Birdie Friends
CLZ
February '21
Our birdie friends are highly active these cold, snowy days - hopping and swooping all over. Lots of 'first sightings' here in CLZ from the living room looking out onto our small garden terrace area. There are two feed houses (of course selber gebaut) on the front side: one in front of the living room and the other outside Mutter's windows.
I saw a Kleiber for the first time, subtlely glorious in its Bucknell colors: it visits our Vogelfutterhaus and climbs along the Douglasie sometimes pecking; opening seeds perhaps.
Also for the first time, I saw an Erlenzeisig - sweet little yellow puff. Initially it was too quick to properly identify, but then it came back to the Futterhaus and sat there looking at us as if intentionally allowing time to analyze and identify, so sweet.
The Tannenmeise are everywhere! They and the Kohlmeise are our most frequent guests. Also from the Meise family, but not as numerous as their cousins, are Blaumeise and the chic Sumpfmeise with its black friseur.
The Buchfink here are bigger than the ones I always see in Leiten with a big red belly.
Elster are stalking around the roof across the street, but fortunately not active in our immediate terrace vicinity.
We haven't seen any, but there are Specht boring holes in the dead tree out back.
New birdie alert! I have twice spotted our chic Gimpel couple, the male with its striking orange belly 😍
NABU says Fitise fly south for the winter and can therefore be observed here in Deutschland from March to October. I thought I saw one hopping around in the bushes behind the Christmas tree and visiting the Futterhaus. Based on the season, however, it must have been a sweet little Zilpzalp.
Sitting outside on the terrace during our rest day from skiing, we had a perfect view of the Gartenbaumläufer walking up the Douglasie.
I caught a glimpse of orange and initially thought of my Kleiber and Gimpel friends, then upon further inspection realized its a Bergfink because of its bright orange 'beard' and white underbelly.
Braunkehlchen are highly endangered and usually/used to spend the winter months in Africa. However, it was picking at the ground next to the Futterhaus (since the feed house fell the day before during our windy winter storm) and comparing what I saw with the birdie portraits on NABU, I thought it could be a Braunkehlchen, but it's more likely a Bergfink. NABU also says you rarely see Braunkehlchen (just like their spastic cousins Rotkehlchen) calmly sitting and the birdie in question was definitely chilling a few minutes long munching on feed.
2020
The first nest we noticed this spring was an Amsel nest above T3. They quickly adjusted to us being there once in a while and calmly went about thier nest-building and feeding. We even witnessed the first flight of one of the chics, although it's better described as a frantic fluttering to the ground.
Once the Amsels left the nest, a Star family moved into the nestbox nearby. Christian intended/built it following directions for a Singdrossel. Even though the Singdrossel didn't move in, I still spotted them a few times from T3. The Star is quite a spastic bird that left so much crap all over the terrace and especially under its nest. We'll have to find a new location for them next year.
The Kohlmeisen & Blaumeisen are always fluttering about. It's especially nice to see the Blaumeisen since earlier this spring, many suffered from a bacterial infection. In the old nest that was originally attached to the old shed above the door, a Blaumeisen family nested. We had to move their nest before the chics moved out because the old shed came down, but Christian did it carefully, quietly, and moved it just across the way to the house above the Hennustahl. The parents quickly found thier nest again and didn't seem to be at all bother by the change in address.
While sitting near the new shed one afternoon, I think I spotted a Zilpzalp as it briefly rested on the Eiche.
After the blackbirds and the Meisen, I would say the Buchfink is our third most frequent guest. It's often hopping around Dawn Wall and on the ground below the feeder. I often see it higher up in the trees above T2,5.
On a rainy June day, I first spotted a large Mittelspecht as it picked around the umbrella for a minute or two. Easily identifiable as a Mittelspecht because of its flashy, red mohawk. The Buntspecht also comes around - distinguisable with its black head and bright red path near its underbelly. We see the Spechte ~every week; so far only definitively identified the aforementioned two.
On the same rainy June day, I finally saw our little Rotkehlchen again - glanced over at exactly the right moment before it flew away.
We hear the Kuckuck ~daily. Early one morning, a cuckoo must have been right outside our bedroom windown because it woke us both up!
I think I've seen Haussperlingweibchen hopping around under the Dawn Wall feeder and we've definitely seen them flying and heard them singing, particularly around the Harzriegel on T2,5.