Autumn and Winter in Germany

[heidu]

thats a really great pc you got there. if you get hungry it helps you with that too

[Kapa]

Hello,
I am ashamed to admit, that I never had seen any great white heron until last week. Here are some todays pictures from a tiny lake in the south of Germany, near Aalen, where the white and the grey herons hunt together as a family.


Birds in the sun:


Herons flying into the trees after being disturbed by people:

[alice44]

Herons and Egrets are some of my favourites.

Around here the Great Egret is much more common now than it was when I was young.

[Kapa]

Alice,
Egrets = white herons?
They are really nice. Not that common here though...

[vainamoinen]

Herons and Egrets are some of my favourites.

Around here the Great Egret is much more common now than it was when I was young.

The same is true here in Latvia. Until the end of the 20th century Great Egret was a rare vagrant, but the number increased rapidly. Now we have nearly 100 nesting pairs, and there are present several hundred of non-breeders.

[alice44]

Kapa, yes


I asked my dad about Egrets becoming more common. He said yes, when he was young his family thought they would become extinct. They had been killed in huge numbers for their feathers but now their population seems to be recovering.

[Kapa]

Alice,
these are good news.
As I said, I didn't see them before. At this tiny lake there seem to be around 9 egrets and 4 herons on a regular basis (these days).

[fireblade1]

Saw some "Silberreiher" today also again


And this hawk (I think it is a goshawk). He likes this tree. The third day I saw him there


A "Singschwan", a "Höckerschwan" and "Zwergsäger" (my first this autumn)


The mute swan family


The eagle I saw today (one of our pair). Strange that there are no young ones this autumn. Somewhere else must be easy food, I think

[fireblade1]

Today we were out again close to the baltic sea. For this days it was nice weather. No rain and no wind. When we arrived it was a few minutes to late, but we saw many cranes (nearly 100, I think) flying away from the sleeping place to get some food on the fields. Bad light for photos but I had my cam with me and we saw a wte fishing, so I took some pictures. We saw four different geese, but no "Saatgans" as we hoped. "Graugans, Nonnengans, Blessgans, Kanadagans". Also a few "Zwergschwäne" were there. Also "Gänsesäger, Mittelsäger, Zwergtaucher, sweet little Krickenten, Spiessenten" and many others. The wte pair of this place chased away a young one. My friend said a "Diesjähriger" but I am not sure

[fireblade1]

...
The "Rallen/Blässhühner" felt secure close to us (and the reed ) ...




This "Singschwan" whooped around until a second swan was ready for a second breakfast

The last week I had a lot of time to think about the killing/shooting of birds "just for fun" and about the education of people. And why, everywhere on this world, nobody of the responsible persons is REALLY interested to find the guilty. And what would happen if I destroy a 10 Euro backlight of a hunters car. So I have my own opinion and better do not write it down. ........

http://www.komitee.de/content/aktionen- ... verfolgung

[Manu]

@fireblade: You had a really interesting day too . The picture with the 2 ducks and tails up made me laugh, it's great

[fireblade1]

@fireblade: You had a really interesting day too . The picture with the 2 ducks and tails up made me laugh, it's great

Thank you Manu. And you can see why they are called pintail/Spiessente (ok, the males more )

[fireblade1]

"Raubwürger" (far away) on the right little tree

I am not sure, "Sperber-Weibchen" oder "Habicht-Männchen"

The farm-cat "Timmy" always on the hunt

[Flex]

We now have snow:

[fireblade1]

We now have snow:

Brrr. I do not like the snow. Today it is a cold morning: -4, no snow.
Tomorrow in the evening in the german tv (zdf/frontal 21.00-21.45): A little article, I think, about hunting with plumb ammunition. I will try to record that piece, but it is also later to watch in the mediathek.

[Flex]

Yes, I have read it. But it is doubtful whether the lead-free ammunition is not dangerous. (Rebound = Abpraller...)

Lutz Möller: This is a man with crazy ideas - can you read it on his HP

[fireblade1]

Yes, I have read it. But it is doubtful whether the lead-free ammunition is not dangerous. (Rebound = Abpraller...)
Lutz Möller: This is a man with crazy ideas - can you read it on his HP

Shooting is shooting. Always dangerous. But plump is a poison, also for humans. And there are many many tons in our woods because of shooting.

[fireblade1]

Saw it. But there was not enough about the agonies of wte (for exampel). A lot of german talking. And some german boars (most dead)

[Felis silvestris]

Took a short walk today - it was very cold, wind chill was -11°C, and I took some photos too.



but for the bird check in the Birds thread! I also saw a least weasel, but that was way to fast for me to take a photo!

[Felis silvestris]

Continued: