Berlin, March '25 - extras

Goshawks may have hogged the spotlight, but there were other birds - and indeed other joys to behold - during the week in Berlin.

While most of our time was focused on Tiergarten - a few minutes from our accommodation and centre of our attentions for locating (and enjoying) Goshawks and their territories - we mixed it up, with an afternoon wandering other urban parks (including the highly recommended Old St Mathew's Cemetery), and an excellent day's relaxed birding on Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) in the south-western borderland of the city.

Other species included Hawfinches, Lesser Spotted, Middle Spotted (top two photos), Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Firecrests (above), Jays, Common Buzzards, Sparrowhawks (in a distinct minority!), the commoner tits, Short-toed Treecreepers, Nuthatches (below), the first arriving Chiffchaffs and various other standard woodland fare, with Mandarins, Grey Herons and Cormorants on the wooded ponds.

Up in the blue skies above the city, Russian White-fronted Geese, Common Cranes and Great Egrets migrated in flocks, while Red Squirrels (below and further down) were abundant and tame, which is of course ideal for a certain large Accipiter bringing up its chicks.....

We also explored our neighbourhood and found great places to eat and hang out, and had a couple of very fun nights out (thanks to my old friend and resident Berlin connoisseur Michel).

 

Raven (above) and Short-toed Treecreeper (below), both ubiquitous in Tiergarten and beyond

I also squeezed in a couple of runs, as I try to do on any trips I'm lucky enough to take - both in Tiergarten, and both under the blue skies we came to expect throughout our stay.

Carpenter Bee sp. - quite a beauty!

Hawfinch - well spread throughout wooded habitats (but still somehow evaded a decent photo)

Cute Goshawk buffet

Cranes migrating over the city centre

Green Woodpecker 

White-fronted Geese (above) and Great Egrets (below) migrating over the city

24 hours on the coast

First of the year Sand Martin at Filey 

After a day surveying on the Humber, I had a precious window of opportunity to get some coastal birding in. With a couple of hours of (sun) light left on the evening of 26th, I headed for Filey, and a relaxed session on Carr Naze; my hope was for a summer migrant or two, and happily - joyously - I bumped into my first two Sand Martins of the year, briefly hawking insects along the cliff edge before heading north.

Male Teal at the Dams 

A check of the Dams produced another brief Sand Martin above a good variety of ducks, before the evening at Flamborough seeing the folks.

Spot the Marsh Harrier arriving from the south above Bridlington Bay (click image to enlarge)....

Yesterday morning (27th), I was due to co-lead a walk with Will at RSPB Bempton for the lovely volunteer team there (the second of a regular series) - but with precious birding time available before then, I was on the clifftop at Beacon Hill a couple of minutes south of the village shortly after dawn for an experimental vismig session.

... and in off past the Priory and north over the Dykes

Geographically, Flamborough is far from ideal for visible migration, lacking the natural flightline of the Holderness and Filey Bay coasts, but on a stiff SW in spring - and indeed at other times - there's no reason (theoretically) that results can't be interesting; and with little active interest in vismig on the Headland, it's a challenge well worth investing in.

Immature peregrine arriving in off from the south....

Opportunities will naturally be very limited, but when I'm staying over there and conditions are encouraging, it's an inspiring option. And so with a couple of hours available, I gave it a whirl, with encouraging results - small numbers of pipits, Redwings, Fieldfares, finches and wagtails coasted westwards (the latter including a male White), but the stars of the show were raptors.

... and a Sparrowhawk doing likewise

The first of which was, fantastically, a Marsh Harrier - which I picked up over the sea south of Bridlington at 0738hrs, and watched coming north and in off over Danes Dyke; a proper migrant flightline, soon followed by an immature Peregrine, a Kestrel, and a Sparrowhawk over the next hour or so. Four raptor species following a clearly established route along the curve of Brid Bay and in over the base of the Head - very promising!

On the short drive to Bempton I'd no fewer than three Red Kites heading east over North Dykes, and our volunteer walk was illuminated by another close fly-by, as well as Redwings, Fieldfares, Meadow Pipits and other species coasting NW, as well as a small arrival of Chiffchaffs.

Yellowhammer, Beacon Hill

Back to York for the afternoon, after a really enjoyable few sessions back on the coast.

 

Red Kites on the move - three at Flamborough (above), and a fourth at Bempton (below)

Habicht of a Lifetime - Berlin Goshawks, March 2025

A few of the many photos I fired off of the various Goshawks we enjoyed, usually at great length, in Tiergarten over the last week. We witnessed a fascinating variety of behaviours and activity, more often than not at extremely close range - almost surreal to a Yorkshire birder well versed in making the most of somewhat more distant views....

Of those behaviours, there were a couple that were particularly enlightening. One involved two Jays mobbing a perched adult female from the relative safety of a Yew - with one of the Jays blasting out an enviably excellent impression of the classic ka-ka-ka-ka-ka call straight back into the Goshawk's face....

... another, encountered several times, involved the excited head-bobbing of (several different) Goshawks when watching a small dog approach within catching range; I've no doubt they were sizing up the opportunities, unbeknown to the innocent canines and their owners.

We're planning on running YCN trips here at the same time next year to make the most of this wonderful spectacle (and place) - watch this space for details and feel free to message me if you're interested.