Calendar Week 04/99 (24th-30th
Jan)
News from the GermanBirdNet
Hunting of Magpies and Crows
legally permitted in province of Rheinland-Pfalz between August and March
Farmers seek hunting of wild geese and swans because of damage to winter crops
(although they are often compensated!)
Flock of up to 30 Barnacle Geese mid-Jan,
2 birds at present, on Swiss side of Lake Constance. The latter are unringed
and believed not to be escapes. Not on list of many Swiss birders!
1 Grey Wagtail in Niedersachsen. Between 1955-1988 there have only been 5 winter
records of Grey Wagtail for N. Germany
2 Lesser Flamingos Leybucht, Niedersachsen
The Robin (day & night), Wren,
Blue and Great Tit, Greenfinch and Short-toed Treecreeper of central Germany
are in full song.
A Yellowhammer celebrated his
nomination to German Bird of the Year 1999 by singing loudly on a clear sunny
day with a temperature of 0°C! This is v. early. Earliest records for the area
are mid-Feb.
Siskins No shortage here. German
“Ornis” want to know how many Siskins you can get on one tree. A recent
observation (16th Jan) was made of 250 Erlenzeisige - Alder Siskins in a single Alder in
Schleswig Holstein, N. Germany! They flew away regularly but, despite splitting
up occasionally into smaller groups, came back to concentrate on thoroughly
“reaping” the original tree. This is the largest by far single group of Siskins
reported in the GBN. What is the record? Come on lads and lasses - lets show
what British Siskins are capable of.
Dippers Where do the Scandinavian
Dippers C.c.cinclus go? One has wintered
with us in N. Germany. How far south do they go and do they overlap with ”our”
C.C.aquaticus? Or do the latter move further south? Can we expect to see the
eastern race C.c.orientalis in winter?
A record of overlap has been made in Poland where a Swiss (ringed) Dipper
brought
up a brood with a Scandinavian
(ringed) bird. More on this subject available from Moewe@aol.com
Tips and Literature for Elba to Elmar.Witting@t-online.de
New website about dragonflies www.uni-ulm.de/~s_jmuell
(*s* = singing)
Black-throated, Great Northern,
White-billed Diver; Little, Great Crested, Red-necked Grebe; Grey Heron; Lesser
Flamingo (!); Mute, Bewick’s, Whooper Swan; Pink-footed, Greylag, Barnacle,
White-fronted Goose; Shelduck, Wigeon, Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Pintail,
Pochard, Tufted Duck, Eider, Goldeneye, Velvet Scoter; Smew, Red-breasted
Merganser; Goosander; White-tailed Eagle; Hen Harrier; Buzzard, Rough-legged
Buzzard; Kestrel; Peregrine Falcon; Coot; Oystercatcher; Golden Plover;
Lapwing; Redshank, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper; Curlew; Snipe; Black-headed,
Glaucous, Common, Yellow-legged, Herring, Greater black-backed Gull;
Kingfisher; Skylark, Shore Lark; Meadow, Rock Pipit; Grey Wagtail(!); Dipper;
Wren s; Robin s; Black Redstart; Fieldfare; Chiffchaff s;
Great s, Blue s, Long-tailed Tit (flocks); Short-toed Treecreeper
s; Great Grey Shrike; Hooded, Carrion Crow; Jackdaw; Raven; Siskin;
Twite; Greenfinch s; Goldfinch; Yellowhammer
Main Highlights 1998 for the
Ludwigsburg Area of Baden-Wuerttemburg (North of Stuttgart) (highly populated
and relatively little wetland) Great White Egret, Night Heron, Purple Heron,
Garganey (Jan!), Scaup, Velvet Scoter, Montagu’s Harrier, Booted Eagle, Eagle
Owl (bred with 2 juv.), Spotted Crake, Turtle Dove (end Oct. v. late - poss.
Rufuous TD), Black Redstart (wintering), Tawny Pipit (many - one flock of 22), Ortolan
Bunting, Bonelli’s Warbler (Jun), Flock of 575 roosting Starlings (largest
winter flock recorded in area)