Doesn’t sound like a typical activity, does it? Yesterday I actually tried. What drove me to do that? The sun was shining, I wanted to use the macro lens and I think I even dreamed of a hoverfly – very motivating. Whatever – armed with an umbrella, I visited the airfield in Freiburg. I shook a few branches with little success. From a blackberry I shook a nursery web spider (Pisaura mirabilis).
Nursery web spider – Pisaura mirabilis – Listspinne, Germany (Freiburg)
When I shook the branch of a mountain pine (Pinus mugo mugo), an unknown bug from the Pentatomidae group fell into the umbrella. After some photos I put it back into the tree. What a surprise when I tried to identify it at home: It seemed to be Holcogaster fibulatus. In Germany, this species has been detected only once before (in Nordrhein-Westfalen; Hamers, 2018).
Holcogaster fibulata, Germany (Freiburg), December 2019. 2nd record for Germany
Typically, it occurs further south but it is said to be nowhere common (Sauer, 1996). Due to the global warming, more and more species from the Mediterranean are reaching Germany. And Freiburg is located close to the Belfort Gap, through which various southern species have reached Germany in recent years. Nevertheless, it remains a surprise and it is a pleasant result for an hour of nature observation on the outskirts of the city.
Holcogaster fibulata, Germany (Freiburg), December 2019. 2nd record for GermanyHolcogaster fibulata in a Mountain Pine (Pinus mugo mugo), Germany (Freiburg), December 2019. 2nd record for Germany
Literature:
Hamers, B. (2018): Nachweis von Holcogaster fibulata (GERMAR, 1831) in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Heteropteron 51:14-15.
Sauer, F. (1996) Wanzen und Zikaden, Fauna-Verlag, Karlsfeld
About one and a half years ago I thought about how I could photograph a Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula). This duck species is spread over the whole northern hemisphere, in Germany it only breeds in the north. But it also spends the winter in southern Germany. The males are coloured black and white, the females brown and grey – despite this lack of colour it is a very beautiful bird species. Two years ago I had the chance to photograph a female in Leipzig – but never a male.
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula clangula), Leipzig, Germany, adult female
Last winter I spent some time with a friend, M. Kamps, in northeast Germany – among other things we were hoping for beautiful observations of goldeneyes. In an industrial harbour I finally had a satisfying encounter.
Goldeneyes perform an extraordinary courtship display. The male swims towards the female – suddenly he leans his head wide on his back, holds it there for a moment and then several things happen at the same time: It throws its rear body up while it bends its tail down, pushes its feet quickly under the body till they are put into the air. The water splashes around, so that the male is framed by a ring of water. It finally gives a strange grunt. Then it turns its head with its beak open directly into the sky before returning to its typical swimming position. I hadn’t even dared to hope to photograph this behavior. But shortly after my return from northeast Germany, a Goldeneye male happened to doe the courtship display right in front of me. Here I show you some single pictures from a series of this behaviour:
The male swims towards the female
suddenly he leans his head wide on his back, holds it there for a moment
then several things happen at the same time: It throws its rear body up while it bends its tail down, pushes its feet quickly under the body till they are put into the air. The water splashes around, so that the male is framed by a ring of water
It finally gives a strange grunt.
Then it turns its head with its beak open directly into the sky
and returns to its typical swimming position.
Here another photo of the series showing the ring of water:
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula clangula), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, adult male, courthship display. Here you can see the ring of water which frames the male.
As you can see, the male does several things in sync, but this is understandably not so easy – not even for a goldeneye. Look at the following photo of a young male – while in the adult bird both feet are almost perfectly synchronized, in this young male the feet have completely different positions and the toes are not even spread. Water droplets fly through the air in a wild mess, but do not form a ring. So males are likely to have to practice this courtship behavior and females may be able to judge the male quality from their performance at the courtship display.
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula clangula), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, young male, failed courtship display.
Hopefully, you enjoyed this series of photos.
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula clangula), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, adult male, taking off
After some very hot days here in February, we have to ask: is this winter already over? It would be a pity!
Here some photos from Switerland I took few weeks ago.
White-winged SnowfinchAdult LammergeierRed-billed ChoughAdult Lammergeier patroulling the mountain slopesAlpine Choughs in the snowAdult Lammergeier in front of the MatterhornLammergeier in its 6th calendar year
This spring, two friends and I visited one of the most remote Central Asian countries: Tajikistan. A country with breathtaking landscape, full of nice people and amazing animals. Life in this country with swamps, deserts and extremely high elevation areas is not easy. I will certainly tell and show more about this trip at some point. Here is already a first insight.
Another short trip – this time to France. I met a friend and college, Julien R., to record and discuss Crossbills. We visited different places in the French Alps. The days started long before sunrise and we hiked through the mountains during the early morning. Here are some impressions:
Moon in the forestVercors, French AlpsSunset in the Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesJulien recording crossbills in the forest
As we hoped, we found very interesting crossbills. When I show you the photos, they look like every other Red Crossbill. You need to hear the voice of these birds to be able to recognize them. As this is the topic of my PhD, it was really fascinating to meet some of these special birds of the southern Alps, which I heard on my computer many times but not in reality.
Male Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)Female Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)
Now some more photos from the trip:
Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium passerinum)Opening in the forest, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, FranceOpening in the forest, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, FranceAlpine meadows changing colour in autumn, National Park Vanoise, French AlpsErosion ditches in the slope, National Park Vanoise, French AlpsThe last sunray in the valley, French Alps
Spring is arriving and I spent some time out there, with nice encounters. Here I share some from southwestern Germany.
Red Kite (Milvus milvus) perchedA young Red Kite (Milvus milvus) in its 2nd calendar year (born in 2017). It came close as there was a dead hare in the field.A nice encounter with a Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis), singing between budsTherefore, I had the chance to photograph it also in the soft evening light.Sunrise in the Black ForestMy favourite shot of the encounterTree Pipit (Anthus trivialis) within braids in the mountains
It’s done: all biIt’s done: all bird species of the Western Palearctic that I photographed until December 2016 are in the online archive. Finally I added photos of one of my favourite groups – the Grouses. All birds of this group are hard to find and hard to observe – so every encounter is an adventure.
Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix ssp. tetrix) adult female well hiding behind a trunk. Ural Mountains, Russia, 16.06.2016
I have spent many hours finding them, watching them, approaching them without disturbing them and finally photographing them. Some of them live in the densest thicket like the hazel grouse and it is easy to understand that they are hardly observable.
Hazel Grouse (Bonasa bonasia ssp. volgensis), motionless hiding in a tree. Bialowieza, Poland, adult male
Other species of the family are found in the open like the Ptarmigan. However, they live in the high montane regions and, thanks to their camouflage, it takes a long time to discover them in winter.
Few weeks ago, I returned from a trip to the Baikal area in southeastern Russia. Together with Malte B. we were looking for different kind of animals and pristine landscape. It was a sucessful trip and I will surely show you further photos soon
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Right afterwards, I accompanied an excursion of the University to the Ticino area in southern Switzerland. We visited a valley with still quite pristine landscape. We came just right for the flowering of Alpine Roses. Here you see three photos of the amazing colourful meadows:
The different flowers in combination with many different insects and birds have been a real highlight!
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) in the flowersMale Lasiocampa quercus (Eichenspinner)
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