Peter B's Second Big Year 2023

[BRACQUENE]

Well we better start early then ... with a singing bird introducing 2023 

 

1° Blue Tit ( Parus caeruleus- Pimpelmees ) Dilbeek in front of my window 1th of January 2023 : 

2° Eurasian Jackdaw ( Corvus monedula - Kauw) Dilbeek my neighbours chimney 1th of January 2023 : 

3° Wood Pigeon ( Columba palumbus- Houtduif ) Dilbeek roof of my neighbour 1th of January 2023 : 

4° Common Raven ( Corvus corax- Raaf) Dilbeek my garden 1th of January 2023 : 

5° Magpie ( Pica pica- Ekster) Dilbeek my garden 1th of January 2023 : 

6° Rose-ringed Parakeet ( Psittacula krameri- Halsbandparkiet ) Dilbeek 1th of January 2023 : 

[Galana]

Unfair advantage. Your year started one hour ahead of mine (and I had a lie in anyway.)

Well done Peter. You have got off to a good start and have actually done something I was also planning. A Big Year from my home. I have run a lounge list (birds to be seen from my window) for years and I may carry this forward to a BY subdivision.

Your English is good and I know you will not mind if I point out that in English the abbreviation for sequential numbers is First. 1st. Second, 2nd. Third 3rd and then they go with the soft th. 4th, 5th etc.,10th, 100th etc.,

[BRACQUENE]

Thanks Fred mind you I said to myself that abbreviation looks indeed a bit strange but having only had four hours of sleep is perhaps a small excuse ? 

[Galana]

21 minutes ago, BRACQUENE said:

having only had four hours of sleep is perhaps a small excuse ? 

No wonder you got an early start for 2023 then!

I am waiting for @Game Wardento start off BY 2023 Topic before posting my 001 for 2023.

Spoiler alert is not a species one normally associates with a lounge window view (unless you live in a mansion like Galana Towers)

[BRACQUENE]

Sorry for the quality of the picture but this one taken from my bedroom window this morning is without doubt a ...

 

7° Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla - Keep) Dilbeek 2nd ( Fred) of January 2023 : 

[BRACQUENE]

My first walk of the year started unusually in the afternoon when the weather looked a bit more settled but alas I only reached the border with Brussels Anderlecht when a downpour tempered my expectations ; the pigeons didn't seem to bother ... 

 

8° Black-headed Gull ( Larus ridibundus- Kokmeeuw) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023 : 

 

9° Feral Pigeon ( Columba livia domestica - Stadsduif ) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023  : 

10° Mallard  (Anas platyrhynchos - Wilde eend) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023 : 

11° Domestic goose ( Anser Anser domesticus - Huisgans) - Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023 :

12° Common Pochard ( Aythya ferina - Tafeleend) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023  : 

13° Grey heron ( Ardea cinerea- Blauwe Reiger) - Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023 : 

14° Common Coot ( Fulica atra - Meerkoet) - Anderlecht Neerpede - 2nd of January 2023 :

15° Canada Goose ( Branta canadensis - Grote Canadese Gans ) - Anderlecht Neerpede - 2nd of January 2023 :

16° Carrion Crow ( Corvus Corone - Zwarte kraai ) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023  :

17° Tufted Duck ( Aythya fuligula - Kuifeend ) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023 :

18° Moorhen ( Gallinula chloropus - Waterhoen ) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023 : 

19° Chaffinch ( Fringilla coelebs- Vink) Anderlecht Neerpede 2nd of January 2023 : 

 

[Galana]

Nothing like getting a good start but you have to know the difference between Ducks and Geese!

Those white fellows at #11 go well with Orange Sauce and if the saying is accurate "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a DUCK!" Or as the scientists would put it.  Anas platyrhynchos domesticus.

Have this one on me and keep Ansa for later.

[Tdgraves]

I thought we didn’t count domestic animals @Galana ?

[BRACQUENE]

@TdgravesWhy didn't you tell me that in my first BY where they counted ?  As for duck and goose, the goose goes well with oranges as well Fred , but I admit this is a better picture taken yesterday also : 

Believe me or not but the confusion came from the place were I saw the goose last year : almost the same spot as the ducks in # 11 now

[Tdgraves]

I didn’t notice. Did you not wonder why there was lots of tongue in cheek talk of zoos and owl sanctuaries in the last week of December….?

[BRACQUENE]

I was busy birding until the last day at the Belgian coast as you might have noticed so I didn't , but anyway those pictures of "domestic" animals were all taken in the wild be it close to a Brussels lake 

[Galana]

40 minutes ago, BRACQUENE said:

almost the same spot as the ducks in # 11 now

They could be sat in the same nest but  a Duck is a Duck and a Goose is a Goose and #11 are ducks. If you want to test the difference (test not taste although they are edible with or without Orange sauce) walk up to them. A duck will just waddle away whereas a goose will stretch out its neck and hiss at you. The saviours of Rome.

As to domestic wildlife I am ambivalent (anytime now someone will put up a Rhode Island Red and try and pass it off as a Belgian Jungle Fowl) Red AND Grey species.

Bombay Duck might be duck too far.

 

[BRACQUENE]

I was a late starter in 2022 but an early bird in 2023  

[BRACQUENE]

The weather was very windy and wet the last days but this morning the sun was out and I had a walk in one of my favorites , the small but beautiful "Wilderbos" in Berchem Brussels close to Dilbeek : 

 

20° Great Tit ( Parus major - Koolmees ) Wilderbos 7th of January 2023 : 

21° House Sparrow ( Passer domesticus - Huismus) Wilderbos 7th of January 2023 : 

[BRACQUENE]

Another day and a first walk this year in the " Wolfsputten" in Dilbeek ; glorious sunshine for once ..

 

22° Great spotted Woodpecker ( Dendrocopos major- Grote Bonte Specht ) Wolfsputten Dilbeek 8th of January 2023 : 

23° Robin ( Erithacus rubella - Roodborst ) Dilbeek Wolfsputten 8th of January 2023 : 

 

24 ° Common Starling ( Sturnus vulgaris- Spreeuw ) Dilbeek 8th of January 2023 : 

25° Blackbird ( Turdus merula- Merel ) Wolfsputten Dilbeek 8th of January 2023: 

 

[xelas]

Starting early and quickly. Good light in 2023!

[BRACQUENE]

A cold morning in Dilbeek with some hazy sunshine and a biting wind ; on my own in the Wolfsputten but not quite ...

 

 

A far better view of the Great spotted Woodpecker than on Sunday : 

 

 

And the Blackbird : 

 

But also a few others ....

 

26° Wren ( Troglodytes troglodytes - Winterkoning ) Dilbeek Wolfsputten 10th of January 2023 : 

 

 

27° Short-toed Treecreeper ( Certhia brachydactyla- Boomkruiper) Dilbeek Wolfsputten 10th of January 2023 : 

 

[Galana]

Cute squirrel. The last pose  really captured the animal's nature.   I wish we had them here.

Some obscure lbjs took some finding even when you told us they were in the shot.

[PeterHG]

Off to a good start, @BRACQUENE!

[BRACQUENE]

Wednesday is market day in Dilbeek and also the day when I do the shopping for the week and prepare a curry for dinner , but still some time to do my walk and this time in glorious sunshine :

 

 

 

 

Canada geese I saw in Anderlecht Neerpede on the 2nd and the very common : 

 

28° Egyptian Goose ( Alopochen aegyptiacus- Nijlgans) Dilbeek lake 11th of January 2023 : 

Another regular be it not in the usual spot ...

 

29° Great Cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo - Aalscholver) Dilbeek lake 11th of January 2023 : 

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

Thursday was a miserable day in Brussels with gale force winds and rain all day but this morning at least it was dry for a few hours and I decided to go to  "Wilderbos" instead of the "Wolfsputten" ; nothing new there , I suddenly realized it was Friday the 13th ,  but just at the border of Brussels with Dilbeek I heard a high pitched sound and a flock of birds different from the tits I usually see and that were also present : 

 

30° Long-Tailed TIt ( Aegithalos caudatus- Staartmees) Border Flemish region 13th of January 2023 :

 

[PeterHG]

That is always a nice one to see!

[Galana]

5 hours ago, PeterHG said:

That is always a nice one to see!

Absolutely. One I rarely get to see but enjoy when I do.

Nice one.

[BRACQUENE]

Thanks Peter and Fred ;  it was the sound of them and their behavior that made me stop to have a look otherwise I would have moved on : at home I learned that though originally part of the tits Parus group they are now in the Aegithalidae together with the pygmy and American bushtit ; there is a subspecies with a complete white head in Northern Europe rare in Belgium but not totally uncommon in winter that I will be looking for now 

[BRACQUENE]

A frosty morning after all the rain we had and I was eager to go out and took an unusual way just beside the "Brussels Ring " 

And arrived at the bottom of the valley and close to the border with Brussels where I saw those Long-tailed Tits on Friday but close-by there was a path upwards

again that I never took before God knows why ? 

For the Dutch speaking birders and there are a few this is of course easy to understand and for the others the " Thaborberg " is a small but very diverse

nature reserve  of six hectares with a limestone substrate and spring is the best season to visit if you want to enjoy the flowers but I went up to look for birds ...

 

The area was stunning with plenty of the usual birds not in the least the noisy Parakeets or the Chaffinch :

 

But secretly I was hoping to see another bird , my number one of last year that I had already narrowly missed last week and went a bid offroad and suddenly

heard an : 

 

31° Eurasian Jay ( Garrulous glandarius- Gaai ) Thaborberg - Dilbeek 17th of January 2023 : 

 

 

I went for a drink in "Lou's Plek" at the entry of the Wolfsputten and returning home I saw another one !