Birding

July birding in Northern Germany

July 25, 2019 by Kai Pflug 3 Comments

About two times per year, I spend a few weeks in Northern Germany – Visselhövede, to be exact. This is not generally a very joyful occasion – daily visits to my mother, whose dementia is progressing, tend to be fairly depressing. Fortunately, there also birds here, and as I only started birding in China, I am not even that familiar with them.

In fact, some common birds here are quite attractive and/or cute. This includes of course the European Robin, the European Greenfinch, the Eurasian Wren and the Eurasian Nuthatch.

European Robin

European Greenfinch

Eurasian Wren

Eurasian Nuthatch

There are also several tits. At the place where I put my photo blind, Eurasian Blue Tit and Great Tit are very easy to observe.

Eurasian Blue Tit

Great Tit

Then there are raptors, birds that are quite rare in Shanghai but common here, so I am quite excited to get some good shots of them, particularly the Common Buzzard. A bit more exciting: a White-tailed Eagle at a Nature Reserve Area (Meissener Teiche/Bannetzer Moor).

Common Buzzard

White-tailed Eagle

Bigger birds around here include the White Storch and the Common Crane. Some of the latter have actually stopped migrating and live in Northern Germany all year round.

White Stork

Common Crane

Finally, there are woodpeckers – both the Great Spotted Woodpecker and the European Green Woodpecker.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

European Green Woodpecker

 

Sometimes I show some of my photos to my mother. She seems to enjoy them.

 

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 21 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well.He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.