With Bernd Rolle, Umweltbüro für Berlin-Brandenburg, found in Umweltkalender.

The park was almost empty, and I was the only attendant, so that was a very pleasant walk in – for me -lovely winter landscape and perfect winter weather, except light conditions could have been better in terms of bird photography.

In addition to the usual suspeccts – pigeons, crows, great tits, blue tits, blackbirds, and spotted woodpeckers, we saw several nuthatches, jays, chaffinks, – and my first ever black woodpecker! Unfortunately, the photos are not good. I will go back on a brighter day and hope to see it again now that I know what to look for.

Main purpose: walk on Saturday 11 January with Eckehard Heiber, Empor Berlin.

I took a couple of “spookey” photos on the – smooth and punctual – train journey on the RE3. After checking in to a lovely little hotel on the waterfront in Wieck, about 20 minutes by bus from the train Station, I went on a walk in the area, a.o. to the ruins of Eldena Abbey. I saw some ducks I don’t think I have ever seen in the wild before. I also tried to take some photos for a workshop on abstract photography, provided by Artistravel.

Day 2 city walk with Empor Berlin

Despite the blizzard and the storm which the meteorologists forgot to tell us about, it was an interesting walk, led by Eckehard Heiber.

For lunch, we took shelter in a nice Chinese restaurant, and later we had more opportunity to get warm and dry during a guided tour of parts of the university, by a guide called Zbig (short fo Zbigniew, I assume).

Since I do like a maritime flair, I even enjoyed the visit to museum harbour.

When I returned to Wieck, there were local flood warnings and Sperrwerk Greifswald was closed completely – apparently a very rare occurrence.

When I arrived on Friday, in mild, sunny weather, I asked the receptionist at the hotel, whom I think was the proprietor or owner, whether the weather on Saturday was going to be as nice as it was on that Friday, and he said yes, pretty much, perhaps a little bit of snow, but definitely stable. I never saw him again. Perhaps he committed harakiri.

Day 3 walkabout in the immediate surroundings and another visit to Museum Harbour. Lovely weather, so I walked back to Wieck along the river. Strongly considering prolonging my stay.

By the way – a bonus tip: “Zbig” recommended “the best cakes in Greifswald” – reportedly in Caféhaus Marimar, Markt 11. I had a look, and their cakes did indeed look delicious.

Day 4 had breakfast during a spectacular sunrise. A walk around Wieck. Return to Berlin. Experimenting black&white vs colour.

If USA is really interested in “making Greenland great again”, instead of oppressing Greenland and acting like colonial overlords and perpetrating experiments like the “Little Danes Experiment” and the birth control scandal of the 1960s, and generally treating Greenland like shit – then why not? And if the Danish authorities are outraged now, they should have thought about that during the past century.

An annual event with Derk Ehlert, NABU, – by some newspapers called “Berlin’s Wildlife God” :-).

The weather was not as miserable as in previous years. Apart from the usual suspects – crows, pigeons and sparrows, we saw (in many cases had to take Derk Ehlert’s word for it) blue, long-tailed and great tits, nuthatches (photo). jays, “Kernbeißer” (?), a goshawk and a buzzard (which initially startled me as much as I startled him (photos)).

I of course also had to indulge my obsession with trees especially at this time of year.

And finally, almost home, I like this tree in winter too:

Led by Eckehard Heiber. Südstern – Urbanhafen – Treptower Park

Went to see the exhibition at ZAK of art from the German-Polish border region, which I found very interesting.

Took some photos from the surroundings before and after, a.o. my first ever photo of a Kingfisher. I have seen many the last couple of years, but they are shy and fast and – to me – very difficult to photograph. It was far away, and the photo is not good, but it was very cold and windy so I did not want to hang around trying to get a better photo.

LAST UPDATED 29 December AM

If you are in Berlin, and we know each other one way or another, and interested in a relatively quiet but informal private celebration, and especially, but not necessarily, if you are a hobby photographer (see here some photos I took last year: https://www.hellemoller.eu/2024/01/03/some-whacky-photos-from-new-years-eve-31-january-2023/), perhaps you would like to come to my place in Lindenstraße near the Jewish Museum (good public transport) on 31 December between 21.00 and 01.00.

I have a relatively good view of the fireworks from my sixth floor perch towards Kreuzberg in one direction and Potsdamer Platz in the other.

You are welcome to bring frinds, and also to bring food if there is a special regional or national dish you would normally prepare and want to eat for this occasion. I will provide bits to eat – cheese, cold cuts etc. (- no cooking on this occasion :-)), wine, and of course something bubbly for midnight.

NOTE: If you drink anything other than wine and the midnight bubblies, please let me know in time for me to make sure I have it available. Alternatively, bring some yourself :-).

PS Just because I am too lazy to translate this into German, this is a multi-lingual event – English, German, Arabic, perhaps Polish, and even Danish if need be :-).