The aim of this blog is to share my enthusiasm for nature, especially birds. I've been a birdwatcher since my childhood. In the beginning I was mostly focused on twitching, trying to see as many different birds as possible. In 2010 I started to regularly paint and draw birds too, inspired by the great Hungarian artist Szabolcs Kokay. In doing so I have found a new way of looking at birds, which makes me appreciate much more every singe observation I make. This blog features reports of my recent birding activities. For my older paintings and drawings please visit: http://bird-art.blogspot.com/

Donnerstag, 14. August 2014

Silberreiher Acryl  200 €
Kormoran Fineliner 50 €
Zwergdommel Aquarell (klein) 50 €
Odinshühnchen Fineliner 50 €
Weißstorch Aquarell Feldskizze 100 €
Fichtenkreuzschnabel Fineliner (klein) 25 €
Leguan Bleistift 50 €
Seeadler Aquarell 100 €
Triel Aquarell 100 €
Säbelschnäbler Akryl 125 €
Waldsänger Akryl 150 €
Rotkopfwürger in El Rocio/Spanien 200 €
Weißbartseeschwalbe Akryl 150 €
Juveniler Maskenwürger Fineliner 50 €

Montag, 12. Dezember 2011

December 2011

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






Sonntag, 18. September 2011

Wildtiere in Not 24.09.2011

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:


Mittwoch, 14. September 2011

Zoo Zagreb

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

Mittwoch, 31. August 2011

End of August

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

Montag, 15. August 2011

Seewinkel, once again

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:







Montag, 8. August 2011

Antalya and Istanbul, July 2011

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