Every morning we awake to the sound of beautiful bird songs! It IS spring, and the migrants are making their way North, the storks are building their nests, and the crows are doing what crows always do. At first, we were excited to see the Eurasian Kestrel [one of which was captured and banded in Marin County in 2007--sending shock waves thru the birding community.] Now, we see them by the dozen. [they are still exciting to see!] They look identical to our American Kestrel, but much bigger.
In addition to the European Starling, we've seen the European Stork, the European Coot, the European Duck, the European Stilt, the European Thrush......and the ubiquitous House Sparrow!
Seriously, Norma is making notations and sketches in her notebook to check out the species when we get home. Lots of lifers. [that's a "First Time Sighting" of a species for a birder.]
PS--we've seen a few huge stork nests that are also home for nesting crows and sparrows! Three species in the same "nest"!!
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Hey Norma y Evan
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having an(other) adventure of a lifetime. With cool birds. Looking forward to your next destination. Take care!
Calvin
greatings from Calistoga and the April Fools Challenge. It is great reading about your adventure and seeing the miles grow.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, I have a book of Birds in Eastern Europe, that I havent had the chance to use.. so I think that now you can use it.. send pictures and I will send the names!!
ReplyDeletebesos y cuidate mucho amiga.. y a tu mareado tambiƩn!!
Yes, please, more about birds. With photos if possible. European Duck? That sounds a bit generic -- there are many species of duck in Europe, as there are in the USA. I am looking forward to your crossing into Poland, the country I know best. You will be passing through parts of Poland that once had huge Jewish communities (in some places over 50% of the population) and now have none, as in zero. I hope you will spare a moment to listen to that silence -- it is profound, and has scarred Poland deeply. The young people try to listen; the old people try to forget. There is a lot of shame, particularly among parts of the Catholic Church. At the same time, there is still a lot of anti-Jewish feeling, especially among the right wing politicians, who insist that Jews still run the country secretly. They do? What Jews? Poland's history, for the last couple of centuries at least, has been badly distorted by the need to misrepresent the facts for short-term political purposes. Now no one knows what really happened, or why. Very sad.
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