⭕️Norway birds I

European Crested Tit (鳳頭山雀)
Norway (2015)
20th January, 2015. Oslo

Here is the 600th post in this blog.

The Eurasian Blue Tit is found all over the country right up to Narvik in the north. The population is increasing; different sources estimate the number of blue tits in Norway at between 50,000 and 100,000 pairs. The blue tit is most content in ancient deciduous forest, preferably with tall trees. Here it is easier to find holes in trunks, where they build nests from moss and other soft materials. If you set up a bird box in a deciduous forest, the blue tit is one of the first to come and seek shelter, often competing with the flycatcher. The blue tit lays eggs in April/May and broods for fourteen days. After a further three weeks the young take their first flight from the nest. This playful and colourful bird stands out from the great tit as it has more blue colour on its wings, crown and tail. The blue tit is a non-migratory bird that generally also stays in Norway for the winter. It does not hoard a winter store of food, so it is a regular guest at bird tables and other feeding places.

The easily recognisable feathered crest on its head makes it straightforward to distinguish the crested tit from the other tits. The crested tit breeds in coniferous forest areas as far up as the southern part of Namdalen. It is most at home in ancient pine forest or mixed deciduous forest. It is most probably the availability of moss and lichen on the trees that makes it prefer these types of forest. As there is less food to be found there, the crested tit keeps away from newly planted areas. It never breeds in such places. The crested tit also like bird boxes and often breeds early in April, far earlier than the blue tit. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 pairs of crested tits breed in Norway, but the population varies from year to year. According to ornithologist Kjell-Ove Hauge, forestry affects living conditions for the crested tit.

Blue Tit (藍山雀)
Norway (2015)
20th January, 2015. Oslo

⭕️American Redstart

American Redstart (橙尾鴝鶯)
St Pierre et Miquelon (2015)
10th March, 2015. St Pierre

The American redstart is a smallish warbler. It measures 11 to 14 cm in total length and has a wingspan of 16 to 23 cm. Its length is boosted by a relatively long tail and it is one of the lightest birds in its family. Weight is considerably less in winter than in summer. Males weigh an average of 8.6 g in summer but drop to 7.2 g in winter, while females drop even more from an average of 8.7 g to an average of 6.9 g. Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 5.5 to 6.9 cm, the tail is 4.9 to 5.8 cm, the bill is 0.7 to 0.9 cm and the tarsus is 1.5 to 1.9 cm. The breeding males are unmistakable, jet black above apart from large orange-red patches on their wings and tails. Their breast sides are also orange, with the rest of their underparts colored white. In their other plumages, American redstarts display green in their upperparts, along with black central tails and grey heads. The orange patches of the breeding males are replaced by yellow in the plumages of the females and young birds. Orange and yellow coloration is due to the presence of carotenoids; males possess the red carotenoid canthaxanthin and the yellow carotenoids canary xanthophyll A and B, all of which mix together to produce an orange colour, while the females possess only the yellow carotenoids. Recent research indicates that an age and sex effect on observed color attributes of hue, brightness, and saturation exists in American redstarts, with the exception for saturation, which only showed an age effect. Their song is a series of musical see notes. Their call is a soft chip.

American Redstart (橙尾鴝鶯)
St Pierre et Miquelon (2015)
17th January, 2015. St Pierre

⭕️Wildlife in Norway

Eurasian Eagle-Owl (鵰鴞)
Norway (2015)
2nd January, 2015. Oslo

The Eurasian eagle-owl is the huge bird of prey known as a symbol of wisdom and erudition. Everyone from major publishing houses to Harry Potter has made use of different types of owl to strengthen their profile with knowledge and wisdom.

A fully-grown Eurasian eagle-owl has a wingspan of between 1.50 and 1.80 metres. The easiest way to recognise an eagle-owl is by its high «eyebrows» or its bushy ear tufts that look more like horns. Even in the dark he can see well and his wings are constructed so that the eagle-owl can fly almost silently, even in quite dense forest. In coastal areas the eagle-owl preys on gulls and seabirds; inland, small rodents and hare are at the top of the menu. The eagle-owl does not breed until he is 2-3 years old. An eagle-owl couple is faithful – they stay together for life. It is common to find up to six eggs in the nest in March, but the eggs need take over a month to hatch. Thereafter it takes two months for the young to be able to fly, and four more months before they can cope on their own.

Before becoming a protected in 1971, hunting the eagle-owl was in the process of wiping out the species. In recent years it is the electricity pylon which acts like an electric chair on the eagle-owl. The eagle-owl likes to sit up high to watch over its hunting grounds. They sit like this at length before then moving to an even higher point to get a view from a different angle. Electricity pylons are perfect for this - if only they were not filled with electricity. In 2012, Bergens Tidende ran a story about the first perches in electricity pylons for eagle-owls. The electrified cross-bars of the pylon themselves are fitted with spikes to keep the eagle-owl away, but extended bars have been attached to the end of the crossbars where the eagle-owl can sit in safety. After the first ten perches were installed at Tjeldstø in Øygarden in 2012, finding dead eagle-owls by the electricity pylons is a much rarer event. Today between 1,400 and 2,000 eagle-owls breed in Norway.

⭕️Roseate Tern

Roseate Tern (粉紅燕鷗)
Hong-Kong (2006)
24th July, 2014. Hong-Kong

This is the third set of definitive stamps issued by Hongkong Post since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and the new set of Hong Kong definitive stamps, featuring the landscapes of Hong Kong Global Geopark of China, will be released on 24 July 2014. In parallel, the 2006 definitive stamps on birds, officially released on 31 December 2006, will continue to be on sale while stock lasts.

Roseate Tern is an uncommon to scarce summer visitor, breeding on rocky islets in offshore waters. It is an example of a bird which spends most of the time at sea, only coming to shore to lay eggs. At a distance, it appears mostly white apart from a black cap and a red bill. The tail is deeply forked. The breast and the belly are sometimes tinged red. Its flight is graceful, punctuated by plunges into the sea to catch fish.

Roseate Tern (粉紅燕鷗)
Hong-Kong (2006)
24th July, 2014. Sai Kung

⭕️Jersey protected species

Barn Owl (倉鴞)
Jersey (2015)
18th February, 2015. Jersey

Jersey is very proud of its rare and varied wildlife and certain species are protected by the Island's Biodiversity Strategy. First published in the year 2000 by the States of Jersey Eco-Active department, the strategy was established after Jersey signed the International Convention on Biological Diversity at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Now focussing on as many as 67 species of animals and plants in Jersey, the department aims to produce local action plans to protect those that are threatened.

Atlantic Puffin (北極海鸚)
Jersey (2015)
18th February, 2015. Jersey

⭕️Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal (北美紅雀)
USA (2014)
23rd October, 2014. New York

Northern Cardinal is one of three birds in the genus Cardinalis and is included in the family Cardinalidae, which is made up of passerine birds found in North and South America.

The northern cardinal was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae. It was initially included in the genus Loxia, which now contains only crossbills. In 1838, it was placed in the genus Cardinalis and given the scientific name Cardinalis virginianus, which means "Virginia cardinal". In 1918, the scientific name was changed to Richmondena cardinalis to honor Charles Wallace Richmond, an American ornithologist. In 1983, the scientific name was changed again to Cardinalis cardinalis and the common name was changed to "northern cardinal", to avoid confusion with the seven other species also termed cardinals.

The common name, as well as the scientific name, of the northern cardinal refers to the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who wear distinctive red robes and caps. The term "northern" in the common name refers to its range, as it is the northernmost cardinal species.

⭕️Common Waxbill

Common Waxbill (橫斑梅花雀)
Cape Verde (2005)
14th January, 2015. Santa Marina

Common waxbill also known as the St Helena waxbill, is a small passerine bird belonging to the estrildid finch family. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa but has been introduced to many other regions of the world and now has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10,000,000 km2. It is popular and easy to keep in captivity.

It is a small bird, 11 to 13 centimetres in length with a wingspan of 12 to 14 centimetres and a weight of 7 to 10 grams. It has a slender body with short rounded wings and a long graduated tail. The bright red bill of the adult is the colour of sealing wax giving the bird its name. The plumage is mostly grey-brown, finely barred with dark brown. There is a red stripe through the eye and the cheeks and throat are whitish. There is often a pinkish flush to the underparts and a reddish stripe along the centre of the belly depending on the subspecies. The rump is brown and the tail and vent are dark. Females are similar to the males but are paler with less red on the belly. Juveniles are duller with little or no red on the belly, fainter dark barring and a black bill.

Spanish Eagle

Spanish Eagle (西班牙帝鵰)
Spain (2014)
20th December, 2014. Granada

Spanish imperial eagle is a threatened species of eagle that only occurs in central and south-west Spain, adjacent areas of Portugal and possibly northern Morocco, although the latter is disputed. Formerly, the Iberian imperial eagle was considered to be a subspecies of the eastern imperial eagle, but is now widely recognised as a separate species due to differences in morphology, ecology, and molecular characteristics.

The Spanish imperial eagle averages smaller, 2.5–3.5 kilograms (5.5–7.7 lb), 78–82 centimetres (31–32 in) in length and 180–210 centimetres (71–83 in) in wingspan, and darker than its eastern cousin, and is a resident species (eastern imperial is partially migratory). It feeds mainly on rabbits, but can prey on many other animals, such as partridges, rodents, hares, pigeons, crows, ducks and even small dogs. The species is classified as Vulnerable by IUCN Threats include loss of habitat, human encroachment, collisions with pylons, and illegal poisoning. There has also been a decline in the rabbit populations, as a result of myxomatosis and other viral illnesses. The current population is estimated at less than 500.

In 2010, there were 279 in Spain and 3 pairs in Portugal, which is an increase of 16 pairs since 2009. Despite showing signs of recovery, it is still a globally threatened species. A small population is protected in Doñana National Park, Spain but its stronghold is the dehesa woodlands of central and south-west Spain, such as in Extremadura or Seville and Huelva Sierra Norte.

In February 2009, one male of the extremely small Portuguese population was shot.

The binomial commemorates Prince Adalbert of Bavaria.

⭕️Nature reserves of Cape Verde

10/- : Cape Verde Shearwater (佛得角圓尾鸌) ; 30/- : Brown Booby (白腹鰹鳥)
40/- : Magnificent Frigatebird (麗色軍艦鳥) ; 41/- : Red-billed Tropicbird (紅嘴熱帶鳥)
Cape Verde (1993)
14th January, 2015. Santa Maria

The wildlife of Cape Verde is spread over its archipelago of ten islands and three islets, which all have parks under their jurisdiction by decree promulgated by the Cape Verde government. Located off the west coast of Africa, the total land area of the island nation is 4,564 square kilometres (1,762 sq mi). The wildlife consists of many tropical dry forest and shrub land, endemic flora and fauna, and rare breeding seabirds and plants, which are unique to this group of islands.

Some of the wildlife species of Cape Verde are considered as endemic, evolving over millions of years of isolation; the grey-headed kingfisher survived here on insects in the absence of water in the lands of the islands.

Cape Verde has many species of endemic birds, which are observed by keen ornithologists and bird watchers on the islands. 130 migrant birds are reported to visit the islands, out of which over 40 nest there. The seabirds which breed on the island are: Fea's petrel, frigatebird and red-tailed tropicbird. Four species of birds, (Alexander's swift, the Raso lark, the Cape Verde swamp-warbler and the Iago sparrow) are also endemic here, while the Cape Verde shearwater is a breeding endemic. The endemic and endangered Bourne's heron is sometimes considered a full species. Also common are the greater flamingo and the Egyptian vulture.

⭕️World Natural Heritage of Russia - Republic of Tyva

Saker Falcon (獵鷹)
Russia (2013)
27th February, 2013. Moscow

Uvs Lake is a highly saline lake in an endorheic basin - Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia with a small part in Russia. It is the largest lake in Mongolia by surface area, covering 3,350 km² at 759 m above sea level. The northeastern tip of the lake is situated in the Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation. The largest settlement near the lake is Ulaangom. This shallow and very saline body of water is a remainder of a huge saline sea which covered a much larger area several thousand years ago.

All of the lake and many parts of its surroundings have been declared protected sites. The UNESCO is using the designation "Uvs Lake site" as an umbrella term to summarize twelve separate clusters of protected sites, each a representative of a major eastern Eurasian biome. In 2003, the UNESCO listed the Uvs Lake Basin as a natural World Heritage Site. It was nominated as "one of the largest intact watersheds in Central Asia where 40,000 archeological sites can be found from historically famous nomadic tribes such as the Scythians, the Turks and the Huns." This transboundary patrimony is one of the largest sites inscribed in the World Heritage List to date.