Northern Gannet (19)Morus bassanus IvanM Germany 📍 Map Date taken: Mar 21 2010 Details: adult There is only one island with seabird cliffs in the North Sea, and it is Helgoland. It is also a very good spot for migrants in the fall! Here you can get pretty close to the Gannets breeding there, already quite busy at the end of March! Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 3 Write comments
Eared Grebe (17)Podiceps nigricollis IvanM Switzerland 📍 Map Date taken: Apr 28 2010 Details: summer plummage Quite a distant shot but it shows a beautiful Eared Grebe in breeding plumage. You can see why in Europe it is called Black-necked Grebe, too! Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 7 Write comments
Great Crested Grebe (7)Podiceps cristatus IvanM Switzerland 📍 Map Date taken: Apr 28 2010 Details: adult, summer plummage In April, grebes are displaying and mating. That's when you can see their courtship dances and their most beautiful plumages! Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 13 Write comments
Ruddy Turnstone (38)Arenaria interpres IvanM Germany 📍 Map Date taken: Jan 26 2010 Details: adult, winter plummage Ruddy Turnstones become quite the city birds in winter! They are attracted to bird food such as seeds and so they can almost be hand-fed! Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 2 Write comments
Common Pochard (4)Aythya ferina IvanM Germany 📍 Map Date taken: Jan 26 2010 Details: male, adult During the winter, huge numbers of Common Pochards and Tufted Ducks gather on the central European lakes. Usually they stay further ashore, but this one decided to join the other ducks in getting food from the people in the park! Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 2 Write comments
Common Black-headed Gull (14)Larus ridibundus IvanM Germany 📍 Map Date taken: Jan 26 2010 Quite similar to the North American Bonaparte's Gulls, Black-headed Gulls are distinguished by the slightly larger size and the brighter red bill and legs. They are very often found in city parks were they get fed by people! Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 2 Write comments
Mute Swan (49)Cygnus olor IvanM Germany 📍 Map Date taken: Jan 26 2010 A Mute Swan resting on the ice during a quite cold winter in Northern Germany. There were just a few open spots in the water (mostly kept open by the warmth of the ducks swimming in them) and waterbirds concentrated there, mostly taking food from people, too. Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 4 Write comments
Whinchat (2)Saxicola rubetra IvanM Italy (Lazio) 📍 Map Date taken: May 8 2010 A whinchat positively refueling during its stopover on Ventotene island, a major migration hotspot in the spring. Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 5 Write comments
European Honey Buzzard (2)Pernis apivorus IvanM Italy (Lazio) 📍 Map Date taken: May 1 2010 Details: male A male (right, smaller) and a female (left, larger) Honey Buzzards on migration over Ventotene island in spring. Raptors try to avoid crossing large water bodies during their migration, but when the conditions are right they can manage that even on quite large distances (Med sea ~500 km). Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 9 Write comments
Yellow-legged Gull (3)Larus cachinnans IvanM Italy (Molise) 📍 Map Date taken: Jun 29 2010 Details: juvenile The colony of Yellow-legged Gulls on Tremiti islands is very numerous. When they first came to the island, seabirds such as shearwaters were breeding in crevices almost everywhere, but were completely replaced by the gulls, and were constrained to breed only in the vertical cliffs that the gulls don't like. Here is one recently fledged juvenile Yellow-legged Gull. A quite distinctive character for the species in this plumage is the black "mask" around the eye. Date uploaded: Jul 10 2014 Views: 8 Write comments
