I returned to Canada last Tuesday and have since been thrown back into everyday life, including calving, the last curling bonspiel of the season, and school. A definite change from the previous four weeks, which were filled with various trips to visit relatives a road trip to Rome with stops along the way in Lucca, Pisa, and Florence, and Parma. A cousin and I also took the train to Berlin for a two-day trip of sightseeing and a little shopping. I had a really lovely time in Europe and came home with so many wonderful memories.

I’m planning to publish some Europe posts throughout the month, mostly be about birds/birding, but with some non-bird photos from the various cities we visited as well.

Below are some of the bird photos I took in Germany, mostly taken in passing since I was travelling with my grandmother and other relatives. All these photos were taken with my Nikon D610 and the 200-500mm lens.

The photography conditions were not always ideal in Germany — full cloud cover, rain, and wind were common; however, this photo of a European Robin was taken on one A rare sunny evening,

This Great Tit photo was taken the same evening as the Robin; you can see the pretty golden light shining on the tree branches,

Another Great Tit in the same location in Oer-Erkenschwick, but taken on a cloudy morning,

On the way to Italy we visited Schloss Nordkirchen (which translates as Castle North Church), located 34 kilometres north of Dortmund in Germany. The landscape and architecture are similar to Fontainebleau and Versailles in France, with big gardens and water features with several pairs of Mute Swans and Mallards.

One of the Mute Swans which was molting,

One of the classiest looking jays around, the European Jay,

Common Blackbirds are certainly common, but I found them to be quite skittish,

This Common Chaffinch was positioned perfectly in the sun and on the really lovely lichen-covered branches so I photographed it until it flew away,

A European Starling,

I found the Eurasian Nuthatches really fun birds to watch, and their song is very melodic,

Please stay tuned for more posts from my trip!