erik
cheesehead
Tripreport Prague
Monday we left from Holland at 9.00. We went to Berlin by train which ofcourse gave me a good opportunity to stay put at the window to check birds. The really good birds didn’t show up though until we came in eastern Germany. Above a scrapheap there were about 5 Red Kites (Milvus Milvus) and when we were just entering Czech Republic I saw two Goosanders (Mergus merganser) in the river.
On Tuesday I went down to the Moldau (main river) in Prague and I looked around there. On the map there should be a park but soon I found out it was the hill where the castle was on and that wasn’t really accessible. So I didn’t see that much birds around there.
Wednesday we went to Krivoklat Castle, which is situated in an awesome forest in the hills. Since I took the trip twice before I skipped the tour in the castle and went for an hour stroll through the mountains. There were quite some squirrels (would anyone know what kind of squirrels they got there? Really dark grey squirrels).
Since it was a one way trail along the hill (very slippery because of the snow) I had to split up my time to keep time for the way back. I finally came to a good part where the forest seemed to be alive with birds. Marsh Tits (Parus Palustris) were all over the place and then the hammering began. I had only some minutes left but badly wanted to see the woodpecker because Czech has all European Woodpeckers and I expected really something.
And then I saw it up a tree. First my thought was: Great Spotted, but with a closer look and the length of the hammering I found out it was a Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus). Amazing view I had! Ofcourse this was a tick for me. Next to that there were Eurasian Treecreepers (Certhia Familiaris) so the eastern European ones. Also a tick for me!
Thursday was a non birding day for me. (There is other stuff to do you see
, eating donuts and spend all your afternoon in bookstores).
Friday I went to the park near the summer palace. It is a huge park full of old trees. The sky was completely blue and the weather was awesome. There were woodpeckers all around me. I planned on at least seeing four different woodpeckers and I hoped I could fulfil my goal over there. I was puzzled for about fifteen minutes by a Jay, that made the weirdest noises sitting up in a tree. I pretty soon saw Great and Middle Spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos Major and Dendrocopos Medius). There were nuthatches everywhere the eye could go. And also Great, Blue, Marsh and Long Tailed Tits were commonly around.
Then my eye fell on the Whiteheaded Long Tailed Tit (Aegithalos Caudatus/ East European). It was really nice to see.
Since they have feeders everywhere in the park, the birds weren’t that shy. I was standing about 1 meter away from a feeder and all the birds came down. Tits, Finches, GS and MS WP, and I took a bunch of pics. Let’s hope they’ll work out. There was also another squirrel feeding and he kept sitting on the branch while I stood near him.
In the meanwhile I had become very cold and decided to take a cup of tea at a nearby restaurant and then I suddenly saw a bird flying up from the grass, there it was in full color and glory, a Green Woodpecker (Picus Viridis). Another bird that showed really well. I only once saw one before just flying by really quick.
After my break I went back but I didn’t get to see that many birds anymore. Of course I skipped a lot of birds in this story, but only took the interesting. We drove back overnight and I got here this morning.
Now I can recommend the park to EVERYONE. It is beautiful. Go there!
Monday we left from Holland at 9.00. We went to Berlin by train which ofcourse gave me a good opportunity to stay put at the window to check birds. The really good birds didn’t show up though until we came in eastern Germany. Above a scrapheap there were about 5 Red Kites (Milvus Milvus) and when we were just entering Czech Republic I saw two Goosanders (Mergus merganser) in the river.
On Tuesday I went down to the Moldau (main river) in Prague and I looked around there. On the map there should be a park but soon I found out it was the hill where the castle was on and that wasn’t really accessible. So I didn’t see that much birds around there.
Wednesday we went to Krivoklat Castle, which is situated in an awesome forest in the hills. Since I took the trip twice before I skipped the tour in the castle and went for an hour stroll through the mountains. There were quite some squirrels (would anyone know what kind of squirrels they got there? Really dark grey squirrels).
Since it was a one way trail along the hill (very slippery because of the snow) I had to split up my time to keep time for the way back. I finally came to a good part where the forest seemed to be alive with birds. Marsh Tits (Parus Palustris) were all over the place and then the hammering began. I had only some minutes left but badly wanted to see the woodpecker because Czech has all European Woodpeckers and I expected really something.
And then I saw it up a tree. First my thought was: Great Spotted, but with a closer look and the length of the hammering I found out it was a Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus). Amazing view I had! Ofcourse this was a tick for me. Next to that there were Eurasian Treecreepers (Certhia Familiaris) so the eastern European ones. Also a tick for me!
Thursday was a non birding day for me. (There is other stuff to do you see
, eating donuts and spend all your afternoon in bookstores).Friday I went to the park near the summer palace. It is a huge park full of old trees. The sky was completely blue and the weather was awesome. There were woodpeckers all around me. I planned on at least seeing four different woodpeckers and I hoped I could fulfil my goal over there. I was puzzled for about fifteen minutes by a Jay, that made the weirdest noises sitting up in a tree. I pretty soon saw Great and Middle Spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos Major and Dendrocopos Medius). There were nuthatches everywhere the eye could go. And also Great, Blue, Marsh and Long Tailed Tits were commonly around.
Then my eye fell on the Whiteheaded Long Tailed Tit (Aegithalos Caudatus/ East European). It was really nice to see.
Since they have feeders everywhere in the park, the birds weren’t that shy. I was standing about 1 meter away from a feeder and all the birds came down. Tits, Finches, GS and MS WP, and I took a bunch of pics. Let’s hope they’ll work out. There was also another squirrel feeding and he kept sitting on the branch while I stood near him.
In the meanwhile I had become very cold and decided to take a cup of tea at a nearby restaurant and then I suddenly saw a bird flying up from the grass, there it was in full color and glory, a Green Woodpecker (Picus Viridis). Another bird that showed really well. I only once saw one before just flying by really quick.
After my break I went back but I didn’t get to see that many birds anymore. Of course I skipped a lot of birds in this story, but only took the interesting. We drove back overnight and I got here this morning.
Now I can recommend the park to EVERYONE. It is beautiful. Go there!
