One neat lifer. Or is it two ?!

Especially for your bird observations

One neat lifer. Or is it two ?!

Postby Vlad Cioflec » Mon May 07, 2012 7:35 am

Last year I decided to spend this May in search of the Blotched Snake, and thus every weekend i`m hitting the top notch herping/birding/mammal watching spots on the Balck Sea coast in Dobroudja.
No sauromates so far, but lotsa good stuff was seen none the less. All shots are in situ; too damn hot for long staged photo sessions:
Habitat.JPG
Great habitat

Pod tau.JPG
Balkan Wall Lizard

Lac vir.JPG
Eastern Green Lizard

Pel rid.JPG
Marsh Frog

Dol cas.JPG
Large Whip Snake

One of the highlights of the day was the discovery of a fox den, and then being able to just sit up close and enjoy the games of the little ones:
Vulpes.JPG
Fox cubs

Regarding the feathered reptiles, i hit the jackpot with this lifer Pied Wheatear, no. 240: :D
Oen ple.JPG
Oenanthe pleschanka

But what about this funny looking guy!? Do i dare tick the Black-eared Wheatear as well? :?: :P
Oen mel.JPG
Oenanthe melanoleuca

Cheers!
User avatar
Vlad Cioflec
 
Posts: 526
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 7:44 am
Location: Romania
Hometown: Bucharest
country: Romania

Re: One neat lifer. Or is it two ?!

Postby Sean Cole » Tue May 08, 2012 8:38 pm

Hello Vlad

Your second bird is indeed a Black-eared wheatear. This species comes in two froms, a pale-throated one and the dark-throated one, like in your photo.

Black-eared is much more common in the Mediterranean than Pied, which is restricted to the eastern Med, Bulgaria being at the edge of its range. Black-eared gets more common the further south or east you go.

Yes, you can tick no. 241!!

Hybrids are uncommon in Wheatears; I've never seen one in 33 years of birding.

All the best

Sean
Sean Cole
 
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat May 05, 2012 12:13 am
Hometown: Kidderminster
country: England


Return to Birds section

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests