitted by /u/PoopyPantalones666 [link] [comments].

Germany 52
article thumbnail

Mountain bison in a game reserve in Germany

Reddit Animals

submitted by /u/HotHorst [link] [comments].

Germany 52
article thumbnail

Biting the bullet or jumping the shark? A potential Baikal Wagtail in Germany

10,000 Birds

I recently saw and photographed what appears to be a Baikal Wagtail ( Motacilla alba-or-not baicalensis ) in Germany. If I am correct, this would apparently constitute a first record for the Western Palearctic. So it may turn out to be a bit of a big deal. Or a bit of a PR disaster for my birding skillz if I am not correct.

Germany 40
article thumbnail

Birds of Visselhövede in Winter

10,000 Birds

Well, this post is more specific than that – it is about the birds of Fliederweg 7, 27374 Visselhövede, Germany. Finally, this being Germany, we also have birds that look (at least a little bit) like Hitler. Birds of a specific place with an unpronounceable name that you have never heard of? European Greenfinch. House Sparrow.

Birds 98
article thumbnail

Not enough Woodpeckers

10,000 Birds

T he European Green Woodpecker (Visselhoevede, Germany) is closely related to the Grey-headed Woodpecker, but less demanding in terms of its habitat ( source ). The pink lipstick shape on the face of the bird counterintuitively indicates that this is a male. Kind of like a diesel version.

article thumbnail

Brown’s Brewing Company – Helles Rebuke

10,000 Birds

Nope, definitely not one of those… The classification of beer styles can be a pretty thorny issue in its own right, and I suspect Helles requires some explanation to most casual drinkers outside of Germany. Helles is a pale German lager, particularly popular in Bavaria but also in neighboring Franconia and Baden-Württemberg.

Birds 105
article thumbnail

The German Eagles

10,000 Birds

Whether the inspiration to this post came from Germany winning the U19 European football championship yesterday right on the heels of our (adult) team winning the world cup (Yes! Ospreys have shown a remarkable recovery in Germany. Four stars!!), or from Coreys small series on national birds is left for you to decide.

Eagles 86
article thumbnail

Birding Inner Mongolia

10,000 Birds

Second note: Inner Mongolia has a land area larger than that of France and Germany combined, and I only spent one week there. ” The range of the Eurasian Bullfinch stretches from Iberia to Siberia – and that means that I have seen it in my parents’ garden in Germany as well as here in Inner Mongolia.

Mongolia 104
article thumbnail

Wet Birds

10,000 Birds

A wet Blackcap (Visselhoevede, Germany). So, here’s a collection of wet birds. A wet Grey-eyed Bulbul (Xishuangbanna, China). A wet African Pygmy Kingfisher (Mkuze, South Africa). A wet Daurian Redstart (Shennongjia, China). Wet Orange-bellied Leafbird s (Tengchong, China). A wet Moustached Laughingthrush (Tengchong, China).

Birds 100
article thumbnail

The 20 most common birds in Shanghai (Part 1)

10,000 Birds

Barn Swallows are pretty much anywhere in the world (I just saw them back in Germany). During my last trip to Germany, several people pointed out locations of Common Kingfisher. So, no, I did not spend time searching for it in Germany. So why shouldn’t they be in Shanghai, at least in summer?

Birds 74
article thumbnail

Leaping Foxes

10,000 Birds

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 75
article thumbnail

Greater Rheas: Germany’s new Big Bird

10,000 Birds

Germany is underrated as a birding destination. Greater Rheas, a species the Germans call Nandu, are very popular in Germany and frequently kept in zoos as well as private enclosures. The following map (taken from the highly esteemed site ornitho.de ) shows all observations of Greater Rheas throughout Germany since 1999.

Birds 105
article thumbnail

They’ve Got Personality

10,000 Birds

Still, this Carrion Crow in Munich, Germany, had that Blackbird beat: It came so close to me that it did not fit in the camera’s frame. But they are extremely common up in Baja California and, to judge from this bird in Ensenada, exceedingly trusting — it barely fit in the camera’s frame.

article thumbnail

Finding Dippers in Berlin

10,000 Birds

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. However, dippers here in Germany aren’t too fussy about their habitats and will readily utilize human-made secondary rapids and rocks. Crazy, I know.

Germany 40
article thumbnail

Displaying Great Bustard

10,000 Birds

In fact – and I am not making this up – I was very upset on my first visit to the Great Bustards in Germany when glancing with naked eyes over the meadows, I noticed a few large white pieces of plastic garbage that the wind had apparently blown into the nature reserve and I angrily thought that someone really should go remove them.

Birds 61
article thumbnail

PETA Wants Knut Castrated!

Critter News

PETA Germany's position is that he should be castrated so he doesn't mate with his cousin Giovanna. Tags: zoos knut Germany polar bear PETA. He was the cute little polar bear whose birth at the Berlin Zoo was so controversial because his mother rejected him. He was raised by a trainer. Check out a couple of the pictures in this story.

PETA 100
article thumbnail

Germany’s Great Bustards and how to see them

10,000 Birds

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 49
article thumbnail

Two Birds

10,000 Birds

Blue Tit (Visselhoevede, Germany, Jul 2018). Black-tailed Godwit (Nanhui, China, May 2020). Black-throated Tit (Tianmushan, China, Jun 2019). Hiking up a tree. Black-winged Stilt (Nanhui, China, May 2019). Almost abstract bird patterns. “You`re so juvenile!” ” Budgerigar (Ayers Rock, Australia, Dec 2016).

Birds 105
article thumbnail

The Gawky Guillemot

10,000 Birds

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 40
article thumbnail

The Charge of the Egyptian Goose

10,000 Birds

When I started birding in earnest during the 1980s in south-west Germany, no one talked about Egyptian Geese. During the early 1990s, rumours surrounding the occurrence of a few Egyptian Geese in far north-western Germany emerged, the result of an increasing and spreading Dutch feral population. The Netherlands were far away.

Geese 60
article thumbnail

Best Birds of my First Year with 10,000 Birds

10,000 Birds

Mandarin Ducks, Munich, Germany. Sure, it is an introduced species in Germany. So my favorites for 2019 includes a good number of birds that are rather common elsewhere, but were firsts for me. Plus a few truly difficult species. And they aren’t nearly as famous as the vagrant/escaped Mandarin Duck of Central Park.

Birds 89
article thumbnail

Jochen’s 2017 year list

10,000 Birds

Birding activities in Germany in January (generated with ornitho.de ). Tundra Bean Goose, Anser serrirostris – Sylt and Westcoast SH, Germany – 01 Jan. Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus – Heidelberg/Leimen BW, Germany – 02 Jan. Great Tit, Parus major – Heidelberg/Leimen BW, Germany – 04 Jan.

2017 40
article thumbnail

The Cute Show: Boar Piglets!

4 The Love Of Animals

When VICE Germany sent us some footage of the Lehnitz animal asylum, we weren’t sure how cute it was going to be. Little did we know, boar piglets live there, who love to eat, sleep, play, and hang out with their surrogate mom, who’s a dog.

Boars 140
article thumbnail

Fifty Shapes of Grey

10,000 Birds

And if months of overcast days are what climate change has in store for Germany, I’ll volunteer for the first manned Mars mission that doesn’t include a return ticket. Birds chickadees and tits finches Germany waterfowl weather winter' Still, this winter is pain. Final shapes of grey tally = 50!

Birds 92
article thumbnail

The Rose-ringed Parakeets of Heidelberg

10,000 Birds

Here in Germany, we don’t wish we had. Yes, Germany has parrots, or parakeets to be more precise. Unlike North America, Germany has never had naturally occurring psittacines that went extinct, and the one we have is a true and complete invasive alien introduction. Because we never have had.

Geese 102
article thumbnail

Buntings of Nanhui, Shanghai

10,000 Birds

I`ve seen three more buntings – one in Germany ( Yellowhammer ) and two in South Africa ( Cape Bunting, Golden-breasted Bunting ). And if you are willing to travel a bit further within China, you can see the Crested Bunting , which arguably has a bit more star quality …. Yellowhammer. Cape Bunting. Golden-breasted Bunting.

Birds 102
article thumbnail

German Canines to Help Catch Smugglers

Critter News

Amy, a German shepherd, and Uno, a Labrador retriever, have joined the team at {Frankfurt,} one of Europe's busiest airports — the first two dogs in Germany trained to sniff out live animals, plants or derivatives or remains of them. Tags: wildlife trafficking smuggling Germany. Interesting. That's huge.

Reptiles 100
article thumbnail

Green Sympathy

10,000 Birds

You may know, or may have known and have forgotten by now, that Germany has had federal elections to the Bundestag this year, on September 22nd. It is actually increasing in numbers, and second only to the Great Spotted Woodpecker regarding its population in Germany. Conservation Germany woodpeckers' What’s with the mask?

article thumbnail

Birding the Great German Poo Trail

10,000 Birds

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?

Birds 65
article thumbnail

Into an Uncertain Future

10,000 Birds

We, the people of Germany, have had enough of this nonsense. Birds Germany magpies weather' This may come as a surprise and it is sure to rock the stocks, yet it is an inevitable consequence of recent developments and a logic step to those familiar with European affairs: The Germans are preparing to leave the European Union.

Algeria 71
article thumbnail

The Collins Bird Guide, 3rd edition

10,000 Birds

Forget occasional escapees, there is an established feral population successfully breeding in the north of Germany, which was 131 birds strong last year. Here I missed one well known big bird in the #2, it cannot be much bigger or more obvious, and I do not see it in the #3 either: the Greater Rhea.

Birds 105
article thumbnail

German Court Bans PETA "Holocaust" Campaign

Critter News

Touchy subject there in Germany. The court ruled that the PETA campaign, called The Holocaust on your Plate, violated human dignity: "In Germany, the word Holocaust will long remain synonymous with a very specific crime which is beyond any comparison, let alone any attempt to market it with a view to a publicity campaign.".

PETA 100
article thumbnail

Godwits are bad ambassadors of conservation

10,000 Birds

In Germany, it is a very polarizing species, as it is very common on the North Sea shore – where it breeds – but a scarce visitor to the rest of the country, making it a bird so fair and foul to a mixed group of birders as you’ll ever see. Birds Germany godwits shorebirds'

Birds 92
article thumbnail

Caspian Gull: The continental gull

10,000 Birds

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.