As mentioned before I was visiting Öland last weekend. It was my first trip to the irland in order to be birdwatching. So, for me, it was exciting. Badly enough it was mostly cold, raining and a lot of mist. Never the less, my fellow birders said that they never seen such wide variety of species. Even though the numbers of birds was much less. This morning I finished the count for my own photography.
Those 4 days, thursday to sunday, I managed to get 42 spieces "om film". Mostly bad but still. Fog and distance is not a good combination for photography. Out of those species 25 was new to me so I will have a lot to do putting them all into the blog. :)
There is a fenomenon in Sweden, called "Larm" and "Drag". It means that people, that spot a rare bird, send out an alert on the bird. Telling others where to find it. Sometimes also watching it until more peopel arrives. That is "drag", when you respond to the alert and go to try to see the bird yourself. This was new to me, and I can understand why it is a popular thing to do. But sometimes I felt sorry for the bird.
One fun event occured though. On Öland there are a lot of cattle keeping the land from too much bushes. And now there was an alert for one bird, Citrine wagtail (citronärla) was found. One male was at the coast. A lot of people went there, walking a mile in fenced area that was wery wet. Carrying all equipment such as spotting scope and cameras. (thats me :) ) The bird was jumping up ans down on some rocks close to the water. All people rounded it on a couple of meters range.
Now, calltle area curious beings. Especially young ones. We heard the noise coming from behind us. The cattle was coming. They ran o teh side of the line. Roudned us and came in between the bird and the birders. I started to laugh, it was so fun. But the bird did not seem to mind. I tried to take photos on it behind the legs of the cattle. You don´t have more fun then you make of it yourself. Right! But I know some people was scared. And they started to move away. My company too. But as I started to pack I noticed one other bird on the ground in front of the birders. Common Ringed Plower (Större strandpipare) who ran front and back. It lookes as it was trying to scare off the cattle. And perhaps the people too. It probaly had a nest nearby. Such a great and brave soul. :)
click to enlarge
curious young cattle on the way
citronärla - Motacilla citreola - Citrine wagtail
The bird causing all the fuss :)
Labels: NatureFootstep, foto, photography, natur, nature, fotoutmaning, photo challenge, photo meme, Bird Photography Weekly, BPW, fåglar, birds, fågelskådning, birding, swedish, svenska, fågelfoto, Citronärla, Motacilla citreola, Citrine wagtail
bird behind cowleg
The bird causing all the fuss :)
Ha. ha, det var ju en riktigt rolig och ovanlig situation. Du fick ju ett kort på fågeln i alla fall. Måste ha varit värt regnrusket.
ReplyDeleteBoskapen ser ju ut som ungdjur och de brukar ju vara extra nyfikna, det har jag märkt på min föra arbetsplats, där vi hade ungdjur utanför kontorshuset.
trodde väl du skulle gilla det. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat shots!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a cool birding experience. Great sighting and congrats!
ReplyDeleteFabulous experience.. love the cows and wagtail in the mist.
ReplyDeleteI like your description of the curious cattle coming to watch the bird watchers. You certainly got a good number of birds for the few days you were there. I always take lots of photos of new birds because every time it moves I can see something different and then use the photos later to learn to recognize the bird.
ReplyDeleteglad you liked it, I too, do like you. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope someday I can go on a birding expedition with others who love to photograph them. It must be so much fun to learn from those who have such experience. Me .. I learn from the blogs! :)
ReplyDeleteFunny, now that you mention it, I have had curious cows come up to me while birding too!
ReplyDeleteJa sånt är livet på Öland för oss fågelskådare. Fullt av kossor och antingen stilla och lugnt med dimma eler klart men vindar så stativet står och darrar.Men härligt är det!
ReplyDeleteKerstin
Funny story! Also nice that you were able to take the picture of the Citrine Wagtail.
ReplyDeletethanks for visiting :)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had quite the experience out there NF. Congrats on seeing the Citrine Wagtail and getting a photo too! I'm sure it was amusing watching the birders scatter from the cattle ;-)
ReplyDeleteSure, it was quite fun. :)
ReplyDeleteBirding in the mist, quite a challenge :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the first cow photo. It's really beautiful.