PeterHG's seventh Big Year

[PeterHG]

Ok let's get started, only 361 days left. No idea where this year will allow us to travel, but we're tentatively monitoring the situation in South Africa, to see whether we could venture a trip there in the near future. For the moment we're stuck with the grey weather over here, so I'm not really tempted to go out and do some serious birding. A walk in the area, surprisingly, delivered a bird I did not get to see of take a shot of last year.

 

01 /NL 01 (There's room for other countries here...) Eurasian Siskin. Amersfoort, January 2

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Are you planning to go for six weeks?

[Dave Williams]

7 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

Are you planning to go for six weeks?

I am!!

[PeterHG]

On 1/4/2022 at 9:19 PM, Dave Williams said:

I am!!

Good for you, Dave! Something to look forward to.

[PeterHG]

Yesterday was a break from the grey and windy weather, we've been having. Still some rain every now and then, but also sunny intervals and (at least in the morning) not much wind. On the basis of these predictions we decided to take a drive to the Brouwersdam in the south-west, to try and get some wintering coastal species. As it turned out, this was a good decision and already at the beginning of the dam (built as part of the Delta works, protecting the islands of the province of Zeeland angainst floods like the disastrous one of 1953) we found the first good species. Not exactly rare, but uncommon and mostly seen flying by pretty far from the shore. This one came a lot closer.

 

02 /NL 02. Razorbill. Zeeland, January

 

 

[PeterHG]

Farther out we saw a group of 6 or 7 divers. A little far for photography, but we got excellent scope views. A rather common visitor.

 

03 /NL 03. Red-throated Diver. Zeeland, January

 

[PeterHG]

04 /NL 04. Red-breasted Merganser. Zeeland, January. Definitely the most reliable place to see them in winter. At low tide they come closer to the shore, so we were lucky in that respect. The males are really beautiful!

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

Probably the best find of the day was this duck. A rather rare winter species and again, this is the most reliable spot for them. It is by no means certain that they will be thjere though, so we were very happy with the three females we found.

 

05 /NL 05. Long-tailed Duck. Zeeland, January. 

[PeterHG]

Especially at low tide the edges of the dam hold quite a few waders. Oystercatchers are probably the most numerous.

 

06 /NL 06. Oystercatcher. Zeeland, January. Well, I may as well count the lonely gull...

07 /NL 07. Common (mew) Gull, Zeeland,January.

 

 

[PeterHG]

08 /NL 08. Ringed Plover. Zeeland, January. Present is smalll numbers.

 

 

[PeterHG]

And a single distant Grey plover.

 

09 /NL 09. Grey Plover. Zeeland, January

 

[PeterHG]

Another single wader, but much larger:

 

10 /NL 10. Curlew. Zeeland, January

[PeterHG]

We left the dam to have a look on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland and found a fairly large group of wintering swans. They were quite far off, so I attached the 2x converter to the 300mm lens, giving me a reach of 1200mm. Of course it degrades the quality, but good enough for a BY addition.

 

11 /NL 11. Whooper Swan. Zeeland, January

 

 

 

[Galana]

Sounds like you are not done posting yet but a good collection so far.

Envious of the Long-tailed ducks.

[PeterHG]

There were large groups of geese on the island, mainly Barnacles, but also a fair number of Brent Geese

 

12 /NL 12. Barnacle Goose. Zeeland, January

13 /NL 13. Brent Goose, Zeeland, January.

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

The most efficient way to add up the numbers is, of course, to post photos with several species.

 

14 /NL 14. Little Egret. Zeeland, January.  We have quite a few great egrets on our local area, but its little cousin is much more range-limited.

15 /NL 15. Spoonbill. Zeeland, January. I do hope to get better pictures later in the year.

 

[PeterHG]

On our way home we made another short stop at the dam, which did not produce a lot. It was high tide and the ducks were much more distant. But there were still gulls....

 

16 /NL 16. Herring Gull. Zeeland, January

17 /NL 17. Greater Black-backed Gull. Zeeland, January.

 

 

 

It felt really good to have been out again!

 

 

[Galana]

33 minutes ago, PeterHG said:

It felt really good to have been out again!

I know the feeling well.

Liked the Brent and Barnies in formation too.

[Kitsafari]

17 hours ago, PeterHG said:

04 /NL 04. Red-breasted Merganser. Zeeland, January. Definitely the most reliable place to see them in winter. At low tide they come closer to the shore, so we were lucky in that respect. The males are really beautiful!

 

\

waahhhhhhhh.....

[michael-ibk]

A great start Peter! Lots of these species would be very special to me.

[Dave Williams]

Steady on Peter, you'll have nothing left to go for at this rate!!

[Zim Girl]

Great start to the year Peter!

[elefromoz]

A busy start, that Herring Gull looks mean, wouldn't trust him with my fish'n'chips.

[TonyQ]

Excellent start!

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Galana, @Kitsafari@michael-ibk@Dave Williams@Zim Girl@elefromoz@TonyQ!

It seems I left one or two behind from our trip to the Brouwersdam.

18 /NL 18. Ruddy Turnstone. Zeeland, January. Very confiding. In fact, almost too much so for my fixed 300mm lens..

19 /NL 19. Egyptian Goose. Zeeland, January. Let's get this one out of the way.