Artificial lawns are not only even uglier than non-native, meticulously groomed and fertilised lawns which are then cut every five minutes using fossil fuels – they are possibly also even more detrimental to the environment.
Which bunch of morons made that decision?
Including a horrible cliché but I could not help myself :-).
Google is still quite hopeless when it comes to names of birds, so it always takes some detective work to not only identify birds I see (and with a bit of luck sometimes photograph) on my walks and find out what they are called in one of the three languages I use the most, but to also find out what they are in the other two languages. Hence this list which is a work in progress.
| Husrødstjert | Black redstart | Hausrotschwanz (der) |
| Solsort | Blackbird | Amsel |
| Musvit | Great tit | Kohlmeise |
| Skovskade | Eurasian jay | Eichelhäher |
| Rødkœlk/-hals | Robin | Rotkehlchen |
| Gærdesmutte | Eurasian Wren | Zaunkönig |
| Flagspætte | Spotted Woodpecker | Buntspecht |
| Sortspætte | Black Woodpecker | Schwarzwpecht |
| Skade | Magpie | Elster |
| Grønirisk | Greenfinch | Grünfink |
| Sortstrubet Bynkefugl | European Stonechat | Schwarzkehlchen |
| Gransanger | Chiffchaff | Zilpzalp |
| Sisken | Siskin | Erlenzeisig |
| Træløber | Eurasian Treecreeper | Eurasischer Baumläufer |
| Shorttoed treecreeper | Gartenbaumläufer | |
| Dompap | Bullfinch | Gimpel |
| Munk | Blackcap | Mönchsgrasmücke |
| Blåmejse | Blue tit | Blaumeise |
| Spætmejse | Nuthatch | Kleiber |
| Halemejse | Long-tailed (bush)tit | Schwanzmeise |
| Bogfinke | Chaffink | Buchfink |
| Guldfinke | Goldfinch | Stieglitz |
| Gråspurv | House sparrow | Haussperling (“Spatz”) |
| Jernspurv | Dunnock | Heckenbraunelle |
| Gulspurv | Yellowhammer | Goldammer |
| Eurasian skylark | ||
| Mallard | ||
| Heron | ||
| Egret | ||
| Høg | Goshawk | Habicht |
| Kernebider | Grosbeak | Kernbeißer |
| Musvåge | Buzzard | Mäusebussard |
Since “…… probably not contagious from day ten, despite symptoms” is the best science can offer, I decided to try to break the groundhog day theme of having exactly the same symptoms every day for ten days, with one exception, ignore the fever, and take the IC to Rostock and visit the exhibitions in Kunsthalle Rostock, and then proceed to Warnemünde to walk on the beach, stare at the sea, and breathe some sea air. One of the few things I miss from Denmark.
Rostock Art Gallery is idylically situated overlooking a lake with quite a busy bird life, as well as the usual, depressing human footprints. Or perhaps some of it was actually just pollen. The exhibitions were interesting (a photo exhibition by Olaf Heine entitled Ruandan Daughters, and works by Clemens Krauss and Gregor Hildebrandt).
Unfortunately, there was some kind of harbour festival in Warnemünde, and the crowds made a walk on the beach a bit of a nightmare, if not impossible. I realised that I usually go off-season and have sometimes had the beach almost completely to myself – the way I like it :-).
Still, it was a nice day out, and the train trips were comfortable and relaxing, and the whole thing did not make me feel more ill than before the trip, just tired, which I guess was to be expected. At one point, when I felt I could not walk another step, I hopped on one of the many one-hour harbour cruises on offer.
Germany, can you PLEASE make up your mind – du or Sie? I offend people on a daily basis because I never get it right. One walking group uses one, another the other. From one photography course to the next – likewise. Even between Volkshochschule courses there is no consensus. I don’t know if the fitness centres still do not have a “policy” but pre-pandemic, they did not, and it was up to each teacher, and even then, half the attendees would use the opposite of what the teacher was using. That would be OK, if it were not for some people getting offended no matter what you do. Half the time I have to talk like in the 1960s Denmark (or current royalty) and half the time spring forward to the present. It is confusing. Get it sorted and update the grammar books accordingly.
*******************************************************
BREAKING NEWS: My next photo tour with Go2Know is to “Hubertusbad” 19 May 13.00 hrs, and there are still spots left for both the morning and the afternoon visit. Find it here.
********************************************************
Great photo tour. But I do find it a problem that there are usually no toilets in those places :-). I assume Go2Know (and other organised visitors) pay a fee to the locations, so you would think they could afford just one of those mobile toilets.
It turned out I had been there before, by chance, probably about five years ago, but back then, some unsavoury types, with some even more unsavoury dogs, seemed to be in residence, and the whole place seemed a lot more creepy than now with an organised group and permission and everything.
The weather was fantastic (it is a good thing I like shadows ….), and if my daily (post-)corona fatigue and headache had not kicked in after a couple of hours, I would probably have used all the allotted six hours there. Unusual for me – patience is not my Spitzenkompetenz.
It also turned out to be quite a good spot for bird (and goat) watching.
I did wonder a little bit why we needed to be let in, and receive a code for the lock to go back out. From all other sides, the area is open and completely accessible. I got talking to a couple of chaps who were flying drones there, for fun, and they said they just did that from time to time without any kind of permission from anybody.
Note: I am, as I often do, experimenting with B&W versus colour, and it may therefore seem that some photos are in duplicate. There is no need to draw my attention to that. Also, especially if I turn off commenting, there is not need to then e-mail meabout it instead. Just sayin’.
Instead of staying home, trying to make peace with the world, I went out early to inspect the damages after the Labour Day “celebrations”.
As it turned out, I was almost too late, as people were already in full swing cleaning up at around 06.30 in the morning, and most of the garbage had been either swept together in more or less neat piles to be collected, or already removed.
It is amazing how people seem to think that that is good use of taxpayers’ money.
We humans arethe worst thing that ever h appened to this planet.
That said, not all the of the below photos are acidy commentaries :-), just things I stumbled upon that caught my eye.
Two gallery walks with InterNations: Friday 26 April, and Sunday 28 April.
On 26 April, we ended up visiting about 14 galleries on the route.
On 28 April we probably reached the same number of galleries. The route was shorter, but there were several new gallereries there that I had not been aware of.
