NORTH SEA, GERMAN BIGHT
October 2009
Since July 2009 most of the time I am at ships at the North Sea (German Bight)
working for a monitoring program especially for seabirds, migrating birds and
marine mammals.
Unfortunately the ships engines are almost running, so there´s no chance to
catch one of the rare given sounds of Tern´s, Gull´s, Skuas or one of the Trushes
migrating deep in the dark of the night – in a high quality.
At the tours there are three possible kinds to record birds: swimming at sea
(giving a call while brawl about food), in flight (songbirds giving contact calls
– on day or night. The third thing is giving contact calls while sitting on the ship
– in this case it is even possible that a bird sing it´s song!
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WESTERN JACKDAWS AT FORTRESS ROSENBERG
July 2009
During an exhibition in Kronach (South-Germany) I stood at a hostel situated
at a fortress called Festung Rosenberg (builded around 1250) for four days.
Common Kestrels Falco tinnunculus, a lot of Common Swifts Apus apus and
Western Jackdaws Corvus monedula were breeding there. Up to 40 individuals
of Jackdaws were screeming every morning at the inner courtyard.
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HISSING AND CLICKING
July 2009
What do you think you hear in this recording? A clockwork? A model railroad?
Or maybe a snake?
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NORGE AND DENMARK
June 2009
In June two friends and I made a trip to the middle of Norge and the west of
Denmark. It wasn´t my first time there, but the first time having more time to
participiate on the environment – I didn´t have to run from one tourist attraction
to the next like at the journeys with my parents in my boyhood.
However we had only a short time, so we went to well known hotspots – for this
first trip.
Bergen, Norway
At first we had to meet Marcus, he was there for a half year. The first surprising
thing he had shown us were breeding Lapwings Vanellus vanellus in a park near
the students hall of residence.
At home these birds became extrem rare, here it breeding under a park bench
beside a football site! A warning adult Lapwing beside it´s nest. At the nestside
almost people were going along and there were also a lot of magpies have to
feed there hungry chicks…
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GULLS AT BONE-MEAL DUMB
June 2009
Yesterday I was on the road with a bird-ring-recording enthusiast from Leipzig.
We went to a bone meal-dumb on which where about 500 forageing Gulls
– in fact: European Herring Gull Larus argentatus, Lesser Black-backed Gull
L. fuscus, Caspian Gull L. cachinanns, Yellow Legged Gull L. michahellis,
Common Black-headed Gull L. ridibundus and Mediterranean Gull
L. melanocephalus.
For all kinds of senses it was an amazing – maybe odd – experience to
appreciate these gulls in that gloomy surrounding!
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GREIFSWALDER OIE - III
May 2009
In early Spring I was at the isle Greifswalder Oie for the third time. It was a
different situation as in Autumn, only a few birds were migrating. So I had enough
time for single individuals, studying their fragmentary (incomplete) songs “on the
road”.
This year Germanys Club 300 started a campaign to research Common Chiffchaff
Phylloscopus collybita calls. So I had one ear on this topic in spring.
Furthermore I wanted to record some Sub– and Plastic Songs.
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NOISE, NOISE AND NOISE
March 2009
A flock of around 40 Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris, some aeroplanes and
the autobahn…
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FEBRUARY RECORDINGS
February 2009
It´s February, the first songbirds are singing in the first warm shafts of sunlight.
After a few of month recording with hard conditions a friendlier time is about to
begin.
To my surprise yesterday a flock of Common Starlings Sturnus vulgaris was sitting
in a apple tree and chatting. One of them gave a short lesson in what a Starling
can achieve.
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GREIFSWALDER OIE - II
January 2009
During my second trip to the isle Greifswalder Oie in December 2008 I found
a complete new situation there. No migrating birds; on the whole isle where
only a few songbirds. A pair of Ravens Corvus corax did their display flights,
a straying flock of Hooded Crows Corvus cornix, and five or six clicking
Water Rails Rallus aquaticus. But on the costline and at the water where a lot
of seabirds.
Through the years a Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo sleeping place
has established in the isles small wood..
It´s wonderfull to hear and see a flock of them, sitting down and clamouring
through the trees. There´s no stupid hunter or fisherman who attacks the birds …
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