Birding

Birds of Visselhövede in Winter

December 26, 2019 by Kai Pflug 3 Comments

This sounds like an exciting topic for a blog post, right? Birds of a specific place with an unpronounceable name that you have never heard of? Well, this post is more specific than that – it is about the birds of Fliederweg 7, 27374 Visselhövede, Germany.

Which happens to be the exact address of my parents` home. For a birdwatcher, it is rather nice to be at a place where – unlike my 13th floor Shanghai apartment – there are birds right outside the house. The garden benefits from benign neglect, and a variety of bird feed is on offer.

So, what is there to see on a regular winter day? Spoiler alert: nothing too exciting for somebody familiar with European birds, but interesting enough for me …

 

European Robin

Yellowhammer

Common Chaffinch

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Common Blackbird

Great Spotted Woodpecker

European Greenfinch

House Sparrow

Brambling

Great Tit

Eurasian Blue Tit

Eurasian Jay. Comment of my wife: “Low key extravagance”

Eurasian Wren

Finally, this being Germany, we also have birds that look (at least a little bit) like Hitler. Fortunately not in our garden but in a park nearby …

Marsh Tit

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for more than 21 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well. He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.