La Pluie et les Corneilles

   The title is French for "Rain and Crows". I wanted to write the posts for our France trip in French. Berry said no, so only the Titles of the posts will be in French. Bon appetit.

   We left on our latest European birding vacation. We flew United from Memphis to Houston, then pinged to Frankfort, Germany, and then, took one short puddle jump back to the small principality of Luxemburg. It was raining when we landed, so there was that. Then, jetlag hit me like a ton of bricks. We were busy. Our immediate tasks included getting our baggage, renting a car, fetching supplies from a store and finding a hotel. We completed each of these chores. While we went about our business, we observed two birds in and around little Luxemburg, and both of them were life birds for us. Most of the birds we shall see on this trip will be Life Birds for us.

   The first life bird we saw was a rather rough looking black Rook (Corvus Frugilegus). We saw him as we were leaving the airport. He has black feathers, often showing a blue or bluish-purple sheen. The feathers on the head, neck, and shoulders were particularly dense and silky, making the bird look like he needed his hair combed.

   The second gem was a Yellow Billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax Graculus), also known as the Alpine Chough. This anglo-saxon word is pronounced "chuff". We spotted this oiseau in the parking lot of the hotel. It has glossy black plumage, a yellow beak, red legs, and a distinctive song.

   After leaving the airport, we were touring and found the Dany Hotel, where we got a room for the night. After a short nap, to treat jet-lag, we ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. The place had an Italian chef, so Berry ate the Gnocchi Bolognese and Robert had the Tuna Steak with potatoes and legumes. I was wearing a German sweatshirt, so when the waiter brought more bread, he said "mehr Brot", trying to be nice. We enjoyed. Then we crashed for the night.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of wikipedia