Decided to photograph some of the more common, usual suspects which I normally do not bother to photograph. And good to see that the supply of material for my series “garbage disposal Berlin-style” is never-ending and that the pigeons were eyeing my balcony when I got back just in time to avert the start of a new nest.
Short walk with VHS Zehlendorf on Zehlendorf Cemetery
Birdwatching Britzer Garten 16 March
After yesterday’s disappointment when it was raining in Friedrichshagen at the time when the Volkshochschule birdwatching walk at Müggelsee was due to start, it was nice to wake up to gorgeous weather for this Sunday walk, led by always knowledgeable Bernd Steinbrecher of Freilandlabor Britz.
It was a lovely walk with a couple of – for me – new faces, and without the usual gang of incessant yackers.
Halle/Saale mid-March
Main purpose: Visit this exhibition on surrealism in Kunsthalle Talstraße.
Had hoped for better weather and more nature photography.
Halle Saale Busbahnhof:
Back in Berlin, two birds, and someone multi-tasking on my local playground.
And the next morning, some really bad photos of the lunar event 14 March:
Tadka Dhal
serves 4
300g (101/2oz) dried toor dhal (yellow lentils/yellow split peas), washed in several changes of water
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 black cardamom pods (optional)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cinnamon sticks
4 green cardamom pods
6 cloves
2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2–3 chillies, any colour, deseeded if you don’t like it fiery, some chopped and the rest left whole
2 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp peeled and finely chopped fresh root ginger
6 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
good pinch of salt, or to taste
1 tsp sugar, or to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
lots of chopped fresh coriander, to garnish
Gently boil the lentils in a large saucepan of cold water (around 1 litre /13/4 pints will do) and stir in the turmeric and black cardamom pods (if using) – this will add a subtle smoky flavour.
Allow to cook for around 45 minutes, or until the lentils have softened and started to break down. Skim off any foam that sits on the top and give the lentils a stir every now and again in case they begin to stick on the bottom. If they boil dry, add more water.
Once the lentils have softened, turn down the heat and make the tadka. Gently heat the oil in a frying pan and add the cinnamon sticks, green cardamom pods and cloves. When the cardamoms have turned white and the heads of the cloves have swollen, you are ready to stir in the mustard and cumin seeds. When they are sizzling, stir in the spring onions, chillies, garlic and ginger.
After a minute, stir through the tomatoes and turn off the heat. Pour the tadka into the dhal so that it floats on top. This is the traditional way to serve it, with the scented oil sitting on top, but I prefer to stir it through. Season with salt, sugar and lemon juice.
Finally, stir through plenty of chopped fresh coriander and serve with some rice or fresh bread for the ultimate comfort food.
Balti-Baked Squash with Feta, Tomato & Mint
IN PROGRESS
- Yield: Serves 4
- Time: 10 minutes prep, 1 hour cooking
Baked butternut squash rubbed with balti spices and filled with salty feta, sweet sun-dried tomatoes and fresh mint. No wonder this is a great veggie dish that is filling and packs a lot of flavor. There is no recipe as such for “balti,” as it actually refers to the pot that the dish is cooked in rather than a particular spice mix. However, across the world you can find balti spice blends and they typically contain the spices I have used in this recipe, so I have called this dish a balti in terms of the particular spicing of the dish.

- 2 butternut squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeds removed
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil or light olive oil
- 1 cup spinach leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 3/4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
- 6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped
- grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
Preheat the oven 400°F. Lay the squash, cut-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet.
Roughly crush the cumin and coriander seeds, peppercorns and red pepper flakes with a pestle and mortar before mixing in the garam masala and oil. Rub all over the squash, especially on the flesh side, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until you can put a knife through the flesh of the squash easily.
In the meantime, make the filling by mixing together the spinach, feta, garlic, mint, sun-dried tomatoes and lemon juice.
When the squash is soft, take out of the oven and scoop out nearly all the flesh, leaving a 1/2-inch border of flesh around the inside of each squash half. Mix the scooped-out squash with the filling and pop it all back into the grooves you have just carved out. Sprinkle over the lemon zest and roast in the oven for a further 10 minutes. Serve with a delicious crisp salad, such as Green Bean Salad with Mint, Roasted Fennel & Garlic.
Paneer and broccoli masala
I have not made this for a long time, so time for a re-posting and re-cooking.

- 2 tblsp oil or ghee
- About 200 g paneer (made of 1 l milk and 1 dl yoghurt) in bite-size cubes
- 20 fresh curry leaves, if available, otherwise similar dried
- 2 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tblsp ginger peeled and finely chopped
- 2 chilies, or to taste, in whichever way, shape or form available
- 2 tblsp tomato purée
- 1 tblsp garam masala
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tine coconut milk
- 200 g broccoli florets
- 1 tblsp tamarind paste or to taste
- Salt
- Garnish with fresh coriander if available.
Gently brown the paneer on all sides in the oil. Remove from the pan.
Crisp up the curry leaves in the same pan. Remove them from the pan to use as garnish.
Sizzle the mustard seeds and cumin seeds adding more oil if needed. Stir in turmeric and onion. Allow the onion to soften before stirring in garlic, ginger and chilies, followed by the tomato purée, garam masala and ground coriander after a further minute.
Pour in the coconut milk and tamarind, bring to a simmer, and add the paneer and broccoli. Simmer for five minutes.
Drunken Chicken
DRUNKEN CHICKEN
INN PROGRESS
1 can (12 oz) beer
1 tbsp peeled, coarsely chopped fresh ginger root
grated zest (peel) of 1 lime, and its juice
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 green onions, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 fresh red chili, coarsely chopped
3 or 4 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp vegetable oil (canola preferred)
sea salt or coarse salt
freshly ground pepper
3-1/4 to 3-1/2-lb (1.75 kg) chicken, cut open and flattened
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1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Pour beer into a deep roasting pan and add ginger, lime zest and coriander seeds.
2. Grind cumin seed and make seasonings rub for the chicken. Using a food processor or mortar and pestle, combine cumin, onions, garlic, chili and rosemary and pulse in food processor or grind with mortar and pestle. Blend in paprika, turmeric, oil, salt and pepper. Mix into a paste and rub all over the chicken.
3. Lay chicken cut-side down on a rack that will fit over the roasting pan of beer. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes (longer if the chicken is larger), until the juices run clear when poked with a fork.
4. Turn oven to broil, or transfer to a grill pan or outdoor grill preheated to medium. Broil or grill until skin is crisp, up to five minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes before serving with the lime juice.
serves 4
Birdwatching x 3: 7, 8 and 9 March
On 7 March a visit to Tierpark, my favourite zoo in the world, and Europe’s biggest landscape zoo.
There was not a whole lot going on, except the herons were busy building nests in the highest treetops, flying to and fro with building material. Such majestic and elegant flyers.
The hightlight was the black woodpecker – one of the rarer types of woodpeker, at least in Berlin – which I spotted towards the end of the afternoon on my way out.
I saw many great spotted woodpeckers. The first photo is of one flashing its characteristic red rump, and the second of a couple of pigeons, even more common, looking as if they were thinking of starting a family.
On Saturday 8 March a birdwatching walk with Volkshochschule Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Lichtenrader Wäldschen, led by ornithologist Enrico Hübner. The special focus was on woodpeckers, since apparently, all five Berlin woodpeckers had been spotted in the area. We saw many “Buntspechte”, a couple of Mittelspechte, one Scwarzspecht, and one Grünspeccht – the latter very high up. We saw and/or heard a total of 29 birds. I got one bad photo of the Grünspecht. The forest was quite dense so even without leaves on the trees, it was difficult to take photos.
On Sunday 9 March Landschaftsfriedhof Gatow and adjoining fields
“Spandau each month on the 9th”: Bezirksgruppe Spandau des NABU Berlin, led by Christine Kuhnert.
Very exciting – a cemetery I did not know existed, and lots of birds to see. I definitely want to go back, perhaps very early in the morning to the fields, and then enter the cemetery when it opens at 7.30.
Here is a not very good photo of a jay (Eichelhäher) and a kestrel/Turmfalke, and one of a raven/Kolkrabe of which we saw quite a few:
And a first for me: Yellowhammer/Goldammer. So beautiful:
The first two is of a chaffinch/Buchfink. I am not sure about the next two:
The long-tailed tit/Schwanzmeise I have seen many times but never managed to get a half-way decent photo. These are the best I have taken so far:
The next bunch probably need no introduction, except the last one which I was told was a Rotmilan.
Buzzard/Mäusebussard (the same on all three photos):
Daytrip to Halbe 6 March
Thank heavens for gorgeous weather, because getting out into nature and looking for birds to photograph is the only thing that keeps me sane (such as it is ….) these days.
Today I hopped on the RE7 to Halbe to visit the Waldfriedhof and to take a look at the nearby lakes.
I am still cursing myself for not having hauled my camera out of my rucksack before getting off the train, because no sooner was I on terra firma than the most magnificent red kite (Rotmilan) flew by overhead, in perfect lighting. Finding a second chance at photographing a red kite is now my main obsession.
Anyway, the cemetery was overwhelming due to the sheer number of graves, and of course by far the majority of people buried there were terribly young.
Bonus tip: Restaurant Kalimera-am-See.
But first, a photo of a pigeon taken from my home.