News · 17. Mai 2015
Meanwhile also interesting species like Golden Oriole, Marsh Warbler and River Warbler have arrived and since the most of them are mostly found in the Riparian Forest, I thought a visit to the Porznersee should be profitable. Like a month ago the lake wasn´t very interesting, though a calling Little Ringed Plover attracted immediately my attention. In the bushes around the lake many Willow Warblers and also few Marsh Warblers were singing. Furthermore all four Sylvia-Warblers could be spotted!...
News · 15. Mai 2015
Normally I´m writing of sightings of the local area, but today I had the possibility to report something from a more distant site. The Ortolan Bunting is truly remarkable amongst the Buntings, not only because it is rather demanding in choosing the habitat, but also its melancholic song sounds very different to all the other Buntings of Central Europe. The most interesting fact about the Ortolan Buntings in Franconia is, that it is isolated from its main distribution and is singing in an own...
News · 11. Mai 2015
At first on May 1st I could record the weird song of a curious leaf warbler at Gaustadt. I first thought of a mixed singer (Willow Warbler and Common Chiffchaff), though the discussion on xeno-canto.org and the comments, which had been sent to me, made clear, that my identification was wrong. Five days later I visited the site once again and the mysterious leaf warbler was singing too. Furthermore I was able to take pictures, which clearly showed a Willow Warbler. After having contacted even...
News · 05. Mai 2015
First destination was the "Hochreinsee" near Knetzgau. The sky however has already been covered by many clouds and it seemed at first, that I would not have to wait too long for the first falling waterdrops. The lake was too not very promising, the only highlights were a Yellow-legged Gull and a pair of Gadwalls. So I turned my attention to the "Großer Wörth", which is located a few kilometers downstream. As I left the car, the songs of several Great Reed Warblers and Common Nightingales...
News · 01. Mai 2015
Since an Ortolan Bunting had been reported at Rothof (just 2 km from Bischberg), I wanted to search for it. On my way I found Wrynecks, Common Whitethroats and Common Nightingales, but no Ortolan Bunting. So I used the time for examining the birdlife of the nearby former landfill at Gaustadt. Now it has become a grassy hill with many bushes on it, an almost perfect site for Common Whitethroats. There I also detected a weird bird singing, most likely a leaf warbler. Immediately the song reminded...