Over the December holiday I spent three weeks in Hamburg with my family, staying in my grandmother’s home. We spent most of the time with my grandmother and other relatives that came over from other parts of Germany over Christmas and New Year, so it was great seeing a large number of relatives again. This meant that I did not spend any time birding, except watching the bird feeder from the house, which produced all the common birds of the area. It was fun watching the interactions between the species, especially Great Tits, which seem to be very dominant birds, often scaring away larger birds at the feeder.
Great Tits were the most common birds in the garden. They were noisy and aggressive at the bird feeder and had the weird habit of spilling lots of seeds until they found one they took, usually peanuts. The cute Blue Tit on the other hand was much shier, but nonetheless common at the feeder. Marsh, Coal and fuzzy Long-tailed Tits also appeared a few times, but the latter seemed to pass though the area, as they never stayed long but quickly moved from tree to tree.
Eurasian Robin was very common and a pair was often in the vicinity of the feeder, feeding on the seeds the other birds dropped onto the ground. They were not very shy and often curious, approaching me when I came outside to refill the feeder. A Dunnock also sometimes came to feed on the ground, but not like the robin, it was very shy and always dashed into the thicket when other birds flew in. Eurasian Blackbirds were ever-present and once I counted six birds on the lawn, together with a pair of the common Eurasian Wood-Pigeons. I also saw a pair of Common Bullfinches a few times, but they were shier and only came down to feed once. These are my favorite birds in the area, mainly because of the male’s beautiful pink underparts. On one occasion, a low-flying Eurasian Sparrowhawk caused mayhem at the feeder, with all birds scattering into the surrounding trees. The Sparrowhawk was unsuccessful, but it was amazing to see how fast and agile it was as it swooped in. The only other raptor was a Common Buzzard that circled over the garden. Birds aside, the only mammals that we saw were Eurasian Red Squirrel and Roe Deer, which could sometimes be seen in the morning at the far end of the garden.
This time, there were unfortunately no less common birds at the feeder, such as Hawfinch, Middle Spotted Woodpecker or, Brambling, all of which I saw here last winter. This could be because the winter was not very cold during the time of our visit, which unfortunately also meant that there was only a tiny amount of snow when we arrived, which quickly melted. Most of the time it was just cold and grey, quite different from Sri Lanka, where it’s on average 30°C warmer, with the sun practically always shining.
A small protected area close to the house yielded some more birds, including Great Cormorant, hundreds of Carrion Crows and some Eurasian Jackdaws, Eurasian Coot, Greylag Goose, Grey Heron and a Great White Heron, a species that is expanding its range and becoming increasingly common in Germany.
We spent a few afternoons in the city, once in the Hamburger Kunsthalle (art museum) which had paintings of many art periods, including great paintings by Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and other famous artists. As I do art in school, this was a very interesting visit and it was fun trying to interpret some of the pieces. On New Year’s Eve, we had some fireworks, but it was more fun watching the neighbours, who launched masses of rockets from the road, providing a great color spectacle.
Note: I did not take any of the photos on this post during this trip, as my camera and lens got stolen from my house a few weeks before the holiday, and I could not get new equipment. These photos are from previous trips to Hamburg. Until I get a new camera, I will use photos I took on earlier trips to accompany the text.
My Zone Is Birding 