300 Free Birds Countdown

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Dublin birds

102. Brant (or Brent) Goose

Small goose that winters in beaches, sheltered bays, salt marshes and rocky coasts.

101. Great Shag (or Shag)

A great diver! Breeds on rocky coasts of west and south Europe, southwest Asia and North Africa.

Its scientific name Phalacrocorax aristotelis comes from 'phalacros' and 'corax', which mean 'bold' 'raven' in greek. Name aristotelis is given to commemorate the greek philosopher.

A Great Black Cormorant for comparison. Also, an older one here.

100. Rook

Belongs to Corvus, the same family that Crows and Ravens belong to. It is a very sociable and intelligent bird.

99. Pied Wagtail

It is maybe more accurate to be counted as a subspecies of the White Wagtail (no69). Pied Wagtail is White Wagtail's darker relative that breeds in Ireland and the UK. In the winter it migrates south. It is very playful and constantly wags its tail thats why its modern greek name (Λευκοσουσουράδα/Σουσουράδα) is synonym to a "playful girl".

Also, spotted again:

European Robin

The widely distributed across Eurasia Hooded Crow and first bird in my countdown list. Locally it is known as Scotch Crow, Danish Crow, Mist Crow (in Germany) and in Ireland it is called caróg liath or grey crow.

It is different from place to place. The ones spotted in Moscow were huge, while the ones in Greece and Egypt are smaller and brighter/whiter.

Mute Swans with amazingly thick necks!

Juvenile Black-headed gull (notice that they do not show a full black hood yet)

And baby Herring gulls !

Hoyo de Manzanares

Birds spotted recently in Hoyo de Manzanares in Madrid with their spanish names :-)

98. Iberian (Azure-winged) Magpie (or Rabilargo)

The Azure-winged Magpie is a very interesting bird type that can be found in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) and on the East Asian seaboard with no occurrences in the rest of the world. Recent studies have shown that the Iberian Azure-winged Magpie is not related to the Azure-winged Magpie!

97. European Robin (Pettirojo Europeo)

First time spotted! Compare here to the American Robin.

96. White Stork (Cigueña Blanca)

Fun fact about storks is that although they do not necessarily pair for life they are monogamous and loyal and tend to return to the same nests and partners.

95. Eurasian Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común)

Non-migratory, easily recognisable, peculiar tit that is famous for clinging to the outer branches of trees and hanging upside down in search for food! Great rival of the Common Tit and very adaptable when it comes to accommodation!

94. Thekla's Lark (Conjugada Montesina)

Famous zoologist Alfred Brehm gave this bird the name of his deceased sister Thekla. The greek name Thekla comes from the ancient greek name Theokleia which means God's honor.

This beautiful bird breeds in all sub-Sahara across north Africa from Senegal to Somalia and in the Iberian Peninsula. It is a sedentary species.

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Casa de Campo

Started birding in Spain! First observations in Casa de Campo, Madrid.

Apparently, Monk Parakeet is an invasive species from South America, that causes a problem to pigeons and sparrows, in the area, and less to magpies. For now, they all co-inhabit the area :) .

93. Monk Parakeet (Quaker Parrot)

92. Common Wood Pigeon

Also, Eurasian Magpie

Winter frost

February 2019

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Heraklion region in the spring

91. Indian Peafowl (or Blue Peafowl)

The male is called a peacock and this particular is a male.

Seen at the Palace of Knossos in Heraklion. It has lived there for a really long time.

As you can see, the Prince of Lilies in this painting at the Palace is wearing the peacock's predecessors' feathers on his head.

The "Blue Birds of Knossos" is also believed to be a painting of peacocks that dates back to the 1500BC.

90. Eurasian Collared Dove

Very common doves all around Greece. Their scientific name (Streptopelia decaocto) is said to come from their very distictive call which sounds like "deca-octo" which is the number 18 in latin. There is also a greek myth behind their name.