Spring!

Days are getting longer and the sun feels warm again, spring is coming! I have not been birding a lot but did see a Barn Owl in my barn. Even more surprising was a Bittern that flew over the garden last week! I had never heard the barking flight-call before but it is very typical. Today Song Thrush claimed my garden again, there were 2 singing together in what seemed a song battle. Maybe that is why he ignored me, never saw them this tame (outside Helgoland that is:-)

in the plum tree, only few meters distance

these birds produce a lot of sound!

ambitious branch collecting

more realistic sized branch:-)

Meanwhile in the front garden... I collected some 7m3 of firewood last week, including some really big trunks. halfway cutting and splitting now.

And a picture from a boat trip on IJsselmeer last weekend; bird island the Kreupel. The birding trip was organised by Fogol and included several talks and pitches about nature restoration around IJsselmeer, and I was invited to present the FishMigrationRiver. Bird island the Kreupel has been constructed some 10 years ago and is a real bird-magnet. It is situated several kilometers from the coast so only visible by boat. We saw huge numbers of Scaup and several other species of duck. The Velvet Scooter was the bird of the day

winter update

Do not expect the Rubythroat here, I refuse to twitch the holy grail in an ordinary garden setting:-) It is winter so birding is slow, and weather is hard. The daily provided food attracts a lot of birds in my front garden; up to 70 House Sparrows, 15 Ringed Dove, both 10 Great and Blue Tits, 6 Blackbirds and a few Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Robin.

see below for the origin of those branches:-)

The flock of Long-tailed Tits is still roaming through the village but the flock size has decreased significantly. Maybe the Sparrowhawks took some, at least 2 visit the area daily. This weekend I had the chance to photograph one of them.

in the back garden

only few meters distance in the front garden

At the beginning of the year there were some exceptional black ice-conditions in the North. It rained ice for days and it was even possible to do ice-skating on the road! The ice put so much weight on the trees that the 3 biggest of the village fell down, simultaniously, with a loud bang!

view from my window, with a length of 30 meters this tree crashed 3 gardens

same tree, different view

this one fell in opposite direction, crashing 2 gardens

view from the car's window, it took more than an hour to get the frozen doors open

More about the life-cycle of wood later:-)

Long-tailed Tits

It is not often that I see Long-tailed Tits in my garden, but a flock has arrived recently. They do not come to the feeders but regarly visit the bushes next to the kitchen window, really close! The birds show a variety of head-patterns, from really dark to completely white, and demonstrate the challenge of identifying pure White-headed Long-tailed Tit ("caudatus"-type). And I need to clean the windows:-)

typical native breeder, with extended dark eyestripe

intermediate bird with faint dark streaking on ear and crown

same bird, different pose

intermediate bird with less streaking

caudatus-type; completely white head with strong contrast to black back. I think the hint of fine streaking behind the eye is caused by shadow

shadow or streaking?

caudatus-type with again pure white head, sharply demarcated black back

Meanwhile the House Sparrows have learned to open the seeds of Sunflower, and I am sure the 40kg will not be enough this winter:-) 

Arctic Warbler

A bird that put Franeker on the birding map! Last week this Arctic Warbler spend several days on the parking of the local swimming pool. Unfortunately the bird was in a rather bad state, with a deformed bill and poor plumage. I assume it did not survive the short cold, dark and foggy days.

Meanwhile the Bewick's Swans start to arrive in Lauwersmeer, and I explored by boat several times. Their beautifull calls create a fantastic atmosphere!  

more Helgoland

This was the first time ever we missed the boat; the highway was closed off after a severe accident in Bremerhaven and caused a delay of 2 hours. So we stayed a night at Cuxhaven and saw the Kingfisher and a few Firecrests. We could not clinch a rarity during the remaining 3 days on Helgoland but there were plenty of Yellow-browed Warblers to enjoy (20). Furthermore there were Short-eared Owl, Shore Lark, Firecrests, Ring Ouzels, Jack Snipe, Peregrine, Black Guillemot, late Tree Pipits, and spectacular migration on monday (mainly Thrushes).

Ring Ouzel @Mittelland

Yellow-browed Warbler @Grosse Treppe

Yellow-browed Warbler @Grosse Treppe

Yellow-browed Warbler @Grosse Treppe

Yellow-browed Warbler @Grosse Treppe

Yellow-browed Warbler @Grosse Treppe

Coal Tit @Nordostgelande

same bird

Chiffchaff @Kringel

not an Isabelline Wheatear @Dune

Northern Wheatear @Kringel

annoying model plane (like a huge distant horse-fly) @Kringel, measuring windspeeds at height for windfarms

Dune has suffered from erosion; the airstrip ends in the sea now!

Helgoland Goldcrests

There were many, they even outnumbered the Yellow-browed Warblers! More of those later.

New Holland tractor with kelp flies, the perfect feeding habitat @Kringel