PeterHG’s sixth. Wherever it may take us.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @elefromozand @Peter Connan.

 

A few days ago I wert back to the same area with my wife, hoping to show her the Whooping Swans, too. No luck and the weather was alot worse, too. We did come away with a few other ticks, though. And the first one was a special sighting as well.

 

29 / NL 29. Cattle Egret. Flevoland, 15/1. A rare visitor to our country. Only distant views, unfortunately, so a heavy crop.

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

30 / NL 30. Long-tailed Tit. Flevoland, 15/1

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

31 / NL 31. White-tailed Eagle. Flevoland, 15/1. A lot more distant than even the Cattle Egret, but we hardly ever see it any closer here. We have about 15 pairs of them in the Netherlands after the first breeding pair was registered in 2006.

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

A little walk to our local lake proved that the female Mandarin duck was still around. I had seen it once in December, but had not been able to find it again until now.

 

32 / NL 32. Mandarin Duck. Amersfoort 17/1. The male is perhaps more spectacular, but the female is quite beautiful, too, I think.

 

[shazdwn]

Some great additions.  Its interesting to read of egrets being a special sighting on a few northern hemisphere threads - they are so common in my area (we get four species - great, intermediate, little and cattle).  One of the beauties of having BY participants from all over the world.  

[PeterHG]

I went for a walk to the nearby Arkemheen area. Very windy, but sunny, too. I walk along the banks of the IJsselmeer, hoping to see some wintering ducks. The first sighting however was a different addition.

 

33 / NL 33. Curlew. Arkemheen, 21/1

 

[PeterHG]

There were ducks, too and they were sheltering closer to the shore than usual. The wind made photography quite difficult and I got a lot of shots with perfectly sharp waves ;). But I did have some succes.

 

43 / NL 34. Goosander (female). Arkemheen 21/1. They can often be seen in that area in small numbers, but usually far away.

 

[PeterHG]

And the sun made the Goldeneyes shine. Already in the count.

 

 

 

 

 

[Galana]

That is one nice photo of the Goosander. It shows up the clear break from hood to neck that is so indicative of the species.  The head looks so well groomed it could have been recently brushed.

[elefromoz]

@PeterHG

14 hours ago, PeterHG said:

The wind made photography quite difficult and I got a lot of shots with perfectly sharp waves

That will make some of us feel a lot better

The yellow eye in the emerald colour of the Goldeneye is quite startling. Nice to hear of the WTE doing well in your country, a "dreamy" shot.

[Peter Connan]

You certainly rose to the challenge Peter!

[PeterHG]

19 hours ago, Galana said:

The head looks so well groomed it could have been recently brushed.

Yes, I noticed that, too. It was probably the strong headwind

10 hours ago, elefromoz said:

The yellow eye in the emerald colour of the Goldeneye is quite startling.

It is, indeed. Definitely one of the most beautiful duck and it lives up to its name.

10 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

You certainly rose to the challenge Peter!

Thank you Peter! I'm glad some of them came out fine. One of the few days where I would perhaps consider using a tripod. But no, I like my freedom....;)

[PeterHG]

It was quite sunny again this morning. The wind had died down and I hadn't, so I decided to go for another walk in the wetland area in Flevoland.

 

35 / NL 35 Common Pochard. Flevoland, 22/1. There were quite a few of them about and fortunately not too far away.

 

[PeterHG]

36 / NL 36. Willow Tit. Flevoland, 22/1. It was calling the whole time, which made the id a lot easier. Well, I've never really seen the Marsh tit in that area, so that helps, too.

 

[Kitsafari]

super additions of lovely birds.  

[TonyQ]

A lovely Willow Tit photo!

[elefromoz]

On 1/23/2021 at 12:05 AM, PeterHG said:

The wind had died down and I hadn't,

Good to hear.

Im enjoying your trips to Flevoland, partly because I love the sound of it, conjures up images of some mystical place. The little Willow Tit amongst the moss fits perfectly

[PeterHG]

A quick walk through our local park a few days ago produced another addition:

 

37 / NL 37. Short-toed Treecreeper. Amersfoort

 

[PeterHG]

Today a bit of sunshine was predicted, so I drove to Flevoland to see if I could find anything of interest there.

 

38 / NL 38. Common Buzzard. Flevoland, 4/2. Always plenty about in winter in various shades of brown and white.

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

39 / NL 39. Eurasian Sparrowhawk. Flevoland, 4/2

 

Edited February 4, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

Already included, but this one came gliding by, while I was in one of the hides:

 

Great Egret.

 

[michael-ibk]

Great Sparrowhawk! 

[TonyQ]

Agree, excellent Sparrowhawk photo.

[xelas]

Great photo of a Great egret, @PeterHG!

[Galana]

Superb Great Egret.