Listing Through Life

ciconia ciconia (stork)

Monday, April 22, 2019 — 9:59 am

Kittersburg, Germany — field along the L98 highway

This was one of the birds on my “boy I hope I see one of those in Europe” list. I knew my best chance would be the day we drove to Strasbourg, France. We were driving the L98 highway just a mile or so east of where it crosses the Rhine River and enters France. The region was fairly flat, with farm fields and wood lots — typical of river plains.

I saw a large white bird in a grassy field about 50 yards off the highway. I kept my eyes on it as we zoomed past. A biker approached on a path, and the bird flew up to land on top of a tree stump, maybe 15 feet off the ground. I could tell it was a stork by its white plumage, black wings, and orange beak and legs.

After we spent the morning in Strasbourg, we headed south into France to see a World War I battlefield. Our highway cut through more flat farmland, and I soon spotted more storks. One was soaring in lazy circles maybe 150 feet off the ground. All the others I saw were standing or feeding in dirt fields, sometimes alone and sometimes in groups of as many as four.

The photo and the video were both taken in France. They were shot out the window of a car that was going about 80 mph. Under the circumstances. I don’t think they’re bad.

anser anser (goose)

Sunday, April 21, 2019 — 6:15 pm

Boblingen, Germany — Oberer See

We had finished our circumperambulation of the pond in downtown Boblingen and were back where I had seen the Egyptian Geese an hour earlier. This time, the area was filled with several pairs of Graylag Geese and swarms of their downy young. I think in the video below I count 42 total geese. The area was also filled with people taking pictures and video of the geese. The adult geese were acting protective of their young, but were in no big hurry to escape. Graylag Geese can be told from other similar species by their large size and the combination of large orange bill and pink legs.

Graylag Geese are the ancestors of the large white farmyard geese. Historically, they bred in Northern Europe and wintered near the Mediterranean, but in recent times many have taken up a permanent residence throughout Europe, especially in city parks.

gallinula (little hen) chloropus (from khloros, green, and pous, foot)

Sunday, April 21, 2019 — 6:05 pm

Boblingen, Germany — Oberer See

We walked the path around the pond in the park in downtown Boblingen. At one end, there was a tiny islet made up of a pile of rocks with a few bushes growing on top. I spotted a smallish bird swimming under the bushes and soon found it standing in shallow water in the shade. I knew immediately that it was a moorhen because it looked almost exactly like the Common Gallinule of North America. Except that the Gallinule is a much warier bird, rarely swimming in open water and then only in openings in the middle of large marshes. I’ve certainly never seen one in a city park just a few yards from a steady stream of people.

The moorhen swam across a section of open water to the opposite bank of the pond, then jumped up on the shore path and picked at something on the ground.

I retraced my steps to get a closer photo, but by the time I got there, the bird was back in the water swimming away from where I was.

alopochen (from alopos fox-like, and khen goose)  aegyptiaca (Egyptian)

Sunday, April 21, 2019 — 5:05 pm

Boblingen, Germany — Oberer See

We took a tour of the town on Sunday afternoon. We ended up downtown in a pretty park surrounding two small man-made ponds, the Oberer (Upper) See (Lake) and the Unterer (Lower) See. The two were connected by a cement cascade.

As we approached the Oberer See, I saw two Egyptian Geese along the shore. It wasn’t a terribly exciting discovery. They were very tame and allowed close approach. Egyptian Geese have been introduced from Africa and now form a feral population all across Europe and even in some parts of the United States.

The geese paid very little attention to us.

North American Lifer #557

Friday, June 9, 2023 — 8:55 am

Benton County, AR — Charlie Craig State Fish Hatchery

There’s a resident population of Egyptian Geese that are spotted frequently around Rogers, Arkansas. I drove over in March to look for them but missed them on that visit. This time I was successful. There were five of them standing on the berm between hatchery ponds, near a flock of Canada Geese. As I approached, they walked down into the water and swam about in the middle of the pond.

They aren’t officially accepted here as a fully naturalized species, but eBird lists them as provisional, which means they are “breeding in the wild, self-propagating, and have persisted for multiple years but are not yet naturalized.” All that means that when Arkansas agrees that they have officially become a resident species, so will eBird. They show up on my official eBird totals, so I’m recording it here. (They aren’t native to Germany either but are considered naturalized there.) This is the first bird on my list that I saw first in Europe and then saw in North America.

dendrocopos (from dendron, tree, and kopos, striking) major (greater)

Sunday, April 21, 2019 — 10:57 am

Boblingen, Germany — hiking trails through the woods along the Panzerstrasse

The Great Spotted Woodpecker very much has the vibe of a Hairy Woodpecker. It’s about the same size and has the same sturdy bill. I spotted two of them in the woods along the trail, and four days later, when I went back to the same area, I spotted two more. My guess is that I saw the same pair both times. The key marks are the red on the lower belly, the large white shoulder patch, and the black line that extends from the base of the bill to the black stripe up the back of the neck. The one in the photo is a female — it lacks the small red patch on the nape.

I certainly wasn’t looking for butterflies, but this one was so cooperative that I took it’s photo and identified it later. It’s a European Peacock.