Otis tarda

No: Stortrappe, En: Great bustard, It: Otarda

Dear All,

I spent St. Valentines day 2015 alone in Extremadura, Spain watching the mating lek of the
Great Bustard! (How romantic …). All together there were more than 30 birds in the field. This is a very big bird. The male weighs up to 16 kg, wingspan up to 240cm. It can fly, see bottom picture. The great bustard is almost extinct in all of Europe, except Spain. In Norway it has only been seen once, in 1761, described in a letter from Bishop Gunnerus to Carl von Linné.

The males utter the most amazing sound during the mating game. Hear it in BBC Tweet of the Day.

If you want to visit Extremadura, I highly recommend Casa Rural el Recuerdo.

Hasta el próximo mes,

Hans.

 

Somateria spectabilis

No: Praktærfugl, En: King eider, It: Re degli eredoni

Dear All,

New year! We have enjoyed a KING EIDER - PRAKTÆRFUGL here in Hordaland this month. On January 7, instead of going to work, I drove up to Salhus north of Bergen to ‘get it’.

It is a remarkable sight to watch a flock of more than 700 Eiders (Ærfugl) diving for mussels. And among these one a single KING EIDER! King eiders are inhabitants of the far north (Finnmark, Spitsbergen, Siberia). Occasionally they appear on our latitudes. Last time in Hordaland was in 2009. They are also seen near Jomfruland (Bamble, Telemark) perhaps once every 5-6 years or so. And, on the coast of Scotland one or two are seen every year, so keep eyes open in Morar!

This bird is a male, about 3 years old. When they grow older they develop a characteristic ‘blub’ on the beak. (“Conspicuous head”). On this bird it is barely visible, so older birds are perhaps even more impressive. Still, I choose this as  the first bird of 2015. 

Best regards,

Hans

Added January 2016:
It is back again this winter! Some pictures below.

Salhus, Jan. 2015

Nygårdsviken, Gravdal, January 2016 

Nygårdsviken, Gravdal, January 2016

Nygårdsviken, Gravdal, January 2016

Ramphastos toco

No: Tocotukan, En: Toco toucan, It: Toco toucan

Dear All,

Uruguay and Argentina have been fantastic. We had many candidates for BotM-December. Today we went for our second day in the rainforest around Iguazu falls. We didn't have much hope of seeing the Toucan, since it is not easily seen, and we have been here for two days without any sign of it. Then, on christmas eve, last evening here, not long before sunset they appeared in front of us for a few minutes, not one but two Tucans! So this is the obvious choice. The Tucan looks unreal! It is really beautiful when it flies.

Thanks for help Paola! I dedicate these photos to Aurora, she is so fond of this bird.

A nice christmas for everyone!

-Hans

 

Sitta europaea

No: Spettmeis, Eng: Nuthatch, Sci: Sitta europaea, It: Picchio muratore

Dear All,

Enjoy the Nuthatch (Spettmeis), one of the cutest among the common garden birds.

Next month: Hopefully something exotic from South America. We go to Uruguay for conference + christmas holiday on Dec. 9.

To those I don’t see before we return: Merry Christmas!

-Hans