It rained on and off all morning, so I didn’t get out until the afternoon, and then I just went to the canal behind my friends’ apartment, called “boerengat” on google maps, instead of going to the plas.
The first new bird for today is a common wood-pigeon (Columba palumbus), which looks a lot like a rock pigeon, the variety that you might see on the streets of most cities, but noticeably larger and with a distinctive white patch on the side of its neck.
The second new bird is a Eurasian magpie or common magpie (Pica pica), which I read “is one of the most intelligent birds, and it is believed to be one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals. It is the only bird known to pass the mirror test, along with very few other non-avian species.” How fun is that?
The third new bird, in the water this time, is a great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), who sure looks like the double-crested cormorants we’ve seen in Estabrook Park but can’t be because I’m now a few thousand miles out of their range.
There was also a grey heron along the canal, which we’ve seen at the plas, …
And this Egyptian goose, who was kind enough, or tired enough, to let us get a better look at those pretty feathers it sports.
Lastly, there was another family of great crested grebes with one chick.
That’s it for today, and I don’t know if I’ll have any pictures for you tomorrow because I’m going to campus early in hopes of getting some logistics sorted out. Wish me luck!
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 