PeterHG's eighth BY

[Peter Connan]

33 minutes ago, Tdgraves said:

Congrats on the double century 

 

And wow again!

[Galana]

Another cap in the air for your 2nd Century. Not overlooking the other excellent supporting cast.

I won't disrupt your thread further other than to ask you from using that 4 letter word again.

[xelas]

A beautiful set of birds to reach #200!

[pedro maia]

Congratis Peter, 200 with consistent quality.

[Zim Girl]

Congratulations on the 200.  Fantastic flying cuckoo!

[BRACQUENE]

Congratulations with your 200 Peter and some stellar pictures to arrive there! 

[Kitsafari]

beautiful images as always. Congrats on the 2nd century!

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ @Tdgraves @michael-ibk @Galana @xelas @pedro maia @Zim Girl @BRACQUENE @Kitsafari!

 

When I read in @Galana's thread that he had not yet included the common Greylag Goose in the count I realized that goes for me as well. 

 

201 / NL 92. Greylag Goose. Arkemheen, May.

 

On my usual walk in the Arkemheen area I had already heard the Garden Warbler's song quite a few times. It had stayed hidden in the blackberry bushes every time, but finally one decided to sing out in the open. Not the most brightly coloured bird, but I it showed and sang well and I am very happy with the shot.

202 / NL 92. Garden Warbler. Arkemheen, May.

 

And a duplicate, just because they are duplicates. In the evening light. They are such beautiful birds. 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Excellent shot of the Garden Warbler, that's such a difficult one. And the Lapwings are awesome! 

[xelas]

Lapwings like Starlings really shines in the proper light! Fantastic shot.

[Peter Connan]

Wow, what a shot Peter!

[BRACQUENE]

Those lapwings are incredible Peter !

[Galana]

Ditto the Lapwings. a much underrated bird and shown off so well in your pic.

[Soukous]

More beautiful photos Peter. an excellent double century

[Zim Girl]

Amazing shot of the Lapwings!

[PeterHG]

Thank you @michael-ibk @xelas @Peter Connan @BRACQUENE @Galana @Soukous @Zim Girl! 

On 5/9/2023 at 12:04 AM, Galana said:

much underrated bird

Very true! I was really happy with this shot. When they were chasing eachother, i followed them with the camera, hoping they would turn with their backs to the sun. That they did so simultaneously was pure luck and a real bonus.

 

203 / NL 93. White Wagtail. Arkemheen, May. Very common in the polders.

 

204 / NL 94. Eurasian Jay. Amersfoort, May. They can be seen and heard frequently in the local park, but they remain quite shy, which can't be said for their cousins, the magpies. This one landed in a tree in one of the gardens nearby, just as I was driving by, on my way to the usual wetland area. No traffic, so I could stop the car and quickly take a shot.

 

[TonyQ]

I really like that Jay photo

[Kalaharikind]

Wow, wow and wow again! 

 

And congratulations on the double ton! 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ and @Kalaharikind

 

As the weather forecast was good we decided, on the spur of the moment, to spend the weekend on the Isle of Texel. We usually go there once a year, for a week or so, but ever since the Covid pandemic the acommodation rates have skyrocketed. We decided to take an early ferry and stay for one night, which would give us two whole days to visit the island. The first day was sunny, as predicted, but the second day was overcats and quite cold. Still we had two nice days and I managed to add some species not easily spotted elsewhere.

This does most certainly not apply to the first addition, but somehow I had omitted it up till now.

 

205 / NL 95. Black-headed Gull. Texel, May. Still very common, of course, but it has been hit hard by the avian flu and in every colony we saw some dead birds lying about.

 

206 / NL 96. Bar-tailed Godwit. Texel, May. We saw some large groups at low tide out on the mudflats, but fortunately we also got better views, though never very close.

 

 

207 / NL 97. Eurasian Dotterel. Texel, May. It has always been an uncommon migratory bird, but numbers appear to have declined. Texel is still a pretty safe place to see some individuals passing through, though always distant. Combined with the midday haze good photos were impossible to get, but I was very happy with the sighting. There were about 20 birds.

 

208 / NL 98. Common Pheasant. Texel, May. Not as common as they used to be, but still a certainty in the dunes of Texel.

 

 

209 / 99. Northern Wheatear. Texel, May. Also declining in numbers. We still saw them quite regularly in the dunes, but in spite of the fact that people and dogs are supposed to keep to the footpaths with the dog on a leash, quite a few dog-owners feel that these rules do not apply to them, so numbers will undoubtedly fall even further.

 

210 / NL 100. Western Marsh Harrier. Texel, May. Fortunately we managed to see them regularly and they seem to be doing well on the island.

The male:

 

And the female:

[TonyQ]

Well done on NL 100!

[xelas]

Gathering 100(+) birds on home turf is a great achievement. Congratulations.

 

[Galana]

Well done. Especially the Dotterel. Confiding but scarce.

Congrats on the domestic 100.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ @xelas @Galana.

 

More from Texel.

 

211 / NL 101. Lesser Black-backed Gull. Texel, May. Even more common than the Herring Gull on the island.

 

 212 / NL 102 Brent (Goose).Texel, May. The best spot in the country to see them.

 

213 / NL 103. Sand Martin. Texel, May. To stop the decline in numbers some artificial nesting walls have been built and the Sand Martins make good use of them

 

214 / NL 104. Eurasian Hobby. Texel, May. The surprise of the day. A scarce breeding bird and last year I did not see a single one.

 

215 / NL 105. Eurasian Spoonbill. Texel, May.  Quite common on the island and they are mostly not very shy.

 

[xelas]

All beauties, Peter! The Hobby ... just awesome.

[michael-ibk]

Agree, great photo.