PeterHG's BY in whatever form it will take.

[Peter Connan]

Big, tall, long or small, slow or fast or stationary, you just seem to nail them all each and every time!

[Zim Girl]

Lovely close up Little Owl, Peter, and nice to see I am not the only one to get a sparrowhawk in the garden.

[Kitsafari]

6 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Big, tall, long or small, slow or fast or stationary, you just seem to nail them all each and every time!

 

agreed!

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Peter Connanand @Kitsafari!

9 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

you just seem to nail them all each and every time!

I am really luck to live pretty close to a wetland area hosting quite a few species. Also, as many cyclists and birders on foot frequent the paths through the area, the birds are less shy than in other places. With a little patience one often gets the opportunity for a close-by photo. And the fact that I retired quite a few years ago and regularly visit this spot helps a lot…….;)

[pedro maia]

I give up on highlighting any of your pictures Peter, they are all too good.

 

Congrats on the second century, it´s really a pity that I can´t help you getting the third next weekend.

[michael-ibk]

Great stuff, have to highlight the Martin!

[BRACQUENE]

Great additions Peter ; what a  Savi's : would love to get that close 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @pedro maia @michael-ibk @BRACQUENE!

 

The prospect of a few sunny and dry days made us book a B&B in the north of the country for two nights. We planned on visiting two areas: the 'Zuidlaardermeer', a lake with surrounding wetlands and the 'Lauwersmeer' often one of the birding hotspots in the north, especially during migration. I remember pointing  @Soukousin that direction when he visited the Netherlands in March, but the weather then did not allow for any decent birding. I must say that the Lauwersmeer was a little disappointing for us, too. The water levels were high, which meant there were far fewer waders than usual and the ones that were present were very distant. The Zuidlaardermeer area at least gave us some nice additions:

 

272 / NL 55. Mute Swan. Zuidlaardermeer, May. Nothing special, but it was not on the list yet.

 

273 / NL 56. Grasshopper Warbler. Zuidlaardermeer, May. I missed this one the last few years, so happy to find one here.

 

274 / NL 57. Black-necked Grebe. Zuidlaardermeer, May. One of the best areas to find these. Most of them keep their distance, but with a little patience you can catch one a little closer. The predicted sunshine did not come until later in the day, which would have made the plumage even more shiny. Never satisfied, are we ? 

 

275 / NL 58. Common Tern. Zuidlaardermeer, May. This also an area for Black Tern and even Whiskered Tern. I saw both of them, but too far away for a photo.

 

276 / NL 59. Carrion Crow. Zuidlaardermeer, May.

 

277 / NL 60. Hen Harrier. Zuidlaardermeer. An unexpected migrant.

 

278 / 60. Western Marsh Harrier. Zuidlaardermeer, May. Common in this area and also at the Lauwersmeer.

 

279 / NL 62. Common Redshank. Zuidlaardermeer, May

 

280 / 63. Common Pochard. Zuidlaardermeer, May. As the name implies quite common here.

 

281 / NL 64. Gadwall. Zuidlaardermeer, May. Even more numerous than the Mallard and very active.

 

282 / NL 65. Garganey. Zuidlaardermeer, May. We do get this duck in our local wetland area, but in low numbers and often very shy. Here they were much more common and sometimes ventured  quite close.

 

[michael-ibk]

Great BIF! And Grasshopper Warbler is always a good achievement.

 

16 minutes ago, PeterHG said:

Never satisfied, are we ? 

 

Never! But if not even you are what can we say?

[Peter Connan]

More beautiful shots @PeterHG

[JimS]

Superb BIFs, the Garganey especially!

[Kitsafari]

Excellent BIFs!

[xelas]

It is a joy to watch your excellent BIF shots, @PeterHG!

[Zim Girl]

Lovely pictures of the Garganey.

[Galana]

Looks like a productive weekend. The BN Grebe does you proud.

[TonyQ]

Another vote for the Garganey - superb

[pedro maia]

Great shots, the garganey is abeautiful duck.

[BRACQUENE]

Great pictures Peter ; the Grasshopper Warbler is indeed tricky to get as I experienced last year : heard it yesterday but no shot 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @michael-ibk @Peter Connan @JimS @Kitsafari @xelas @Zim Girl @Galana @TonyQ @pedro maia @BRACQUENE

 

A few from the Lauwersmeer area.

 

283 / NL 66. Northern Goshawk. Lauwersmeer, May. A quick fly-by, but happy wite the sighting, of course!

 

284 / NL 67. European Stonechat. Lauwersmeer, May.

 

285 / NL 68. Whinchat. Lauwersmeer, May. A species I don't get to see every year, so a good find.

 

286 / NL 69. Northern Wheatear. Lauwersmeer, May. This bird was in the same spot as the previous two, all on migration.

 

287 / NL 70. Western Yellow Wagtail. Lauwersmeer, May

 

And one I had omitted from our local patch. Unfortunately in part of my favourite area you are no longer allowed to stop the car. Undoubtedly this was caused by too many birders not sticking to the borders of the road, thus hindering the local traffic. Quite a few times when I saw this I have told the drivers to leave the road free, but mostly this got me angry looks and muttering. Now it has robbed me of a good spot to photograph Godwits, Redshanks, Ruff and even distant White-tailed eagles. This Greenfich was taken at another spot, that is still accessible.

288 / NL 71. Greenfinch. Arkemheen, May.

[michael-ibk]

Any Goshawk photo is a great one. You might disagree Peter, still remember your awesome shots some years ago. Shame you lost a good spot. In all fairness, us birders can be a nuisance. 😁

[PeterHG]

On 5/17/2024 at 4:29 PM, michael-ibk said:

us birders can be a nuisance.

I hope all of you behave in Namibia! 

 

We just returned from a 6-days stay in Portugal, not far from Sintra. Not a birding trip, but a preparation for our son's wedding in September. Even so I had taken the camera with me as there would prabably be some free time to visit a few areas in the region. @pedro maiahad kindly provided us with a number of locations where we might spot some birds not easily seen in our country. The first was a sports complex, perhaps not the first sort of place associated with birding, but walking there was quite pleasant actually. we went there in search of a lifer: the Crested Myna. Not a native bird obviously, but certainly a tickable species. We did in fact see it, but the binoculars took priority over the camera and the fly-by did not give me enough time for both. So a count for my life list but not for this thread. I got my priorities wrong, I know, I know..... 

We did find a few others, though.

 

289 / PT 01. European Serin.  Complexo Desportivo do Jamor, May. Very common in the area.

 

290 / PT 02 Zitting Cisticola. Complexo Desportivo do Jamor, May. Fortunately there was only one cisticola to choose from.

 

 

291 / PT 03. Black Redstart. Complexo Desportivo do Jamor, May. Also very common in all of the areas we managed to visit. Still a good one for us, as we rarely get one in our region of the country.

 

 

292 / PT 04. European Turtle Dove. Complexo Desportivo do Jamor,May. We were very happy to get this bird. All but extinct in our country, due to extensive hunting in Mediterranean countries, but Pedro had told us they could be found in this location.

 

293 / PT 04. Yellow-legged Gull. Cascais, May.  Well, not an exciting species, but I needed a shot...

 

We were also given locations for possible Pallid Swift and even Plain Swift. We did try for the latter and after waiting there for some time I photographed two swifts (the only ones we saw), thinking I might have bagged another lifer. But looking at the photos afterwards I concluded that they were probably just common swifts. Another try will have to wait till next year. We will be going back to Portugal in September for a longer stay, but the Swifts will have left by then.

 

We took a walk in the Estação Agronómica Oeiras to look for Red-rumped Swallows and fortunately we did find them. Very hard to get a shot of, as they were flying low above the water belwo the walkway, but at least I got one.

 

294 / PT 06. Red-rumped Swallow. Estação Agronómica Oeiras, May

 

I had read that also the Rock Martin could be found here and, even though this did not seem like their usual habitat, a few were present.

295 / PT 07. Rock Martin.  Estação Agronómica Oeiras, May

 

On the last morning of our stay we took a little walk in the local park in Rinchoa, which got me another lifer.

296 / PT 08. Iberian Chiffchaff. Rinchoa. This is a juvenile. Several adults were singing in the trees. A good thing they did as it would be virtually impossible to distinguish it from the Common Chiffchaff.

 

This is the harvest from our limited birding time. Not too many perhaps, but I am really happy with some of the species. And we'll be back for more. Many thanks for the tips @pedro maia!

[TonyQ]

A good collection, and an amazing Rock Martin shot!

[Peter Connan]

Great shots of the little fast-fliers!