my blog 2021 - Cyprus's natural and bird life in current photos
In my blog I currently reports about bird life and nature of the island of Cyprus with Infos, images and
videos. Older blog articles can be found in the Blog Archives
Enter your search termBlauracke Part 2, Nestling und juv. Bird
The second video shows you my pictures, which were taken during the observation of the blue-racks during the feeding of the chicks in the brood-cave.
In the second part of the video then another breeding site, where the first flights of the young birds when leaving the brood-cave.
The Mulberry Tree, standing next to the crumbling building, was the meeting place for young and old, also of other bird species.
Since the egg laying of the blue-racks takes place in 48 hours rythmus, the young birds are also developed differently. So they are the first flügge and follow the alto-birds to the outside, while the stragglers are fed further in the brood-cave. So the alto-birds have a stressful time. I hope you like my video Part 2 and i'm happy about your comments.
Blauracke Part 1 - Balz und Brut
I just put together a new video with footage from 2015 to 2017.
At that time still recorded with the Canon EOS 1D Mark 4 and the EOS 5D MK2.
Later also RAW video recordings with the 5D MK3 in conjunction with the Magic Lantern software.
My pictures were all taken at Paphos Area, on the road to Nata and on the rocks on the Xeros River to Asprokremmos Dam.
My observations over the last few years show me that the number of blue-cracked breeding birds has declined sharply at this point, albeit fluctuating from year to year. Of course, I can't use all
the recordings in such a video, so I made a selection according to the theme.
I hope you like it and i am pleased with your comments.
giant African mantis - Cannibal and Alien at the same time
during the Corona Lockdowns you do not have many possibilities to observe the migratory birds at their usual passage points.
In recent weeks, I have been more concerned with the "aliens" so named by many, i.e. the African giant worshippers, who in all colours we have abundantly in our garden on the flowering plants and
in the butterfly bush.
I would have to rename the butterfly bush now as the Mantis bush, there is always something going on. Right now in December and January, the front side is illuminated by the sun almost all day.
So I observe heavily pregnant females warming up in the sun.
I'm just falling for a young mantis eating a bee. An hour later, the little one is eaten by a larger mantis. A medium-sized mantis just puts down her probably first oothek and then runs straight
into the catch arms of a large, highly pregnant mantis.
The cannibal took 3 hours to consume her artgemossin without leftovers. From a certain height, almost all females can all be classified as cannibals. It is exclusively with us mainly the African
giant worshipper, where the female reaches a length of 10 cm, the males about 7-8 cm. Interesting also with the mating, when the females carry the smaller males on the back with them.
As long as the Coppola is executed, the female has no way to grab the smaller male. Luckily, all the males I watched were able to get to safety immediately after the mating. But what if a couple
is attacked by a large female mantis during coppola...
It is exclusively the African giant worshipper, where the female reaches a length of 10 cm, the males about 7-8 cm. By the way, males and females perform 10 skin changes before they are
classified as adult mantis and are sexually mature. However, some animals can go through this in 3-4 weeks.
Kostis, young griffon vulture released after recovery
The EU project "LIFE with Vultures", which is managed by BirdLife Cyprus and the Game and Fauna Service, is primarily designed to protect this bird species, which is at home in Cyprus.
The griffon vulture population in Cyprus urgently needs this protection, as birds repeatedly decimate the group through poisoned food and also through shootings.
2020 I was invited to observe a nest with young bird and to document this breeding with photo and video.
At the end of August 2020, the young griffon vulture I observed left its nest for the first time, as far as so good.
Three weeks later, an attentive farmer discovered an incapacitated vulture near its fields. Emaciated to 4.2 kg weight, the plumage full of parasites, so the young vulture was found there by the
Game Found specialists and provided by Vet with medical care. Afterwards, he was placed in a shelter of the "Game and Fauna Department" for further care and pupings.
Now, after almost 4 months of care and medical care by the team of the "Game and Fauna" Department, the young griffon vulture with 7 kg live weight, healthy could be released back to freedom. The
young vulture was given the name "Kostis", the obligatory foot ring and additionally a small GPS photovoltaic transmitter, so that you can always locate its position.
Let us keep our fingers crossed for his future. My thanks to the group of the "Game and Fauna Service" and "BirdLife Cyprus" for the good care of the young vulture.
Kostis, a young griffon vulture, born in 2020 in Cyprus.
Kostis is a young griffon vulture, born 2020 in Cyprus.
Thefootage were taken during the monitoring of the nest as part of the EU project - LIFE with
Vultures - which was created to protect griffon vultures in Cyprus.
The video shows the behaviour of the young Kostis at the nesting site in the last weeks before his first flight. The changing distance of the cameras to the nest is approx. 120 to 150 m.
The video can be found on my YouTube channel at
https://youtu.be/o0UhdgOBo8M