Small White (Pieris rapae). It's small. It's white. It's so common that it often gets ignored. In North America known as the Cabbage White. The Latin name doesn't come from its preference for rap music 😄 It's reference to rapeseed, one of the many larval host plants for this species. #WildHungary
Here is one of the predators the tree frog is likely hiding from. A Pygmy Cormorant (Microcarbo pygmeus) was patrolling the shallow water right underneath the tower. #BirdingHungary#cormorants
It's #FroggyFriday Yet another European Tree Frog (Hyla arborea) climbing on the observaion tower at Kiskunság National Park. Maybe climbing up like this makes them safer from predators? I'm used to seeing these suckers in the spring when they are bright green. 🟢 #WildHungary#frogs#amphibians
A quick video thru my scope of some of the Red-crested Pochards (Netta rufina). The males are really strutting their stuff with their red updos and lipstick red beaks. 😀 #BirdingHungary#waterfowl#ducks#JustDucky
A few of the 2,400 Red-crested Pochards (Netta rufina) we saw in a single flock! A summer bird in Hungary but occassionally you get huge congregations of them during migration or even in the winter. #BirdingHungary#waterfowl#ducks
For many voles, death comes from the sky. The Eurasian Kestrels are constantly on the lookout all day long. And there are so many of these birds moving through right now. #BirdingHungary#falcons#kestrels#BirdsOfPrey#raptors#birds
One more purple flower for today... Medicago sativa. Known as Lucerne in Europe and Alfalfa in North America. Very important forage crop for horses and cattle as well as for #insects . #WildHungary#wildflowers#WildflowerPower
Nice to see Forking Larkspur (Consolida regalis) still in bloom. I learned to enunciate the name of this flower very clearly when leading a nature tour. The first time I said it, people who couldn't hear me very well thought I was using a profanity. 😂 #WildHungary#WildflowerPower#wildflowers
It's a Willow Warbler Wednesday! 😀 Phylloscopus trochilus is one of the commoner leaf #warblers in Europe, although in Hungary, it's not as abundant as the Chiffchaff. #BirdingHungary#WarblerWednesday#birds
One more 4 #WoodpeckerWednesday A lame photo of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor). This little sucker had his eye on the sky and just wouldn't look down. Seeing as how it was on an exposed perch, probably keeping an eye out for predators. #BirdingHungary#woodpeckers#birds
Another portrait of Syrian Woodpecker (Dendrocopus syriacus) for #WoodpeckerWednesday Similar to Great Spotted Woodpecker. Differences (a) black line on the face does not connect to the black on the nape (b) vent is pinkish rather than scarlet (c) call is different #BirdingHungary#woodpeckers
There has been talk of standardizing common names around the world but I don’t think it will work. In NA a redstart is a warbler. In Europe it is a flycatcher. Member of the Buteo genus are called buzzards everywhere except in NA. So are NA birders ready for Red-tailed Buzzard 😀
This is why the Linnean system of binomial nomenclature is so brilliant. Every species has only ONE Latin name which is the same all over the world. So researchers in various countries always know exactly what species is being referenced, regardless of what the locals call it.
Yes… I believe it. There is a lot of variation in common names. What is known as the Black-bellied Plover in NA is called a Grey Plover in Europe. Loons in NA are called Divers in Europe.
Just this species. That's the official common name of Corvus frugilegus. On the Falkland Islands, the Striated Caracara is called "Johnny Rook" by the locals but that's just a nickname.. not its official common name.
A jolt of retina-blasting colour to counter all those black & white critters... a funky-fresh Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) on Canada Goldenrod. Common but spectacular! I can never pass one by without trying yet another photo. 😀 #WildHungary#butterflies#insects#bugs#lepidoptera
When the #bugs 🐛 heard that I was posting black & white stuff today, they said "Hey.. we want in on this too!" 😄 So here is an Eastern Bath White (Pontia edusa). A bath might not be a bad idea for this little guy.. wash off some of that chalk dust. 😂 #WildHungary#butterflies#lepidoptera#insects
A Rook (Corvus frugilegus) in flight. The colonial nesting habits of this big crow is where the term rookery comes from. #BirdingHungary#rooks#crows#corvids#birds
Continuing with my theme of monochromatic #birds , here's a Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) checking out the tasty morsels in the local trash bin 😋 #BirdingHungary#crows#corvids
🎵 The world is black, the world is white / It turns by day, and then by night. For this guy the world is black and white... well, at least his outfit. 😄 Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) #BirdingHungary#birds#shrikes#BigBadBirds
Hard to believe this was 15 years ago this week. Feels like yesterday. Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon on a rented Harley. #Harley#HarleyDavidson#motorcycles#Route66
