vrijdag 31 december 2010

A happy new year

The last day of the year 2010 was spent near Bremen, in Germany. Here near Bremen it seems that all the birds have fled the snow, almost no special birds were seen here.
Today we had a short walk along a river called the Wümme. This river held 12 beautiful Goosanders (probably more) and furthermore a huge flock of ± 200 Redpolls together with 100 Siskins. We were able to have a good look at the group and most Redpolls could be identified as Mealy's. In addition, during this short walk I saw a nice but distant Rough-Legged Buzzard, probably a female or 1st winter bird. At the end of the walk, near our Fehrenwonung, we saw a rushing Merlin, a female bird. I am fascinated by the distinctive shape of these Merlins, very swift-like, with a short tail and rather pointed wings. I really like these tiny raptors.
Well this was my final post for this year. A wonderful year with plenty of good bird species. It was also a good ringing year with a lot of new birds handled!
I wish you all a happy and healthy newyear!

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