Tag Archives: Tiergarten
Leucistic Blackbird
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I see this guy around the neighborhood quite a bit. Today he finally let me take his photograph.
Juvenile Tree Sparrow?
I believe this is a juvenile tree sparrow, but it could be another species. Notice the yellow gape, the long claws, and the ragged tail feathers.
Long-tailed Tit
So cute, with his tiny little black eye and his slender little tail.
He then went and wedged himself into this strange position.
Sparrow Family at Home
First mom came to check on things.
Then she did some feeding.
Then dad came and did some feeding too, while mom looked on.
I like to see their tails fan out to support them. They remind one of shrimp.
Mandarin Duck
Meditating by a pond in the Tiergarten.
Real Estate: House Sparrows at Home
The male sparrows were busy guarding their property this afternoon in the Tiergarten. The women were either gathering food or busy inside the houses. Look closely, you might see one below.
The birdhouses and the trees are all numbered here, this being Germany. You could probably send a postcard to this sparrow: “Herrn Spatz von Sperlingdorf, Hausnr. 76, Baum 144-15, Großer Weg, Tiergarten, 10557 Berlin”
Urban Anomalies
This leucistic sparrow was out gathering food in the Tiergarten yesterday. Notice the strange arrangement of white feathers on her head and back. She didn’t want to be photographed and was hopping away from me.
Below is a pigeon with feathered legs and toes running away from an approaching horde of rambunctious teenagers. I was running away from them too, hence the single blurry photo.
The rear end of a nightingale
The nightingales are back! As of three nights ago we have been hearing their wild songs from our apartment, and a quick walk yesterday evening brought us by at least three of them belting it out with all they have. These little birds are notoriously difficult to photograph. They like to hide in thickets and dense foliage and prefer to sing only when the dusk is advancing. But thanks to my awesome new camera I was able to capture the back side of a singing nightingale last night. So here you have it, a nightingale’s butt:
If you’d like to hear his crazy song, it is recorded here. And here you can hear some strange croaking noises that he made.
If you’d rather not look at his butt while listening, here is a lovely picture of last night’s full moon.
Portrait of a Jay
I just received a fantastic new camera as a graduation present. Thanks mom! Now I can photograph the birds that previously I could only write about. To celebrate, I’ve been taking portraits of the denizens of our yard in the Tiergarten. First up is the jay, known here as an Eichelhäher, and known around our apartment as just “the Häher.” This is the same guy that buries his peanuts in my flowerpots. The first time that I saw his bright blue wings, I thought that he must be some kind of escaped exotic. But no, he is just a standard eurasian jay, and a beautiful specimen at that. He is clearly suspicious of my awesome zoom lens…
