Bird songs of the Neckar River valley

The Eurasian Blue Tit © Francis C. Franklin

I started the day with an early morning walk down to the Neckar River, just south of Pliezhausen. The area around the river is a protected natural area surrounded by farm land, and only a 10 minute walk from town. I felt like an explorer in a new land, as all the abundant birds were completely new to me. While there were a number of birds I just couldn't identify, I did manage to narrow down 25 unique species, all new to my life list, by winnowing them down to similar species groups as I would find in North America. Highlights form the trip included Red Kites, Blue Tits, Great Tits and Coal Tits and my favorite of the day, the Yellowhammer. It was good to see an active group of Great Cormorants along the river.

No work in the forge today, as apparently Sunday is an official day of rest in Germany and it's against the law to work (except in special cases). So I hung out with Heiner and three of his friends and ate some amazing Turkish kebabs. Anyone who knows Heiner knows that he has a reputation of trying to actively fatten up his guests.

Total bird list for Germany: 26