African Wildlife - Cheetah

Joan of SAPhotographs is a massive fan of cheetahs, so it wasnt that hard to get her to agree to write a guest post here on Alpine Birds about these incredible animals. To accompany her words, I have added some of my favourite cheetah digiscoping photos. If you like these photos, you might like some of the other digiscoping African wildlife posts.

Cheetahs have been kept in captivity for some 5,000 years and were favoured by the early Egyptian Pharaohs and Queens. It is the only one of all the wild cats who become properly domestic and never turn on their owners.

The cheetah’s small streamlined head; long, light limbs; powerful hind legs; flexible shoulders and spine; long muscular tail; semi-retractable claws; enlarged liver and heart; and wide nostrils and increased lung capacity all combine to make it the fastest mammalian sprinter on earth. Covering up to 9 metres in a stride at almost 4 strides per second, the cheetah can reach a speed of 110km/h or more. For more than half of every stride, the cheetah is airborne.

The average life span in captivity is 10-12 years though cheetahs can live as long as 20 years. In the wild, few survive more than 8 years though they can live up to 10 or 12 years. Cub mortality is extremely high for the species in both the wild and captivity. They are most vulnerable from 6 weeks to 4 months and in open habitat like the Serengeti plains, less than 5% reach adulthood. Predation by lions and hyenas accounts for over 70% of mortality.

Cheetahs prefer savanna and arid, open grasslands with available bushland (to hide when stalking prey) for their habitat. They prey on all sorts of mammals including gazelles, impala, wildebeest, and antelopes, and smaller prey such as hares, ground birds, and warthogs. Females prefer a solitary life unless it is mating season, and males prefer to live in groups of two to four, called "coalitions." The female gives birth to one to eight cubs after a gestation period of 90 to 95 days. The cubs depend on the mother for about three months and are very vulnerable to predators like lions and hyenas.

Cheetahs use places of elevation—rocks, termite mounds and play trees (sloping trees with large horizontal limbs) as observation points and scent posts. A variety of vocalizations include chirping like a bird, churring or stutter-calling, moaning in distress and growling, snarling and hissing in anger or fright. Cheetahs purr just like a domestic cat when content.

In 1900, there were over 100,000 cheetahs across their historic range. Today, an estimated 9,000 to 12,000 cheetahs remain in the wild in Africa. In the early 1970’s they were listed on CITES as an endangered species however due to huge conservations efforts and breeding programs, the species have now recovered.

Thank you Joan!

Dale

Alpine Birding Spots 3 - Gilfenklamm in South Tirol, Italy

Lots of people that come to the Alpine Birds blog from google are - quite obviously - looking for info on Alpine Birds. And I love to talk about the places I love going birding. So I would like to try get a new blog series going about great birding spots in the Alps - well, at the the places that I like to go looking for birds, or just to appreciate nature. Here is the second one in the series:

Gilfenklamm in South Tyrol (Bolzano-Bozen, Italy)

The Gilfenklamm is a narrow little mini-gorge cut in to what the marketing material calls "pure white marble". Don't expect to see anything white. but the natural beauty of the place is wonderful. Park down in the parking areas in Ratschings (Bolzano, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy) and follow the signs to the gorge. As you leave town you will need to pay €3 per adult to carry on up the trail.

The first part of the trail takes one through a gently sloping Spruce woodland, along the stream. This is a good area for Short-toed Tree Creeper, Goldcrests, Crested Tit and White-throated Dipper. A common kingfisher surprising buzzed by yesterday while we were on this section of the trail.

Further up the trail, the gorge starts to get tighter. This is a great area for White-throated Dippers - with some luck you should see them all the way up the gorge as they buzz up and down, feeding and swimming (I swear they also do that for fun).

a great little dipper (Wasseramsel) stream

As the gorge gets a little tighter, you will notice that there are a whole lot more Larch about. Unlike the Norwegian Spruce, the European Larch has needles and looks like a regular conifer, but in early winter turns bright orange and looses all its needles! In these mixed Spruce/Larch woodlands, I would look out for Green Woodpecker (especially near woodland clearings) and Common Crossbill.

The tighter gorge part itself might host a wallcreeper, particularly in early or very late winter as wallcreepers are moving between their high mountain breeding cliffs and the lower-elevation wintering areas. But I would not hold out too much hope to regularly pick up a wallcreeper in Gilfenklamm.

But I have to admit that the main reason to visit Gilfenklamm is because I love waterfalls and tight gorges, so this fitted right in there. The constant companion of dippers made it all the more wonderful.

Best time to go: late Autumn / early Winter (the colours of the Larch are great)

Interesting bird species: White-throated Dipper, Common Crossbill, Green Woodpecker.

How to get there: go to the google map, click on the first P(arking) symbol and say "to here". type in your starting location and google maps will do it all for you. Ratschings/Racines is about 46mins from Innsbruck, and 53mins from Bolzano.

View Alpine Birding Spots 3 - Gilfenklamm, South Tirol, Italy in a larger map

Wildlife up close - cheetah

It's really hard to sum up what a cheetah is. Sleek. Elegant. Powerful. Like a bird.

huh? did I just say that? like a bird? well, they chirp like a bird (cheetah cannot roar or purr, just chirp). but it is more than that; there is an elegance and energy about them that most closely matches that of a falcon. well, at least I think so.

Although I love cheetah, I feel somewhat unqualified to really express what a cheetah is so I think I am going to go across to SAPhotographs and ask Joan to guest write something (she is a BIG fan of cheetah and has lots of experience with them). I have a whole series of cool cheetah photos, so if she obliges then I'll post her insights with those photos.

Back to the close-ups. So much of what makes a cheetah special are its feet (and permanently exposed claws), hence there is lots of that here:

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If you have not seen any of the "Wildlife up close" digiscoping series, then here is a bit of an intro (from the first Cape Buffalo post):
So one of the great things about digiscoping is that one has a huge focal length to play with, so one can really get up close and personal with some pretty impressive creatures. In my time in Southern Africa, I was able to get a whole pile of close-up macro-style images of a variety of wildlife.
What I would like to do is to create a collection of the best "Wildlife up close" images but I would like you to help me out. Each post will feature a different species of African wildlife and I would like to vote for your favorite (or against your least favorite).

So far, we have had:

Cape Buffalo

White Rhino

African Elephant

Lion

Burchell's Zebra

Primates

Wildlife fur/skin collection - still not solved

Please vote for your favorite, and at the end of the series, I will randomly choose a winner from each post in the series and send them the original full-sized image they chose. In two weeks I will randomly choose a winner from all those that voted in a particular post!

Have a wonderful day,

Dale

Videoscoping Squacco Heron

A couple of weeks ago, I showed a short videoscoped movie of a Blackcrowned Night Heron shot in Italy's spectacular Po Delta. Here is another movie from the same day, this time with a wonderfully lit Squacco Heron (Ardeola ralloides, Rallenreiher).



Happy birding!
Dale Forbes

Wildlife up close - wildlife fur/skin edition

So I really enjoyed the "Wildlife Up Close" digiscoping series - I loved taking the photos and I loved sharing the photos with my blog friends. So far I have posted six posts in the series, which pretty much gets me to the end of the decent super-up-close photos that I took while in southern Africa this last (austral) winter. I wish I had taken more, and although I had four great encounters with Leopard (and have leopard digiscoping photos here and a digiscoping/no digiscoping comparison of a leopard here), I never managed to get any really good close-ups of leopards (to complete my Big 5 close-up ambitions). But you will never catch me close to complaining about the spectacular experiences I have shared with the leopards of the bushveld...

this penultimate wildlife up close post is a little different: you need to guess what mammals you are looking at (you can identify the birds as well if you want, but they are not the focus) and then choose your favorite one.

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If you have not seen any of the "Wildlife up close" digiscoping series, then here is a bit of an intro (from the first Cape Buffalo post):
So one of the great things about digiscoping is that one has a huge focal length to play with, so one can really get up close and personal with some pretty impressive creatures. In my time in Southern Africa, I was able to get a whole pile of close-up macro-style images of a variety of wildlife.
What I would like to do is to create a collection of the best "Wildlife up close" images but I would like you to help me out. Each post will feature a different species of African wildlife and I would like to vote for your favorite (or against your least favorite).

So far, we have had:

Cape Buffalo

White Rhino

African Elephant

Lion

Burchell's Zebra

Primates

the final Wildlife Up Close post will be on Cheetahs - and I have some great shots of them!

Please vote for your favorite, and at the end of the series, I will randomly choose a winner from each post in the series and send them the original full-sized image they chose. In two weeks I will randomly choose a winner from all those that voted in a particular post!

Have a wonderful day!

Dale Forbes

Alpine Birding Spots 2 - Adolf Pichler Hütte / Kemater Alm

Lots of people that come to the Alpine Birds blog from google are - quite obviously - looking for info on Alpine Birds. And I love to talk about the places I love going birding. So I would like to try get a new blog series going about great birding spots in the Alps - well, at the the places that I like to go looking for birds, or just to appreciate nature. Here is the second one in the series:

Adolf Pichler Hütte / Kemater Alm

These two mountain huts lie just southwest of Innsbruck, but deep enough in the mountains to feel well away from civilization. Surrounded by stunning hills and the towering Kalkkögel Mountains, this quiet valley is a snow hole in winter and a lush green paradise in summer.

Summer time birding:

Entering the Senderstal (Sender Valley) from Grinzens (see map directions to birding spot here), you will need to buy a parking ticket at the machine at the entrance to the valley, just outside of town (€3, there is also a boom gate there). Have a look around in this area for Treecreeper, as well as Nuthatch and Crested Tit. Continue driving slowly up the valley road, following the little stream. On your way up through the forest, keep a look out for Three-toed Woodpeckers. They can be very shy, so it may take stopping the car for a bit and having a good (quiet) look about. The best place to do this is probably at the open parking area about half way up the valley (where you can leave your car parked for a bit and explore the forests). If you are lucky you may pick up a Greyheaded Woodpecker, a black grouse or a capercaille (but no guarantees on any of those!)

The drive up the valley follows the stream so you really want to find the local White-throated Dipper pair, and maybe a Grey Wagtail.

Kemater Alm and the stunning Kalkkögel Mountains

When you get to Kemater Alm (basically the first buildings you reach), you will need to park your car. You are now at 1646m (5400ft) above sea level. Take the trail along a gravel road (signposted to Adolf Pichler Hütte), heading straight for the stunning Kalkkögel Mountains. As you leave the farmhouse area, keep an ear and eye open for Willow Tits - they can be very abundant in the scrubby vegetation and sparce trees, particularly just south of the gravel road, and along the next 1 kilometer of road up towards the hut.

As you wander through the open alpine grasslands, look for the Water Pipit and groups of Alpine Accentors and Black Redstarts in the boulder-strewn areas.

As you get slightly higher up, scan the steeper rough ground for Whitewinged Snowfinch (they breed higher up but you have a decent chance of seeing them if you look really hard), and the cliffs for Wallcreeper. Always keep an eye in the sky and you might be treated with a Golden Eagle.

Field of Mountain Pine and open high alpine birding areas

Especially at migration time, the large areas of shrubby Mountain Pine (Latschenkiefer, Pinus mugo mugo) can be filled with life and one never knows what could be moving through. One day I will find a Siberian Warbler there!

The spotted nutcrackers are likely to be a permanent (or at least frequent) sound on your walk up. They typically spend alot of time in the Arolla Pines (Zirbelkiefer, Pinus cembra) - gnarly old trees that mostly grow right up between the forest and tree line.

An Arolla Pine, aka Spotted Nutcracker food!

When you get to Adolf Pichler Hütte, stop for a refreshing "Radler" (a beer shandy of Sprite mixed with beer) and some Kasknödel, eaten in a soup, with salad or Sauerkraut (a traditional cheese dumpling). Soak in that awesome view and enjoy!

After a bite to eat, head further up the hill, toward the ridge-line saddle behind the hut. At this point the path takes you down the other side back towards Kemater Alm (and you car), but what it is also wonderful to take a little stroll out along the ridge to the north. The view is stunning and well worth the 5minutes of extra effort ;-)

The lookout point at the end of the ridge

Note: if you do go out along the ridge line, you will need to back track to get back to the saddle and go down along the path to the west - you will not be able to get down directly from the ridge to Kematen Alm.

The path now takes you north along the western side of the little ridge. There is more vegetation here than on the trail up to Adolf Pichler Hütte, so your chances of picking up tits (especially Willow Tit) are rather high.

This valley appears to be an important migration path for Pipit, Fieldfares and other thrushes and at times there can be very large numbers moving through (esp. in on the autumn migration).

Winter time birding:

Park your car down in Grinzens and walk the road up the valley. The normal road becomes a Rodelbahn (sledding track) in wintertime, so you will not need any special equipment to go birding here in winter - just warm shoes and clothing.

As you wander up the road, keep a decent pace and listen out for bird parties. The tits in particular can be very vocal in winter and so the best way to find any birds at all is to simple try to find the tits. Once you have located some tits calling, scan every tree in the area for anything else. In the snowy forests, the birds form mixed species bird parties. These can be large and they are evidently very popular with our feathered friends because it is seldom that one sees too many birds outside one of these mixed species flocks. Favorite wintertime party participants include:

nuthatch (Kleiber)

crested tit (Haubenmeise), coal tit (Tannenmeise), great tit (Kohlmeise)

short-toed treecreeper (Gartenbaumläufer), eurasian treecreeper (Waldbaumläufer)

great spotted woodpecker (Buntspecht), three-toed woodpecker (Dreizehenspecht)

chaffinch (Buchfink)

robin (Rotkehlchen)

blackbird (Amsel)

the other rather vocal group are the Common Crossbills (Fichten-Kreuzschnabel) - they form large, noisy groups in winter and the males go bright red. they tend not to be as mobile or nomadic as in the rest of the year, as they oftentimes breed in winter (when the Spruce seeds ripen).

If you make it to Kemater Alm, have something warm to eat and drink and then head out behind the Alm towards Adolf Pichler Hütte (closed in winter) - you might pick up a Rock Ptarmigan or Whitewinged Snowfinch out on the snow fields. If you are thinking about going in to this area (especially in late winter/spring when both species are getting ready to breed), then first ask someone at the Kemater Alm about the avalanche risk. Snow Finches are wonderful, but not worth uncalculated risks.

Best time to go: Autumn (the colours are great)

Interesting bird species: White-throated Dipper, Spotted Nutcracker, Three-toed Woodpecker,Alpine Accentor, White-winged Snowfinch, Willow Tit, Golden Eagle.

How to get there: go to the google map, click on the first P(arking) symbol and say "to here". type in your starting location and google maps will do it all for you. Grinzens is approximately 20 minutes from the center of Innsbruck.

View Adolf Pichler Hütte / Kemater Alm in a larger map

Happy birding,

Dale Forbes

Bright red crossbills at Swarovski Optik

At lunch time I came out of the company cantina and there was a whole group of very vocal Common Crossbills flying about - after three days of fairly heavy snows, it seems they are moving out of the mountains and seeking shelter and food in the (relatively) warmer Absam town. Bright red males chirping away and feeding in the spruce around the factory grounds were a great accompaniment to our work day.

Isn't nature wonderful!

Dale

Shorteared Owl, the power of digiscoping

this is one of my favorite videos I have made so far and I dont think I have posted it on my blog yet.
It is from our first day birding with swarovski optik in kazakhstan this last may and starts with a typical steppe scene and a pile of interesting birders....

you'll have to watch the video to find out what happens next

go ahead, watch the video in HD

the scope is one of the new Swarovski Optik ATM80HD (that stands for "Angled Telescope Magnesium 80mm objective High Definition Flourite lenses), 25-50x wide zoom eyepiece, and the Swarovski DCB digiscoping adapter with my little Canon A590IS compact camera.

happy birding!

Dale Forbes

first snows

winter has come really fast...
last week we had temperatures of up to 29Celsius (84F) and now it is just starting to snow outside...
the mountains are beautifully white

happy winter!
Dale

Alpine Birding Spots 1 - Inzinger Gaisau

Lots of people that come to the Alpine Birds blog from google are - quite obviously - looking for info on Alpine Birds. And I love to talk about the places I love going birding. So I would like to try get a new blog series going about great birding spots in the Alps - well, at the the places that I like to go looking for birds, or just to appreciate nature. Here is the first one in the series:

Inzinger Gaisau

Wintertime in the Gaisau, view from the the little wooden bridge.

Inzing is a small, quaint village just 15km west of Innsbruck. If you go to the western edge of town and head down toward the Inn, there is a little dirt track (see google map below) that will lead you down to the Inzinger Gaisau - a series of ponds, riparian woodland, reedbeds, open meadows and great views up to the mountains.

This combination of various habitats makes for a surprisingly diverse bird assemblage and the Inzinger Gaisau really stands out as one of those places where you never know quite what is going to turn up.

Black Kites have recently started breeding in the Inzing/Petnau area

Riparian woodland - the broadleaved woodland along the River Inn, and in the Gaisau itself is great for small warblers, particularly in spring and early summer. Keep a look out for Icterine Warbler (Gelbspötter), Chifchaf (Zilzalp), Willow Warbler (Fitis), Wood Warbler (Waldlaubsänger), and Blackcap (Mönchsgrasmücke). Keep an ear open for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Kleinspecht) and both Short-toed Treecreeper (Gartenbaumläufer) and Eurasian Treecreeper (Waldbaumläufer) breed here - listen out for their Kingfisher-like calls, but dont be too surprised if it is a Kingfisher (Eisvogel) that is flying past.

Fieldfares are very common in spring, breeding in the woodlands and feeding in the open meadows

Fairly large numbers of Fieldfare (Wacholderdrossel) breed in the riparian woodland, but they are mostly seen foraging in the open fields (recently ploughed or short meadows). This woodland edge is also great for the tits: Marsh Tit (Sumpfmeise), Great Tit (Kohlmeise), Coal Tit (Tannenmeise), Longtailed Tit (Schwanzmeise) and the gorgeous little Blue Tit (Blaumeise). The tits are probably best found near the fishermen's hut on the southern side of the main pond where the habitat diversity is high.

If you go over the little wooden bridge at the eastern side of the pond, you can skirt around the northern waters edge with great views over the meadows and fields to your right, and the reedbeds and open water to your left. In the meadows, keep a look out for the local Whinchats (Braunkehlchen), and if you are lucky, you can pick up a Eurasian Hoopoe (Wiedehopf) or a Black Kite (Schwarzmilan), both of which have started breeding in the immediate area in the last couple of years.

Tufted Ducks now breed regularly on the pond

On the pond itself, there are mostly just Mallards (Stockente) and Coots (Blässhuhn). Last year the Tufted Duck (Reiherente) and Teal (Krikente) bred successfully. Up until recently, the Little Grebe (Zwergtaucher) also bred here. At migration time, keep a look out for Goosander/Common Merganser (Gänsesäger), Garganey (Knäckente), Pochard (Tafelente), Shoveler (Löffelente), and Wigeon (Pfeifente).

With a huge pot of luck, you might see a Great Cormornat (Kormoran), but it seems the local government supports the shooting of them so they are very rare here. If you do find one, you are likely to find them very very shy, especially if you have a tripod with you.

About midway up the pond on the northern side, there is a open patch of flooded grassland/reedbed (only in spring and summer, for it is cut in autumn). If you are there in the late afternoon, keep an ear open for Moorhen (Teichhuhn) and Water Rail (Wasserralle) - recently I have heard both Moorhen and Water Rail from this reed patch, and from the main reedbed at the top (western) end of the main pond.

Reed Bunting, a summer breeding visitor

The main reedbed area at the top of the pond (western side) is also a good spot for Marsh Warbler (Sumpfrohrsänger), the summer-abundant Reed Bunting (Rohrammer), and the shy Teal (Krickente). At migration time, keep a look out for Green Sandpiper (Waldwasserläufer), Common Snipe (Bekassine), and an ear open for European Reed Warbler (Teichrohrsänger).

Green Sandpiper, a unusual but fairly regular passage migrant

Heading further west around the woodland patch, there is a little path that leads up and over the railway line. It is illegal in Austria to cross railway lines so please do not do it - it is dangerous. On the other side of the railway line is another reed bed patch, and open fields where large flocks of migrating Yellow Wagtail (Schafstelze) and Skylark (Feldlrche) gather in Autumn, and Redfooted Falcons (Rotfussfalk) are often seen on passage in early spring.

Cockchafer (Maikäfer) are very common in May, aka Redfooted Falcon food

Wintertime is rather quite for birds in the Inzinger Gaisau, but one can pick up large flocks of Goldfinch (Stieglitz) and Siskin (Erlenzeisig), particularly in early winter. The Bramblings (Bergfink) move through on mass in late winter.

Best time to go: Spring and Autumn Migration

Interesting species: Icterine Warbler (migr), Black Kite (br), Reed Bunting (br), Teal (br), Water Rail (br), Goosander (?)

How to get there: go to the google map, click on the P(arking) symbol and say "to here". type in your starting location and google maps will do it all for you. The Inzinger Gaisau is approximately 20 minutes from Innsbruck.

View Inzinger Gaisau in a larger map

Happy birding,

Dale Forbes

Videoscoping Black-crowned Night Heron

Whilst in Italy's Po Delta in May, Clay and I found a great Black-crowned Night Heron - a great subject to practice a bit of videoscoping. It is just a short video, but it was a whole pile of fun to make.

Happy videoscoping,

Dale Forbes

Digiscoping workshop at the German Ornithologists' Society conference

As I mentioned in my last post about Grossglockner and Hohe Tauern National Park, I spent the end of last week and the weekend in Pörtschach am Wörtersee in Carinthia (Kärnten, southern Austria).

Swarovski Optik was the main sponsor of the German Ornithologists' Society's annual conference and we had a small stand there with some of our binoculars and telescopes. My "job" was to run mini digiscoping workshops with small groups of ornithologists that were interested in digiscoping: either as a first taste-test, or to pick up a few tips and tricks for the older-hats.

I didnt do too much digiscoping myself, but here are a couple of digiscoping photos I managed to pick up.

A wonderful Great Crested Grebe showing off for us (Haubentaucher)

look at that light! omg! A mute swan in all its glory

We were also blessed by flocks of Penduline Tits (Beutelmeisen) that hung out on the Schlangeninsel where we took most of our photos. I even saw a flock of at least 15 right in the center of Pörtschach - not bad at all.

oh, and on saturday afternoon, a group of ornithologists went up one of the local forest roads and picked up a Capercaille and his 4 wives! Right next to the road, sogar!

But the best thing about the DOG (Deutsche Ornithologen Gesellschaft) conference was the company - the organising committe from BirdLife Kärnten were fantastic to spend time with and I do hope to meet up with some of them again!

Happy birding
Dale Forbes

Grossglockner National Park, Austria

I spent the latter part of last week and the weekend in Pörtschach am Wörtersee in Carinthia (Kärnten) - that's the next state across from us to the southeast - at the Tagung der TOG (Deutsche Ornithologen Gesellschaft). I suppose one could translate that as the Congress of the German Ornithologists' Society.

That was pretty cool, and I will post about it during the week, but now I most want to talk about the stunning drive home.

I took a route back through the Grossglockner National Park, an alpine wonderland with tons to experience. Stopping along the road, I went for a walk to soak in the beauty.

Here's a young Golden Eagle that came to keep me company

Happy birding!

Dale Forbes