Bird Impressions by Christoph Neger

December 2011

2011-12-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I painted some new pictures, my favourite one of them is this one:

It shows a Black-headed Trogon, the model was a foto I made in 2010 in a place called Laguna de Sontecomapan in Southern Veracruz/Mexico.

Besides, I'm also preparing paintings for the cover of the new Elanus, the yearbook of the Club 300 Austria. Of course, it is still a secret how it will look like, but I can post now the pictures of the cover of the Elanus published this year (for anyone interested, the link to the Elanus website is: http://www.club300.at/elanus)

Yellow-billed Diver

Sabine's Gull

Wildtiere in Not 24.09.2011

2011-09-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I visited again the animal shelter for wild animals in Graz (Wildtiere in Not). I am always amazed by this place. This time I drew a Sparrowhawk (unfortunately one of its wings seems to be damaged) and a sleeping juvenile polecat:

Zoo Zagreb

2011-09-14T03:26:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks I have spent in a summer school in Zagreb/Croatia. I did not really go bird watching there, but one morning I spent in the city's zoo where I made the following sketches:

Couple of Mandarin Ducks, the male is grooming its feathers

Cattle Egret

Black Stork

Griffon Vulture, grooming its feathers

End of August

2011-08-31T02:32:00.000-07:00

The last days of August I had some freetime to pratice a bit painting and drawing, here are the results:

Common Crossbill

Whiskered Tern feeding a juvenile with a fish (inspired by a foto recently made by an austrian birdwatcher at lake Darscho/Seewinkel)

Honey Buzzard (About a week ago I visited the 5th Carinthian Raptor Migration Camp in Arnoldstein. Just at the two days I was there the people in the camp could count 728 migrating individuals of this buzzard species. All in all we could observe nine different species of raptors)

Juvenile Masked Shrike

water buffalo

Seewinkel, once again

2011-08-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

The last two days finally I could visit the Seewinkel again, without doubt my favourite place for bird watching in Austria. A friend once told me, when he was going there as a child, every time when he had to leave he was crying. Another friend once said: "Its like paradise". I can really agree with that. Although, I also have to say that I'm quite critical of the behavior of some of the inhabitants of the area, many still haven't understood that nature tourism is a boon for their region's economy and are busy destroying and disturbing what is left of this unique environment. The following picture for example shows a so-called "star-fighter", a small plane which should dispel starlings from the farmer's vineyards. Unfortunately, they do not respect the boundaries of the national park, here one was flying over the lake "Oberstinker":

Anyway, I still could make some nice observations and also paint, the following pictures show a Pygmy Cormorant, a Caspian Tern and a juvenile Whiskered Tern:

I also visited the exhibition in the national park's information center with my caricatures (see http://christoph-neger.blogspot.com/2011/06/exhibition-abgetaucht.html) which seems to be quite successful:

And finally, once again a picture of the beautiful landscape of the Seewinkel, here a view from Geiselsteller in Illmitz to the Schneeberg:

Antalya and Istanbul, July 2011

2011-08-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

In July I've been in Turkey for about three weeks. It was mainly a university trip, so I didn't go to any specific birdwatching area. However, I could make some nice observations, and watch birds like Rufous Bush-Robin, Masked Shrike, White-Spectacled Bulbul and other species in the park around the University of Antalya, one immature Gannet quite close to the beach in Antalya, Rollers in Belek as well as several Scopoli's Shearwater (and even dolphins) at the Bosporus in Istanbul etc.

The following pictures are showing juvenile Masked Shrikes and a Laughing Dove in Antalya:

Of course, I didn't forget to bring my painting and drawing materials too. These are the pictures created during my journey:

At the beach in Antalya

Drawing in the university park during lunch break

Mosque in front of a bridge over the Bosporus

Istanbul (View from Ortaköy to Kiz Kulesi)

Sultan Ahmet Mosque

Barn-swallow

2011-06-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after finishing all my exams for this semester, I finally had time to practice painting again. I made this picture of a barn-swallow:

Exhibition "Abgetaucht"

2011-06-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last week the exhibition "Abgetaucht", in Hungarian "Merüles", opened in the centers of the Neusiedler See-Seewinkel National Park in Illmitz and of the Fertö-Hansag National Park in Fertöujlak. It deals with the animals of the park, especially those living under water, which visitors usually are not able to see. I made about 40 caricatures for the exhibition which are shown along more scientific descriptions and fotos. Here are some of my pictures:

In the Austrian part, the exhibition's mascot is a crustacean called Daphnia which only can be seen with a microscope. Its main food are algae.

One of Daphnia's close relatives is Arctodiaptomus, the toughest among the small water animals.

The mascot of the Hungarian part is the fire-bellied toad, whose eyes have the shape of little hearts.

Unfortunately, many of the lakes "die" due to drainage.

Another part of the exhibition deals with the reed area of lake Neusiedl which is less endagered than the environment of the salt lakes. Here water animals like beetles, pollywogs and larvae still have a good time.

There are also fish, one of them in German is called "Hundsfisch" (dog-fish).

In the past the lake also almost dryed out a few times, so fish had to "wander" back into the lack.

Today the lake is also famous for bathing.

But I would not recommend to drink the water.

Some new sketches with charcoal and pencil

2011-06-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I decided to practise painting living birds again, which I hadn't done since the end of my internship in April. Firstly, I just got out of my house to draw the sparrows on my roof, this one for example was made with charcoal:

The next day I accompanied a friend who is helping voluntarily at a place called "Kleine Wildtiere in großer Not" (small wild animals in big troubles). There they look after injured wild animals or young animals which got lost until they can be released back into nature. Here you can find more information about this organization: http://wildtiere-in-not.at/ I was allowed to make some sketches of the animals there:

Fawn

Juvenile Black Redstart

Juvenile Goosander

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker

One year since my first watercolor painting

2011-05-16T01:40:00.000-07:00

I just realised that its is just about one year ago that I started to do bird pictures again, after a long break (due to my studies) and also started to try out new techniques like watercolors and acrylics. My first picture last year was a juvenile Whiskered Tern I painted at the 13th of May, it can be seen on my other blog. My newest picture is the on below, showing a Dotterel. It was made for the 30th birthday of a friend who is a birdwatcher himself and especially likes this species.

End of April in Seewinkel/Burgenland

2011-05-04T03:27:00.000-07:00

The last days of this month I was working on most days and in my freetime i met with friends and relatives living in the area, so I didn't spend so much time bird watching. Still I could make a very good observation: On my birthday, the 24th of April I just went for a short walk to Geiselsteller/Illmitz with my parents and my sister who had visited me. As we were passing two German bird watchers one of them was whispering to me: there are two male Citrine Wagtails. We could watch them very good, about 15m away from us. Unfortunately, I had neither my foto nor my painting equipment with me so I hoped that the birds would be there the next morning. When I was going there two other Austrian birders already were on their way to the place too and together we searched about half an hour, without finding them. Thus, the other two gave up and went on to visit other bird watching places. I was strolling a bit behind them, looking for some other birds to paint. Then I stopped to talk to one of the Germans birders from yesterday who had just arrived. While I was talking I suddenly noticed a little bird just next too us in the low vegetation: It was one of the two Citrine Wagtails again. Luckily, the two others were still not too far away so we could call them back. The bird came closer and closer, finally it was maybe just 5m away. Taking pictures was difficult as it was mostly partly hidden by plants so after a while I started to paint the bird:

Other pictures from the last days of April that are worth posting here are a painting of a White Stork in Apetlon, and fotos from shorebirds at Geiselsteller/Illmitz:

Pannonian Bird Experience

2011-04-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

The last weekend a fair for birdwatching took place in the national park where I work right now. A more detailed description of this event can be found on: http://www.club300.at/node/24644 . I was involved in this event in several ways, partly as a guide for Carl Zeiss Sports Optics and partly at the stand of the Club 300 Austria. In addition, my pictures were used to attract people to come to the stand of Birdlife Austria:

In the exkursions we could see most of the ornithological highlights of the bird experience, including Austria's 5th Dalmatian Pelican at Graurinderkoppel/Apetlon and a singing Aquatic Warbler at Geiselsteller/Illmitz:

Other interesting observations were four Whimbrels at the 16th near Lange Lacke, a White-winged Tern at the 16th at Graurinderkoppel/Illmitz, a Lesser Black-backed Gull at Lange Lacke at the 16th and a Goshawk at Geiselsteller/Illmitz at the 17th:

Furthermore, I could make fotos of Yellow Wagtails near Lange Lacke and a Wood Sandpiper at Warmblüterkoppel/Illmitz:

During the fair I also had the opportunity to talk with the Hungarian-German bird painter (http://www.stefanboensch.de/ ), who gave me some valuable advices to improve my painting skills, for instance, not immediately starting to sketch when I see a bird but to take much more time to simply watch the bird. Here are my newest pictures:

Greyleg Geese with Goslings at Geiselsteller/Illmitz

Great Bustard in Hansag

Kentish Plover in the evening light at Geiselsteller/Illmitz

April in Seewinkel/Burgenland 2

2011-04-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

As I mostly only have time in the early morning and the evening, I still haven't visited all the different locations for birding in the Seewinkel. Yet I've been able to make some nice watchings: White-fronted Goose (at Östliche Wörthenlacke at the 6th), Greylag Goose (the first goslings at Zicklacke at the 5th), Barnacle Goose (7 at Östliche Wörthenlacke at the 6th) Ferruginous Duck (4 at Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz at the 9th), Pygmy Cormorant (Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz), Bittern (calling everywhere), Purple Heron (Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz), Spoonbill (Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz), Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank (10 Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz), Mediterranean Gull (at least 35 at Östliche Wörthenlacke at the 6th), Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 adult at Östliche Wörthenlacke at the 6th, probably subspecies fuscus), Caspian Tern (2 at Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz at the 10th), Common Tern (my first one for this year at the 9th at Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz), Long-eared Owl (one sitting in its nest near Illmitz), Barn-Swallow (my first for this year at the 5th), House Martin (my first for this year at the 9th), Wheatear (1 male at Geiselsteller/Illmitz at the 6th), Coal Tit (4 near Informationszentrum Illmitz at the 6th) etc.

I also made some new fotos and field sketches:

Common Teal at Albersee

Barnacle Geese at Östliche Wörthenlacke

Great Egret near Biological Station Illmitz

Black-winged Stilt near Zicklacke

Black-headed Gull at Westliche Wörthenlacke

Breeding colony of Rooks in Illmitz

Great Egret near Zicklacke

Little Ringed Plover near Biological Station Illmitz

Spoonbills near Biological Station Illmitz

First days of April in Seewinkel/Burgenland

2011-04-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

This month I'm working in the Nationalpark Neusiedler See-Seewinkel, without doubt Austria's best place for birdwatching. Therefore I'm looking forward to many opportunities to watch, digiscope and paint birds. Here are some pictures from the first days of April:

Common Shelduck at Illmitzer Zicksee

Ruff at St.Andräer Zicksee

Kentish Plover at Geiselsteller

Black-tailed Godwit at Neubruchlacke

Garganey near Informationszentrum Illmitz

Black-winged Stilt near Informationszentrum Illmitz

Kentish Plover at Geiselsteller/Illmitz

Lapwing at Geiselsteller/Illmitz

Lapwing and Kentish Plover at Geiselsteller/Illmitz

Black-tailed Godwit at Neubruchlacke

Black-winged Stilt near Informationszentrum Illmitz

Little Ringed Plover at Darscho

Sunset at Darscho

New Adapter

2011-03-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

Last week I was lucky to find a second hand adapter for my spotting scope. Here are some of the first fotos I made with my new equipment:

Blue Tit in Hart bei Graz

Fieldfare in Graz

Dipper in Mixnitz

Grazer Feld 04.03.2011

2011-03-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I've been in Unterpremstätten in the south of Graz to make an interview with the CSR manager of Austriamicrosystems for the sustainability newsletter of Oikos Graz (the interview can be found here: http://graz.oikos-international.org/projekte/interview-mit-gerit-goetz-von-austriamicrosystems.html). As I've been already in the area I decided to make a short visit to the near Schwarzl lakes where I could observe a nice gathering of waterbirds, including five Red-crested Pochards which are quite rare in the area.

I didn't have much time but still I could make this sketch of three Cormorants and a male Tufted Duck.

Birder-SMS-Meeting 26.-27.02.

2011-03-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

For this year I have resolved to put more emphasis on making field studies of painting birds. Last weekend I had my first opportunity to put my plan into practice when the members of the Austrian Birder-SMS met in the Seewinkel/Burgenland.

It was quite cold but still I could make a few sketches:

White-fronted Geese at Hochgstätten (Illmitzer Hölle)

Long-eared Owl in Apetlon

Tundra Swan and Red-crested Pochards at Warmblüterkoppel Illmitz

For me the highlight of the trip were the Tundra Swans (all in all there were three), the 6th record of this bird species in Austria apart from the Rhine Delta/Vorarlberg and the first ones I've ever seen in nature. I also could make some digiscoping fotos of these birds, here is one together with Greylag Geese:

The second day of the meeting was also quite good for birdwatching, we met with Czech and Slovak birders at lake Čunovo south of Bratislava. We could watch there thousands of diving ducks and a few Long-tailed Ducks, Smews and Red-brested Mergansers as well as Pygmy Cormorants. Yet it was even colder than the day before, constantly under 0 degree and a strong wind, so the only suitable picture I could make were these two male Goldeneyes (although the bill of the left one is also much too big, due to the trembling of my fingers).

Welcome to my new blog!!!

2011-02-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

I have uploaded the first drawings and watercolors I made this year:

Juvenile Great Cormorant

Juvenile Pomarine Skua

Juvenile Red-necked Phalarope

European Tree Frog

Male Tufted Duck

Black-headed Gull

Male Little Bittern

Rough-legged Buzzard

Blue Tit