Fish / Fisch

This is a very strange fish I encountered in the Saint Petersburg area of Western Russia, and I'd really like to know what species it is.
It - along with a small number of its kind - lived in a shallow, nutrient-poor and thus crystal clear small lake (diametre less than 30 metres) .


Diesen seltsamen Fisch habe ich in geringer Anzahl in einem sehr kleinen (Durchmesser 30 m) nährstoffarmen und daher kristallklaren felsigen Flächgewässer bei St. Petersburg beobachtet. Vielleicht kann mir jemand per Email oder in der Comments - Sektion mitteilen, um was für eine Art es sich handelt?
Besonderheit: er bewegte sich wie ein Kugelfisch schwebend, ausschließlich über die Bewegungen der Brustflossen und zeigte nicht das für viele Fische typische Schlängeln.

Besten Dank im Voraus!

Strange Songs of Common Birds

Currently, two common species in Germany are causing a bit of confusion as some individuals show a song or call deemed atypical. One is the Garden Warbler Sylvia borin (yes, borin not boring although certain American birders may prefer the latter spelling) and the other is the Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita.

To those readers who speak German, the following links may be of interest. To those who don't, the sound files will still provide pleasure, I presume.

Garden Warbler link here.

Chiffchaff links:

BavarianBirds

A link from Spain

Surfbirds Discussion Threat


On a German birding site (club300.de), a request is posted for information regarding abnormally calling Chiffchaffs: "Neu Aufruf: Abweichend rufende Zilpzalpe " .

Please note that the Chiffchaffs are definitely not Iberian or Siberian Chiffchaffs!

Interesting stuff. I've encountered several of the strange Chiffchaffs during one year now in Germany's South-West but have never encountered any during my 12 years in the North-East of the country. I might do a follow-up post on my latest encounter - time permitting.

Mystery Egg

I recently found this egg in Baden-Württemberg/Germany and do not own an egg identification guide - can you believe it?!?

Is there anything anyone has to say about the identity of its producer?

My best guess is Eurasian Jay, but I have no way of knowing - and only knowledge is power.

Regarding its size, I didn't have a measuring device with me and it was starting to rain, so I didn't have the time or rather didn't feel I had the time to place anything of know size beside it. You know, these things you always chance upon when turning your pockets inside out (credit cards, 100 Euro bills, diamond rings etc.).

Suffice to say - I hope - that my hand is normal sized for a human hand, fingers could be longer but as I don't attempt playing the bass guitar anymore, I am rather fine with the shape they are. So I just measured my hand and would guess the length of the egg was around 35 to 40 mm.

In case that might help.

Cheers in advance and bird on.