"If art doesn't make us better , then what on earth is it for."
Hi !
My big post about what I did during the first two days of the spring break is still in the oven , okay , I admit , I haven't even downloaded the photos to the computer yet , but I have like 50mb free and I need more than 3 GB !
So I thought that before I start with the new photos I need to at least edit some of the old ones .
Yesterday I received a message from livelovejoy and her kind words inspired me to start editing , I stayed up late last night and finished a few hours ago , but damn , that photobucket is slow ! Once again , livelovejoy , thank you so much , it really means a ton to me !
Photos taken on 1st January (took me only what ... like 4 months to post them ;p)
A photo of a male house sparrow that's actually sharp . I'm off to a good start !
This is my best achievement when it comes to post processing . This year the owls were considerably less and all of them way too high in the trees . Probably because all the citizens throw rocks at them and try to kill them ... And why ? Because they make their cars dirty . Well guess what , they are living creatures and have needs just as we do .
On the way to a village near Staza Zagora (where my greatgrandparents live)
Commun buzzard , my first not so bad photo of this bird :) .
Great White Egret
ALONG MARITZA
BIRDS SEEN
1. Качулата чучулига / Galerida cristata / Crested Lark
2. Бяла стърчиопашка / Motacilla alba / White Wagtail
3. Планинска стърчиопашка / Motacilla cinerea / Grey Wagtail
4. Водна бъбрица / Anthus spinoletta / Water Pipit
5. Орехче / Troglodytes troglodytes / Winter Wren
6. Кос / Turdus merula / Blackbird
7. Дългоопашат синигер / Aegithalos caudatus / Long-tailed Tit
8. Голям синигер / Parus major / Great Tit
9. Син синигер / Parus caeruleus / Blue Tit
10. Зеленогуша овесарка / Emberiza cirlus / Cirl Bunting
11. Жълта овесарка / Emberiza citrinella / Yellowhammer
12. Чинка / Fringilla coelebs / Chaffinch
13. Щиглец / Carduelis carduelis / European Goldfinch
14. Домашно врабче / Passer domesticus / House Sparrow
15. Полско врабче / Passer montanus / Tree Sparrow
16. Сойка / Garrulus glandarius / Eurasian Jay
17. Сврака / Pica pica / European Magpie
18. Чавка / Corvus monedula / Jackdaw
19. Посевна врана / Corvus frugilegus / Rook
20. Сива врана / Corvus cornix / Hooded Crow
21. Mалък гмурец / Tachybaptus ruficollis / Little Grebe
22. Малък корморан / Phalacrocorax pygmeus / Pygmy Cormorant
23. Голям корморан / Phalacrocorax carbo / Great Cormorant
24. Ням лебед / Cygnus olor / Mute Swan
25. Зеленоглава патица / Anas platyrhynchos / Mallard
26. Зимно бърне / Anas crecca / Eurasian Teal
27. Обикновен мишелов / Buteo buteo / Common Buzzard
28. Лиска / Fulica atra / Eurasian Coot
29. Жълтокрака чайка / Larus cachinnans / Yellow-legged Gull
30. Речна чайка / Larus ridibundus / Black-headed Gull
31. Земеродно рибарче / Alcedo atthis / Common Kingfisher
32. Малък пъстър кълвач / Dendrocopos minor / Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
33. Сирийски кълвач / Dendrocopos syriacus / Syrian Woodpecker
34. Голям пъстър кълвач / Dendrocopos major / Great Spotted Woodpecker
35. Зелен кълвач / Picus viridis / Green Woodpecker
36. Черен кълвач / Dryocopus martius / Black Woodpecker
As you can see , it was quite a day for woodpeckers ! The most amazing thing was when among 10-12 trees there were three species of woodpeckers , it was just WOW !
My father dropped me and my grandpa off at where the cormorants gather way too late , so not a lot of them were present . This is what we first saw .
And then , 2 minutes later , this is what I saw . Yeah yeah , awful quality , but a nice moment .
Cirl bunting , I enjoyed observing it , so cute !
A great cormorant fly by , they flew around quite a lot , unlike the pygmy cormorants ...
And then , as I'm taking photos of the cormorants , I hear a woodpecker and see something big and black . AND THEN I SEE A BLACK WOODPECKER !!!
I saw the same or another woodpecker 3-4 times during our walk , SO AMAZING !
And a pygmy cormorant made an appearance . Here you can compare the great cormorant to the pygmy one . На български са малък и голям корморан , сега виждам защо малкият е малък ;р .
A flock of goldfinches , they look so beautiful in flight !
On the way to see the long-eared owls , I came upon a small flock of house sparrows and a small puddle so I sat there , in the middle of the street , throwing bread near the puddle hoping to catch a bathing moment . I ate some of the bread myself , I was really hungry . So far , so good . Then , a couple of people pass by and start yelling at me . I didn't say anything , just looked at them like "WTF?!" . I wasn't doing anything wrong and they went on and on about today's generation , how I wasn't doing anything important and blah blah . Anyway , I actually like the photos I took , here they are :
Way too many branches , but you know , that's nature .
Kept this for the end : Kingfishers are a favourite bird to many , which is no surprise , I mean , just look at them ! I remember the day I first saw a kingfisher , how happy I was . The photo I took was well ... awful . But it is special to me .
From that time to now , I have seen this bird many times , not enough though !
Here are some of the photos I took . Yes , I know the quality is awful . And guess what , I don't care . You can see the bird and what comes as a bonus , you can actually say it's a kingfisher . For me that's enough (quite ambitious , righ ?) . I , of course , hope to one day be able to show you that sharp , upclose with a nice background photo that makes you go "WOW" but for now , here it is :
My grandfather is not the most observant one , usully I am like "Look ! More than 200 storks !" "Where ?!" "In the sky , where else ?!" "I can't see them!" "Well , they flew away already ..." . One bird , however , caught his attention and it was indeed a kingfisher . I saw it , too , but just as it was flying away . We were about to head home when I saw the kingfisher once again and this time I was going to get a photo ! With no regard of the fact that the water was almost 1m deep , I went in , quietly approaching the bird . Reached to a few rocks , decided to get out of the water and continued on the rocks . I still had a long way to go , but unfortunately , half way there , the kingfisher flew away . This is the photo I got seconds before it disappeared :
I believe it's the best kingfisher photo I've got so far and all of this was so that I could show you that I have improved . I hope that I will continue to do so !
I'll edit this post in a second with a list of all the birds I saw along Maritza :) .
My deepest thanks to everyone who read the whole post and if you just browsed through the photos , thank you , too .
I spend so many hours in front of the computer doing this post , so I would highly appreciate it if you could leave a comment , they make so very happy .
I hope you're having a great day / evening / morning or whatever the time it is where you live !
My big post about what I did during the first two days of the spring break is still in the oven , okay , I admit , I haven't even downloaded the photos to the computer yet , but I have like 50mb free and I need more than 3 GB !
So I thought that before I start with the new photos I need to at least edit some of the old ones .
Yesterday I received a message from livelovejoy and her kind words inspired me to start editing , I stayed up late last night and finished a few hours ago , but damn , that photobucket is slow ! Once again , livelovejoy , thank you so much , it really means a ton to me !
Photos taken on 1st January (took me only what ... like 4 months to post them ;p)
A photo of a male house sparrow that's actually sharp . I'm off to a good start !
This is my best achievement when it comes to post processing . This year the owls were considerably less and all of them way too high in the trees . Probably because all the citizens throw rocks at them and try to kill them ... And why ? Because they make their cars dirty . Well guess what , they are living creatures and have needs just as we do .
On the way to a village near Staza Zagora (where my greatgrandparents live)
Commun buzzard , my first not so bad photo of this bird :) .
Great White Egret
ALONG MARITZA
BIRDS SEEN
1. Качулата чучулига / Galerida cristata / Crested Lark
2. Бяла стърчиопашка / Motacilla alba / White Wagtail
3. Планинска стърчиопашка / Motacilla cinerea / Grey Wagtail
4. Водна бъбрица / Anthus spinoletta / Water Pipit
5. Орехче / Troglodytes troglodytes / Winter Wren
6. Кос / Turdus merula / Blackbird
7. Дългоопашат синигер / Aegithalos caudatus / Long-tailed Tit
8. Голям синигер / Parus major / Great Tit
9. Син синигер / Parus caeruleus / Blue Tit
10. Зеленогуша овесарка / Emberiza cirlus / Cirl Bunting
11. Жълта овесарка / Emberiza citrinella / Yellowhammer
12. Чинка / Fringilla coelebs / Chaffinch
13. Щиглец / Carduelis carduelis / European Goldfinch
14. Домашно врабче / Passer domesticus / House Sparrow
15. Полско врабче / Passer montanus / Tree Sparrow
16. Сойка / Garrulus glandarius / Eurasian Jay
17. Сврака / Pica pica / European Magpie
18. Чавка / Corvus monedula / Jackdaw
19. Посевна врана / Corvus frugilegus / Rook
20. Сива врана / Corvus cornix / Hooded Crow
21. Mалък гмурец / Tachybaptus ruficollis / Little Grebe
22. Малък корморан / Phalacrocorax pygmeus / Pygmy Cormorant
23. Голям корморан / Phalacrocorax carbo / Great Cormorant
24. Ням лебед / Cygnus olor / Mute Swan
25. Зеленоглава патица / Anas platyrhynchos / Mallard
26. Зимно бърне / Anas crecca / Eurasian Teal
27. Обикновен мишелов / Buteo buteo / Common Buzzard
28. Лиска / Fulica atra / Eurasian Coot
29. Жълтокрака чайка / Larus cachinnans / Yellow-legged Gull
30. Речна чайка / Larus ridibundus / Black-headed Gull
31. Земеродно рибарче / Alcedo atthis / Common Kingfisher
32. Малък пъстър кълвач / Dendrocopos minor / Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
33. Сирийски кълвач / Dendrocopos syriacus / Syrian Woodpecker
34. Голям пъстър кълвач / Dendrocopos major / Great Spotted Woodpecker
35. Зелен кълвач / Picus viridis / Green Woodpecker
36. Черен кълвач / Dryocopus martius / Black Woodpecker
As you can see , it was quite a day for woodpeckers ! The most amazing thing was when among 10-12 trees there were three species of woodpeckers , it was just WOW !
My father dropped me and my grandpa off at where the cormorants gather way too late , so not a lot of them were present . This is what we first saw .
And then , 2 minutes later , this is what I saw . Yeah yeah , awful quality , but a nice moment .
Cirl bunting , I enjoyed observing it , so cute !
A great cormorant fly by , they flew around quite a lot , unlike the pygmy cormorants ...
And then , as I'm taking photos of the cormorants , I hear a woodpecker and see something big and black . AND THEN I SEE A BLACK WOODPECKER !!!
I saw the same or another woodpecker 3-4 times during our walk , SO AMAZING !
And a pygmy cormorant made an appearance . Here you can compare the great cormorant to the pygmy one . На български са малък и голям корморан , сега виждам защо малкият е малък ;р .
A flock of goldfinches , they look so beautiful in flight !
On the way to see the long-eared owls , I came upon a small flock of house sparrows and a small puddle so I sat there , in the middle of the street , throwing bread near the puddle hoping to catch a bathing moment . I ate some of the bread myself , I was really hungry . So far , so good . Then , a couple of people pass by and start yelling at me . I didn't say anything , just looked at them like "WTF?!" . I wasn't doing anything wrong and they went on and on about today's generation , how I wasn't doing anything important and blah blah . Anyway , I actually like the photos I took , here they are :
Way too many branches , but you know , that's nature .
Kept this for the end : Kingfishers are a favourite bird to many , which is no surprise , I mean , just look at them ! I remember the day I first saw a kingfisher , how happy I was . The photo I took was well ... awful . But it is special to me .
From that time to now , I have seen this bird many times , not enough though !
Here are some of the photos I took . Yes , I know the quality is awful . And guess what , I don't care . You can see the bird and what comes as a bonus , you can actually say it's a kingfisher . For me that's enough (quite ambitious , righ ?) . I , of course , hope to one day be able to show you that sharp , upclose with a nice background photo that makes you go "WOW" but for now , here it is :
My grandfather is not the most observant one , usully I am like "Look ! More than 200 storks !" "Where ?!" "In the sky , where else ?!" "I can't see them!" "Well , they flew away already ..." . One bird , however , caught his attention and it was indeed a kingfisher . I saw it , too , but just as it was flying away . We were about to head home when I saw the kingfisher once again and this time I was going to get a photo ! With no regard of the fact that the water was almost 1m deep , I went in , quietly approaching the bird . Reached to a few rocks , decided to get out of the water and continued on the rocks . I still had a long way to go , but unfortunately , half way there , the kingfisher flew away . This is the photo I got seconds before it disappeared :
I believe it's the best kingfisher photo I've got so far and all of this was so that I could show you that I have improved . I hope that I will continue to do so !
I'll edit this post in a second with a list of all the birds I saw along Maritza :) .
My deepest thanks to everyone who read the whole post and if you just browsed through the photos , thank you , too .
I spend so many hours in front of the computer doing this post , so I would highly appreciate it if you could leave a comment , they make so very happy .
I hope you're having a great day / evening / morning or whatever the time it is where you live !