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Discover Latest #spring News, Articles and Videos with Contenting

- NaturalNews.com (spring) Learn about spring and stay up to date with the latest spring news from the top news sites and blogs. NaturalNews.com constantly updates its news feed with in-depth coverage of spring from hundreds of high-authority publishers. See below for the latest spring news. Spring 2021-04-21 20:00:00 NaturalNews.com: Watch this amazing video of a golden eagle taking flight in the spring... Spring 2021-04-20 20:00:00 NaturalNews.com: Spring is in full swing: See how the earth is awakening... Spring 2021-04-19 20:00:00 NaturalNews.com: Spring blooms are here: Enjoy these stunning photos of nature... Spring 2021-04-18 20:00:00 NaturalNews.com: Spring cleaning: 4 tips for organizing your home for the season... Spring 2021-04-17 20:00:00 NaturalNews.com: Everything you need to know about spring allergies...

10,000 Birds

14.07.2024

An Unexpected Twitch - 10,000 Birds

“Bit of a twitcher, are ye?” That’s what my high school biology teacher asked, a grin on his face, when he found out I was a birder. Another teacher in that school had skipped his university exams to twitch a Steller’s Eider in England back when he was a student. I’ve twitched a rarity here and there but very few actual vagrants, so I felt like I didn’t quite qualify and gave the somewhat disappointing answer of “well, kind of but not really”. That was several years before I volunteered on the birding hotspot of Heligoland where pretty much every other bird you see is twitched, although I’m not sure if walking five minutes to the other end of the island to see a Red-throated Pipit counts as twitching. I’ve also had a few of those satisfying yet frustrating moments most birders have probably had: finding a rarity, only to find out later that it has been recorded by others previously. What lingers is that restless feeling that while you did find something good, it’s not like you’re the first person to have done so. Plus it feels as if you twitched it even if you didn’t. The most memorable of those moments for me was when I saw a Daurian Starling in an urban park when I lived in Sri Lanka (see my personal blog), a rare vagrant on the island which, as I found out the following day, had been seen by others for a few days already. If a post has such an absurdly horrific cover photo as this one, it better be a good bird, I hear you think. I recently heard of a European Scops-Owl in Bonn, but did not bother too much. I knew I would be in southern France in the summer, and chances weren’t bad to see the species there. I usually prefer to see the birds in the natural extent of their range anyways. Then, a friend sent me the exact details of the location and I thought I might as well give it a try. It’s not the first time this species has is recorded in the region but it’s certainly a vagrant as its normal distribution is in southern Europe. The bird was calling in a suburban neighborhood for several weeks, and a while after my arrival in the area I also heard its characteristic hooting call from some trees. Eventually I also obtained brief views of the owl as it called from a hole at the top of a tall building (hence the absurdly horrific cover photo of this post). This was the second time I’ve twitched a bird in Bonn (first being a Wallcreeper earlier this year) and I quite enjoyed that it was a small change to the normal birding outings. A lady living in the building where the owl was calling from was curious about the bird but told me that many other residents were becoming increasingly annoyed at the non-stop hooting every night (and for a while also did not know what it was). I would’ve liked to see their bemused faces on the first days when several twitchers arrived with their heavy optics, looking up towards the building. I continue to enjoy the common resident birds just as much. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Maybe not just as much, but major advantage is that you can actually get proper views of them. If the owl would find a partner (which is probably a remote possibility at best), it would have quite some competition with the Ring-necked Parakeets that are now actively collecting food for their offspring. I noticed that these birds look quite different from the representatives of the species in Sri Lanka – seems like the ones from captivity show quite some plumage variation. Ring-necked Parakeet Ring-necked Parakeet Staying with the hole-breeding theme, the chicks of the ever-present Eurasian Nuthatches and Great Tits had left their nests by now. The parents, who earlier had been trying to meet their offsprings seemingly limitless food requirements, now seemed (understandably) stressed out about them being snatched by some feral cat. It seemed that the Great Tits in particular where quite successful however, with noisy families of this species being encountered seemingly every 50 meters in my local park. Eurasian Nuthatch Great Tit While I was initially not too enthusiastic about twitching the Eurasian Scops-Owl, I’m very happy I did. It was not a lot of effort to get to the site and it was a good distraction from the usual birds around – even when I say that I enjoy watching them, there’s nothing like a rarity to spice up things a little bit in the neighbourhood birding department. Plus, now I’m under no pressure to find the species in southern France during the holidays.

10,000 Birds

15.07.2024

When the sun beats down with anger - 10,000 Birds

The outside temperature in the shade reads 47 degrees Celsius and I’m about to enter a hide to photograph birds. At times like these, I question my sanity. But I keep coming back for more. It was only two weeks ago that I was on a bleak moor on Shetland and now I wish that I had the cool temperatures, the cloud and the rain that I had moaned about then. This is central Spain instead, and I am well into the worst time of year for birds. For three months, often more, temperatures here are in the forties Celsius and there is no rain. The ground is parched, the plants are yellow and dry and many birds are clearing out. Many of the Black Kites now heading south are juveniles. The clean plumage and scaly pattern on the back are diagnostic Already in the Strait of Gibraltar, to the south, the Black Kites Milvus migrans, are leaving south for Africa. These are the Iberian populations. They were the first to arrive, in February and early March, so as to make the most of the mild temperatures and the food supply which becomes available with the rains. They time breeding so that the chicks are fledged before the height of the dry season. Now, they head for south of the Sahara to catch the rains in the Sahel. Black Kites, and many other Iberian birds, spend their lives tracking the rains on either side of the Sahara Desert. This makes the idea of spring-summer-autumn-winter redundant. Instead, much of central and southern Iberia experiences an intense hot and dry season, from June to September, and a wet season. The onset of the rains is highly variable. Where I live, in Gibraltar, it may start some time in September but some years it may be after Christmas. The pattern in the past few years has been for the rains to arrive late. Adult Black Kites have just finished breeding and their plumage is abraded Many Black Kites are in moult while on migration. Note the new tail feathers sprouting in this individual giving the effect of a “double tail” Time to go. Black Kites heading south for Africa What do birds do during the dry summer? Many, like the Black Kites, migrate. They simply leave the area altogether. Other species are tied down. Poor flyers, such as Red-legged Partridges Alectoris rufa, simply hold out as best they can. Many will die during this worst time of the year. Drying river beds and other ephemeral water bodies are the only sources of relief. That is why I’m in a hide, close to a small water body. It may be unbearably hot and uncomfortable but it gives me an opportunity to photograph birds in these difficult circumstances. Time to learn fast. Red-legged Partridge brings her newly-born young to water Slightly older juvenile Red-legged Partridges are quick to learn. Photograph courtesy Stewart Finlayson Juvenile Goldfinches Carduelis carduelis coming down to drink Many species need to drink. Here is a Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius enjoying a good soak Juvenile Crested Lark Galerida cristata panting to cool down. Photo courtesy Stewart Finlayson Magpie Pica pica trying to keep cool. Photo courtesy Geraldine Finlayson Juvenile Crested Lark spreading itself out to lose heat. Photo courtesy Stewart Finlayson I often read claims of trans-Saharan migrants overwintering in Iberia. Most are mistakes by those who try to understand Iberia in the classic spring-summer-autumn-winter manner. The Victorian naturalist Abel Chapman, describing Doñana, called it a little piece of Africa in Europe. That could equally apply to much of the south of the peninsula. It has a wet and a dry season and the birds move accordingly. The White Storks Ciconia Ciconia, which are now leaving with the kites, start returning in October – it is their “spring”. The Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica are back in January – they’re not wintering birds, they are back for their “spring”. Great Spotted Cuckoos Clamator glandarius start coming back from October, having left in July and August. The return of birds to Iberia varies, depending on their food requirements. For the Woodchat Shrikes Lanius senator it is not until March and for the Roller Coracias garrulus it is April. But they all have one thing in common, come July it is time to leave. Roller. Among the birds heading south now Juvenile Woodchat Shrike also heading for Africa during this and next month

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