Very generous. Thank you. I will check out which of these conditions can be reproduced in Western Germany. Biodiversity of birds without a significant drive is not comparable to Southern California. My own garden I do not have yet. Which birder society exists here I do not know and there is a billions of reading stuff to do for my work that does not concern birds.
You bet, Frank.
I am not sure what avian biodiversity is in Germany, but it is likely greater than you think
Me? I live 3.5 miles from San Dimas Canyon, where I am in the uninhabited mountains within a 5 min drive.
Even if this were not available to me, there
are several botanical gardens available, which local birds tend to use as a sanctuary.
I am sure there are similar botanical gardens close to you.
My take home lesson is that to take great shots of birds you have to make a decision that you want to invest the nevessary time to learn and prepare for it. If I decide to set other priorities I will not take shots of birds that can come close to yours.
Thank you again
Well, you have to invest
some time and effort into 'anything' if you expect to get improved results.
It is not realistic to think you can make 'no effort at all' and vastly improve in anything, with great images flying into your camera without
you doing 'anything extra' to make that happen
Your priorities are yours, so I can't make those kinds of decisions for you; I can only make suggestions (since you asked). I cannot, however, compel you to implement the suggestions (i.e., horses and water).
So you're right, a person's priorities determine their results as well as their improvements in yielding them.
For example, you will never see me with a 'polar bear' portfolio, as I have neither the time nor the bankroll to fund weeks-long adventures up into the Alaskan frontiers necessary to photograph these amazing animals. Same thing with lions, cheetahs, and the like: I don't have the time nor the bankroll to fund weeks-long adventures into Africa any time soon. However, I surely do appreciate the sacrifices of time, effort, and expenses put into the results of those who
have and
do produce these amazing images.
The cool thing about bird photography is you do not have to make that much of a sacrifice of your time/effort expense to get some very nice images 
Items 1-6, that I listed above, only involve local efforts. But they do involve 'some' extra effort, albeit not really that much.
Bruno's suggestion is exactly the kind of small extra effort which will lead you to these improvements, and are essentially items #1, 4, and 5 I mentioned above. Developing new connections/friends of like-minded local birders (for meets and park-walks) is extremely helpful, and perhaps the best way to learn of 'local hotspots' (Item 5) in your area. (In fact, the D500 + 300mm PF is
literally advertised with this in mind.)
But, the same principle applies with all photography: if you want to take shots of rock musicians and nightclub life, then you have to
read the local entertainment section, get to know the schedules, and make the modest effort to 'be there' when they are
Same thing with sports: if you want great sports shots, then you have to
keep up with the teams that interest you, and make the modest effort to 'be there' when they are, too
Birding is no different: you'll not get much unless you make 'some' kind of effort to put yourself where they are going to be.
I take that back: birding
is different ...
it's even easier ... because (if you implement Item 1 and Item 3),
they will literally come to your back yard (which none of the above will ever do
).
Cheers, and hope to see more bird photos from you and Bruno
