Today John Avise has returned with another Sunday batch of bird photos: the second part of his trip to Spain and Portugal (part 1 is here). As always, his IDs and captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.
Portugal and Spain Birds, Part 2
This week’s post is Part 2 of a three-part mini-series on birds I photographed in 2010 while on a multi-stop business trip to Portugal and southern Spain.
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus):
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus):
European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris):
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) flying:
Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus) flying:
Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops):
Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca):
Imperial Eagle chicks:
Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni) flying with mouse in beak:
Little Bustard (Tetrax tetrax):
Little Bustard flying:
Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus):
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos):
Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea):
How splendid! Being in Finland at the moment i’ve seen Great Crested Grebes (dancing!) and Greenfinches, but most of your others are not found this far north. The Griffon Vulture sure is stately, and the Hoopoe seems almost tropical-looking.
Nice!
Thanks for the great pics!
Today I learned that the Hoopoe is Israel’s state bird
Another great set! I think the Hoopoe is such a striking bird.
🙂 — 🙂
( Stereo 🙂 … why not..)
What is the long, thin thing above and parallel with the Lesser Kestrel’s body? It looks artificial, but it doesn’t seem connected to anything.
I think it may be a radio transmitter of some sort, because these birds were in a nesting colony being studied by researchers at a nearby university.
Yes, that’s plausible. It hadn’t come to mind because the object — a flexible transmitter wire? — is longer than the bird. (And it seems that it would be awkward for the bird, especially on the ground.) Thanks for the suggestion!