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| Source: www.somersetbirder.co.uk |
вторник, 26 март 2013 г.
New addition to our office list: Collared Flycatcher
You know it is that time of the day when you need a break and often look through the window ;) I burst in excitement when a saw a Collared Flycatcher sitting on the railing in the garden just outside our office. A gorgeous male.
These flycatchers are amongst the common migrants at this time of year across Sofia. We should apparently keep our bins next to our desks. Other birds on the list include Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Syrian Woodpecker, Brambling, etc. It should be some 40 species now.
събота, 23 март 2013 г.
Birdwatching in my local patch
I had some doubts whether to wake up early this morning and go out for some bird photography. After a hard week I decided to spend a few more hours in the bed and then go out :) Priority was clear. Well, I walk up at about 9 am and off I went to my local patch about 20 km W of Sofia. A lovely oak woodland with open patches of grassland and scrub. It is still early for the meadow birds so I decided to focus on the woodland.
Initially it was pretty quiet. Nothing was calling. In a couple of minutes I have apparently approached the territory of this lovely Wood Nuthatch. The birds from the pair were nicely displaying. Really nice birds when you see them this close.
My initial idea was to find some more Sombre Tit so I continued walking around to explore the area and hopefully see some more birds. There are some old orchards nearby that I have been willing to explore for a long time. Just as I expected a pair of Sombre Tit responded soon after I arrived on the spot. It was full with birds. Not just the local Starlings and Hawfinches were there but also a group of 6 Robins. This high number raises the question of their migration. I did a quick Google Scholar and it produced a few quite interesting papers discussing the birds survival (Adriaensen, F & Dhondt A.) and their means of orientation (Sandberg et al.) and drivers for migration with a focus on rain and wind (Schaub, M.et al) :
Other migrants were also present. On a small patch with scrub there were a few Black Redstarts, my first for the year Willow Warbler and a lovely Firecrest. Rather untypical which is the first for my local patch which is now over 80 species with some of the highlights being Golden Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Honey Buzzards, Scops Owl, Syrian Woodpecker, Ortolan Bunting, Wryneck, Thrush Nightingale and many others.
Just as I was thinking about this untypical Firecrest, I remembered a pretty old observation of a Ring Ouzel which I observed in the woods in the area many years ago. In that very moment the call of a Ring Ouzel totally thrilled me. :) Well what can I say. Lovely bird. My first for the year and another observation for my local patch.
I carried on walking in the area but it was already 3 p.m. and just like in summer birds just disapeared. Well it was time for lunch or whatever you call it in the middle of the afternoon :)
Initially it was pretty quiet. Nothing was calling. In a couple of minutes I have apparently approached the territory of this lovely Wood Nuthatch. The birds from the pair were nicely displaying. Really nice birds when you see them this close.
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| Nuthatch photography by Iordan Hristov |
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| Robin photography |
Just as I was thinking about this untypical Firecrest, I remembered a pretty old observation of a Ring Ouzel which I observed in the woods in the area many years ago. In that very moment the call of a Ring Ouzel totally thrilled me. :) Well what can I say. Lovely bird. My first for the year and another observation for my local patch.
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| Blue Tit photography by Iordan Hristov |
I carried on walking in the area but it was already 3 p.m. and just like in summer birds just disapeared. Well it was time for lunch or whatever you call it in the middle of the afternoon :)
сряда, 20 март 2013 г.
Trekking around Sofia
After a day with sun, clouds and snow devoted to bird photography I decided to spend a day with friends trekking in a mountains not far from Sofia. A picturesque area rich in birds, mountain flowers and butterflies. Well, in this season it was mainly picturesque :)
I promised a couple of friends that will take them to this area and they were really impressed. A pleasant 3,5 hours trekking on a fairly flat terrain produced magnificent views. Most importantly, it was another reason to be out in nature.
The weather forecast looked quite promising so we got on two cars and off we went. The road to the area is terrible with lots of potholes so ability to maneuver is well desired. Anyway, we weren't really paying much attention to this. We all had a good laugh and nobody cared but the driver ;)
We arrived in the area at about lunch time but didn't stop for a minute. Our willingness to explore new areas was unstoppable :). Quickly grabbed our backpacks and off we went to the mountain hills. Birds were actively singing everywhere. Woodpeckers were also drumming here and there but my hidden agenda was to have a glimpse of Alpine Chough, Golden Eagle or a Rock Partridge. Only one or two of my friends were birders and the others didn't have any specialized interest but they all had a positive attitude to nature so I am sure they would have enjoyed seeing the birds. It is just that they would probably struggle understanding that we are walking for a couple of hours to see a bird :) The trick is when we don't see anything ;)
Most of the time we were seeing small birds like Yellowhammers, Woodlarks, and Chaffinches. We had a lovely view of nicely displaying Common Buzzards and the energetic maneuvering flight of Ravens. After all the search I couldn't see a single bird of my target species. Well, on our way back to the cars I heard the call of Alpine Choughs which made me smile :) A small group of about 30+ were flying fairly low above us. By the time I took my long lens out, they were already quite high in the sky. Nevermind! At least we saw them. Further down but the forest a flight call of a Black Woodpecker and the call of a late Brambling made it a day.
In general it was a rather pleasant walk with some good birds and lovely friends. Well here is what it is all about:
I promised a couple of friends that will take them to this area and they were really impressed. A pleasant 3,5 hours trekking on a fairly flat terrain produced magnificent views. Most importantly, it was another reason to be out in nature.
The weather forecast looked quite promising so we got on two cars and off we went. The road to the area is terrible with lots of potholes so ability to maneuver is well desired. Anyway, we weren't really paying much attention to this. We all had a good laugh and nobody cared but the driver ;)
We arrived in the area at about lunch time but didn't stop for a minute. Our willingness to explore new areas was unstoppable :). Quickly grabbed our backpacks and off we went to the mountain hills. Birds were actively singing everywhere. Woodpeckers were also drumming here and there but my hidden agenda was to have a glimpse of Alpine Chough, Golden Eagle or a Rock Partridge. Only one or two of my friends were birders and the others didn't have any specialized interest but they all had a positive attitude to nature so I am sure they would have enjoyed seeing the birds. It is just that they would probably struggle understanding that we are walking for a couple of hours to see a bird :) The trick is when we don't see anything ;)
Most of the time we were seeing small birds like Yellowhammers, Woodlarks, and Chaffinches. We had a lovely view of nicely displaying Common Buzzards and the energetic maneuvering flight of Ravens. After all the search I couldn't see a single bird of my target species. Well, on our way back to the cars I heard the call of Alpine Choughs which made me smile :) A small group of about 30+ were flying fairly low above us. By the time I took my long lens out, they were already quite high in the sky. Nevermind! At least we saw them. Further down but the forest a flight call of a Black Woodpecker and the call of a late Brambling made it a day.
In general it was a rather pleasant walk with some good birds and lovely friends. Well here is what it is all about:
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| copyright Iordan Hristov © 2013 |
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| copyright Iordan Hristov © 2013 |
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| copyright Iordan Hristov © 2013 |
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| copyright Iordan Hristov © 2013 |
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| copyright Iordan Hristov © 2013 |
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| copyright Iordan Hristov © 2013 |
събота, 16 март 2013 г.
Spring migration in Bulgaria
Migration season is one of the favourite ones of many people. Well, having some time on Saturday I decided to go back to some of the sites where I went last weekend. My idea was to make some comparison and note the advancing migration. The results were evident. Last week there were Stonechats all over the place and this week they were really scarce. Only a few individuals were hiding in the bushes here and there.
The first breeding waterfowl were already in the area. About 7 Garganeys were nicely displaying with their crrrr-ing call. About 15 Little Grebes were also around :) Lovely migration of Song Thrush, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting. It is amazing how these birds are just changing places from here to there. Reed Buntings and Chaffinches were also on the move. The latter were all over the places. Interestingly enough Robins were quite common in untypical habitats. Black Redstarts were more common than last week so they are apparently coming along. It is really nice to witness this advancing of spring and see this lovely behaviour of birds.
The sign of winter were still around with this lovely male Hen Harrier.
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| Hen Harrier photography by Iordan Hristov |
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| Hen Harrier photography by Iordan Hristov |
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Black Stork photographed in the snow by Iordan Hristov
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| Sombre Tit photography |
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| Sombre Tit photography |
неделя, 10 март 2013 г.
Spring is coming
A lovely drive around the area of Sofia where I live was a bit quiet bird wise. It was great though. I went out to see if bird migration has started and the exceeding of spring. Honestly I expected a bit more but it was rather pleasant to see the first Whinchat and Stonechats which were more abundant. It was mainly males that were actively singing. They were all around and but still quite shy and difficult to photograph. This lovely male was busier singing than flying away from my camera.
Corn Buntings, Skylarks and Yellowhammers were actively singing marking their territories. I also enjoyed some of the winter birds that are still around like Hen Harrier - a lovely male and female, and one of my favourite birds a Great Grey Shrike which are always so shy. Fieldfare and flocks of Chaffinchs were also suggesting the time of active migration.
Some of the local birds were pretty vocal as well. The call of the first Black Redstart, and the drum of Syrian Woodpecker, Lesser spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatch were echoing in villages. A pair of Sombre Tit were actively feeding and enjoying the lovely weather. A gorgeous Long-legged Buzzard was patrolling its usual grounds.
Spring is coming :)))
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| Stonechat photography by Iordan Hristov |
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| Yellowhammer photography by Iordan Hristov |
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| Yellowhammer photography by Iordan Hristov |
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| Sombre Tit photography by Iordan Hristov |
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| Lesser spotted Woodpecker photography, copyright Iordan Hristov 2013 |
Spring is coming :)))
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