PeterHG’s sixth. Wherever it may take us.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @elefromoz, @Zim Girl, @Dave Williams!

 

Tried out the whites and blacks today in the local pond. The whites:

09 / NL 09. Black-headed Gull. Amersfoort 8/1

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

And for the blacks:

 

10 / NL10. Eurasian Coot. Amersfoort, 8/1

 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Lovely shots and sightings so far Peter!

[Kitsafari]

awesome shots as always @PeterHG . i think again that I should really retire my camera and just gawk at others' photos . 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Peter Connanand @Kitsafari!

On 1/9/2021 at 7:52 AM, Kitsafari said:

i think again that I should really retire my camera and just gawk at others' photos .

That would not be a good idea at all! Believe it or not, there are days when I feel the same, though. Keep on shooting, it's so much fun

[Soukous]

On 1/9/2021 at 6:52 AM, Kitsafari said:

awesome shots as always @PeterHG . i think again that I should really retire my camera and just gawk at others' photos . 

 

No way!

If you do that we'll miss out on all those colourful species that fill your BY.

[PeterHG]

Yesterday my wife and I decided to take a trip to Zeeland and try and see some coastal winter birds. Lockdown rules here still allow that, though with the number of infections still not decreasing enough we may be in for stricter measures in a few days' time. When we had driven for half an hour or so, a dashboard warning light indicated that we were losing pressure in one of the tyres. I stopped at a petrol station to put some air in, but it soon turned out that a valve had broken. In the end we had to be towed to a car dealer in the nearest town, where they replaced it. Although this had cost us some two hours, we still decided to push on, but cut down on the number of places we would visit. The most important destination in this time of the year is the Brouwersdam and that is where we went. We were not the only ones. It was cold but sunny and a lot of people had come there to take a walk along the few beaches along the dam. And I had never seen so many birders there! Fortunately it is a wide and long dam, so even with this many people it is fairly easy to park the car away from others. This gives you some idea of the area and what you may expect. By no means certain that the species will be there, though. I've also driven there and only saw some distant Mergansers and Grebes. Still it can be a worthwhile spot and yesterday it was.

 

[PeterHG]

10 / NL 10. Razorbill. Brouwersdam 9/1. I've only seen it here twice and, like this time mostly distant, so a good find!

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

11 / NL 11. Sanderling. Brouwersdam 9/1. Usually there along the shore.

 

 

[Galana]

On 1/9/2021 at 6:52 AM, Kitsafari said:

I should really retire my camera and just gawk at others' photos . 

Please no. What would we do without all those lovely Singaporean birds? You need your camera for when that Pitta comes into your kitchen again.

 

@PeterHGI am expecting more.

[PeterHG]

12 / NL12. Guillemot. Brouwersdam 9/1. 

 

[PeterHG]

13 / NL13. Red-breasted Merganser. Brouwersdam 9/1. One of the most reliable spots to see it. Most of them stay very distant, but occasionally a few venture closer to the shore.

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

14 / NL14. Long-tailed Duck. Brouwersdam, 9/1. Pretty rare, but seen here every year. Yesterday there were at least 5. 

 

 

There was also a male and it was quite close for a minute, but I only got the waves in focus when I hastily tried to get a few shots. Only when it moved further away did I manage just one.

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Lovely additions Peter

[Galana]

That is a lovely colourful shot of the Merganser

[Dave Williams]

Great shots Peter. So what have you been doing today birthday boy!! Hope it was a good one whatever you were up to.

[PeterHG]

Thank you, @TonyQ, @galana, @Dave Williams! I have few more of the trip coming up.

23 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

So what have you been doing today birthday boy!

Actually we had planned to do the Zeeland trip today, as an alternative birthday party ;). As the weather forecast for today was pretty bad, we decided to go a day earlier. Good decision!

[shazdwn]

Love that sanderling shot

[elefromoz]

@PeterHG, that is the best shot of the Merganser I have seen, so much detail.

[Peter Connan]

A belated happy birthday and thanks for the beautiful additions!

[PeterHG]

Thank you @shazdwn, @elefromoz, @Peter Connan

3 hours ago, elefromoz said:

that is the best shot of the Merganser I have seen, so much detail.

I was really luck to have one of the males come closer to the shore than they usually do!

 

1 hour ago, Peter Connan said:

A belated happy birthday

Thank you Peter. I had asked for an extended lockdown on my current age, but I just moved on, I'm afraid...;)

[PeterHG]

A few more from our Zeeland trip.

 

15 / NL 15. Black-necked Grebe, Brouwersdam 9/1. Not as spectacular as in their summer plumage, but they do give you the red eye.

 

[PeterHG]

16 / NL 16. Common Eider. Brouwersdam 9/1. A handsome duck, with the black and white feathers and the peculiar shape of its bill. They are more common in the north of the country, but there were quite a few about this time.

 

 

And some more males in the 'golden hour', just before we headed home again.

[PeterHG]

The dam also attracts more common species.

 

17 / NL 17 Eurasian Magpie. Brouwersdam 9/1

 

[PeterHG]

18 / NL 18. Herring Gull. Brouwersdam 9/1