Brutkey

Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
@va2lam@mastodon.nz

Here are some Estonian #birds.

White wagtail poses on the edge of a graffiti'd structure, preparing to take off. It is mostly white but has grey wings, a black cap on its head, and black under its bill. Hooded crow on a branch. It has a black head, grey upper wings, and is otherwise black. I'm sure it's thinking something smart. A white stork in a substantial nest of little sticks. Hard to see, but there's a baby stork in the nest. Estonian folk belief: if you point at a stork you're gonna get a baby. Kestrel (brown) taking off and leaving a stream of poop behind it.
Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
@va2lam@mastodon.nz

Not birds from Mount Olympus. #wildlife #horses

A bigger horse, followed by two smaller and one medium-sized horse, walking across the frame in front of a broad-pyramidal-shaped mountain in the background. Sky is grey and cloudy. A chamois, with its characteristic horns, runs across a field. A shiny greenish scarab beetle among rocks and pine needles. Looks like a basin under a water basin, but there is actually a yellow-bellied toad swimming around in the basin.
Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
@va2lam@mastodon.nz

Here are some #birds and other animals from Mount Olympus. An alpine accentor (can't remember if it was this one) serenaded us on the summit of Stefani.

Yes, it's a small brown bird (with a chestnut breast) perching on a rock. Not currently singing. Two swifts flying around. There were heaps of swifts flying at our hotel in Litochoro but I'm not good enough to get the impressive swift photos and didn't have the best lens, I think. A striking black butterfly with orange spots. I guess there are five per wing which is why it's called a narrow-bordered five-spot burnet. Another butterfly, this one mostly black with orange spots on the edges of its wings. Brown argus, says people on iNaturalist.
Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
@va2lam@mastodon.nz

More pictures from #Olympus.

Supposedly the face of Zeus on the side of one of the Olympus peaks. You can kind of make out a forehead and chin. My colleague Mario and me standing in a field, with trees behind. Mule train. Cheaper than helicopters for hut supply! Approaching Apostolidis refuge, a two-storey building on the Olympus plateau with a generous verandah.
Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
@va2lam@mastodon.nz

Moving onwards to Estonia, here are some non-nature pictures from my visit to Tartu for a research collaboration back in May. Though, sadly, the process of doing my research isn't that photogenic.

Tartu Cathedral didn't have a good time in the past, though I couldn't quickly find out when (Wikipedia isn't so clear). I'm sure the museum would have told me. Anyway, currently: brick walls and windows, but no roof. At least one part of the building still is a proper building, though. An old yet renovated looking red brick building with windows and roofs. Devil's Bridge in Tartu runs over a gorge, with trees everywhere and a crest in the middle. "MAX RELAX" says graffiti (blue wolf-like creatures) on a small wooden cylindrical tower.
Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
@va2lam@mastodon.nz

There were some good pictures from a visit to Zealandia in 2023. I read that they're getting more takahΔ“! #birdsNZ #birds

Saddleback/tΔ«eke foraging in the underbrush for bugs presumably. It is mostly black but has red wattles at its cheeks and also (hence the name) brown/red "saddles" on its shoulders/wings. One of the takahΔ“ that used to live at Zealandia. It's a plump borb with blue and green feathers and a red beak. Seems pretty striking, but I've read that it just disappears in the tussock somehow. North Island robin/toutouwai is a grey bird with white chest and a small beak. Looks like it's posed to get going any time now. A very non-taxidermied kākā munches on some parrot food perched on a branch.