Peter's Big Year 2017

[PeterHG]

232. White-tailed eagle. Zuidlaren 15th May. Only started nesting in Holland in 2006, but the number of nesting sites is slowly increasing each year. One never gets close to them, fortunately, but they are an impressive sight even so.

 

[PeterHG]

233. Tree Pipit. Drente 17th May.

 

[PeterHG]

Eurasian Spoonbill. Not counting as I've photographed it earlier, but this one allowed me to get quite close and the second picture shows the characteristic way it feeds, sweeping its bill from side to side.

 

 

[PeterHG]

234. Sandwich Tern. Petten 25th May. On its way back to the breeding colony with its catch. As the all follow more or less the same flightpath to their noisy relatives, you get ample opportunity for flight shots with a little patience. I think this concludes the photographic opportunities so far (unless I have overlooked some), but this weekend we'll head out for a trip to Hungary, Seewinkel (thanks for all the info @michael-ibk) and Slovenia, so I hope to et back with more additions!

 

Edited June 2, 2017 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

During the first weeks of June we travelled to Hungary, Austria and Slovenia. The next batch were all taken in Hungary between 5th and 11th of June. The full exif should be in the photos. We stayed at Farm Lator in Saly, which is in the north-east of the country and made several trips to the Hortobagy steppe and the Halasto Fishponds. The farm itself had a little hide from which I could take pictures of Woodpeckers, Hawfinches and other small forest bird. One of them was:

235. Nuthatch. Lots of shade at the hide, so usually a need for high iso's

 

 

[PeterHG]

236. European Turtle Dove. This dove has become quite rare in the Netherlands. 

 

[PeterHG]

237. Corn Bunting. Very common in the steppe areas.

 

[PeterHG]

238. Crested Lark. Also quite common. I remember seeing lots of them in our country when I was your, but they have now completely disappeared.

 

[PeterHG]

239. Yellow Wagtail. I think this may be the 'feldegg' subspecies

 

[lmSA84]

I'd fallen behind on your list but I'm very glad that I've got caught up!

 

Beautiful photography and a number of birds in Europe that I've never seen. Impressive total list as well.

[PeterHG]

240. Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Female

 

Juvenile

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Glad to see your Hungary birds - and of course looking forward to see what you found in Austria! About the Wagtail - definitely not our common "flava", but "feldegg" should have an even darker head, no? "Thunbergi"?

[xelas]

Oh my, @PeterHG , I completely overlooked your Big Year 2017, and you have not reminded me of this huge mistake of mine ? It will took me days to like them all, my birding friend. BTW if there will ever be a BIF Big Year, you will be on top of that count!

[PeterHG]

1 hour ago, michael-ibk said:

Glad to see your Hungary birds - and of course looking forward to see what you found in Austria! About the Wagtail - definitely not our common "flava", but "feldegg" should have an even darker head, no? "Thunbergi"?

You may well me right, Michael, the 'feldegg' I photographed in Lesvos certainly had a darker head. Thunbergii looks like a better option, thanks!

[PeterHG]

1 hour ago, xelas said:

Oh my, @PeterHG , I completely overlooked your Big Year 2017, and you have not reminded me of this huge mistake of mine ? It will took me days to like them all, my birding friend. BTW if there will ever be a BIF Big Year, you will be on top of that count!

Thanks you @xelas, for looking at my collection. I will gladly accept a general 'like' for all of them, although that will include the EBC ones ! I will surely get to the Slovenian ones we saw together soon, although in-between is still the Austria collection. It's a good thing I am retired....

[PeterHG]

241. Great Tit. Ok, there was no need to drive to Hungary for this one. But the first photo this year anyway...

 

[PeterHG]

242. Squacco Heron. Quite a few present in the Halasto Fishponds

 

 

And, of course, a flight shot, @xelas 

 

Edited June 25, 2017 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

243. Ferruginous Duck. Beautiful little duck, which can be seen quite easily in the Halasto Fishponds. Not very approachable, though..

 

 

[PeterHG]

244. Whiskered Tern

 

 

[PeterHG]

245. Eurasian Reed Warbler. 

 

[PeterHG]

246. Black-crowned Night Heron. One of the most beautiful Herons, in my view, and quite Common in the Fishponds area

 

[PeterHG]

247. Little Bittern. We spotted it a few times, but taking a decent photo was quite another matter.

 

[PeterHG]

248. Yellow-legged Gull. Taking the place of the Herring Gull in southern and eastern Europe.

 

[PeterHG]

249. Caspian Gull. It was only a few days ago, when processing my photos from the trip, that I realised this was not another Yellow-legged Gull, but a Caspian Gull...

 

[PeterHG]

250. Pygmy Cormorant. A 'lifer' for me, but in fact I saw this species in all three countries I visited on the trip!