Peter B's 2024

[BRACQUENE]

A lot of Common Chiffchaffs of course ! 

And also the same Black Redstart I had seen on Friday a bit shy in my opinion 

Because he wasn't on his own anymore as I saw today .... 

[BRACQUENE]

And suddenly a whole flock of ... 

 

70/ Common Linnet ( Carduelis cannabina - Kneu ) Kobegem 26th of March 2024 : 

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

Some other visitors on my walks in Kobbegem :

 

 

And two new ones ....

71/ Feral Pigeon ( Columba Livia - Stadsduif ) Kobbegem 25th of March 2024 : 

72/ Meadow Pipit ( Anthus pratensis - Graspieper ) Kobbegem 26th of March 2024 : 

  

[Peter Connan]

A nice day out!

[BRACQUENE]

Thanks Peter ! And after two beautiful days the weather has worsened again so after some early rain this morning I was looking out of my window a few minutes ago and saw a bird far away in the sky and can you believe it : 

73/ Rook ( Corvus frugilegus - Roek ) Dilbeek Home 28th of March 2024 : 

 

 

 

 

 How lucky can you be ?

[BRACQUENE]

And to stay in the Crow family , going through my pictures from this year again I found this one from a walk in Liedekerke mid February , recognizable here in flight

by the diamond-shaped tail 

 

74/ Northern Raven ( Corvus corax- Raaf ) Liedekerke-Hertegembos 13th of February 2024 : 

[BRACQUENE]

This morning some early sunshine ( now it is raining again ) , frustrating times for a birder as has been the case the last half year , but I decided to go to Kobbegem for the fourth time in ten days before my oldest son came over for Eastern ...

 

 

And together with a few Grey Herons  a ...

 

75/ Western Great Egret ( Casmerodius Albus - Grote Zilverreiger ) Kobbegem 31 of March Easter Sunday :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

And even if I heard them a few times already this year my first pictures , be it from a distance , of the : 

 

76/ Common Pheasant ( Phasianus colchicus- Fazant ) Kobbegem 31 of March 2024 Easter Sunday : 

 

 

Happy Easter everybody ! 

[michael-ibk]

Happy Easter Peter! Nice additions, especially the Skylarks.

[BRACQUENE]

I went out this morning again to Kobbegem very early in the morning : the weather was grey overcast and the sun only starts to come out now too late for me 

 

 

 

First bird was a regular 

But my purpose was to look for the Little Owl that has been regularly seen in the area lately : instead I found another one from a far distance and hidden , so don't expect

much in terms of quality ... 

77/ Long-eared Owl ( Asio otus- Ransuil ) Kobbegem 1st of April 2024 : 

 

The next new one wasn't great either and I might get a better picture later but with these weather conditions it is better to publish them instantly

78/ Blue-headed Wagtail ( Motacilla flava - Gele Kwikstaart ) Kobbegem 1st of April 2024 : 

 

 

 

[xelas]

@BRACQUENE, entering into the subspecies territory?! Motacilla flava flava then. Have to check out my stash of Motacila flava subspecies.

[Galana]

If we are into sub species or races then us Britons can surely count our Pied Wagtails and what's this about Western Great Egrets? Have I missed this during one of my frequent afternoon naps?

[BRACQUENE]

@xelas@Galana

As you know I am always very meticulous in giving the names in English , Latin and Dutch and this time I used the Lars Svensson which gave different names in English than the Peterson I see now , from there the confusion you might have ; so the Yellow Wagtail is called Blue-headed and the Great White Egret is called Western Great Egret ; not my intention at all to go into subspecies then you can see now I hope and just adding the Yellow to my Grey and White one from this year 😉

[BRACQUENE]

I won't talk much about the weather but until today , feeling like summer ,  is was again miserable and looking at all those fantastic pictures from birds from all over the world in this BY I felt understandably a bit frustrated lately to be forced to stay at home ...

Yesterday even if it was still overcast with rain from time to time I couldn't stand it any longer and decided to visit Groot Broek in Elversele close to Waasmunster were I had been a few times in 2023 : 

 

 

 

The common Pheasants were all over the place ( much more used to people than in Kobbegem last week )  and also to start a lonely : 

79/ Oystercatcher ( Haematopus ostralegus - Scholekster ) Groot Broek Elversele 5th of April 2024 : 

 

And then the more interesting ones even if the light wasn't as good as last year , I admit :

80/ Bluethroat ( Luscinia svecica - Blauwborst ) Groot Broek Elversele 5th of April 2024 : 

 

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Another one I saw first in Groot Broek last year be it this time in the rain and flying over ... with in the background workers who made quite a lot of noise ... 

 

81/ Reed Bunting ( Emberiza schoeniclus - Rietgors ) Groot Broek Elversele 5th of April 2024 :

 

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Like last year I saw the next one again but this time also in the air : 

82/ Eurasian Spoonbill ( Platalea leucorodia - Lepelaar ) Groot Broek Elversele 5th of April 2024 : 

 

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And also a lot of : 

83/ Common Shelduck ( Tadorna Tadorna - Brandgans ) Groot Broek Elversele 5th of April 2024 :

 

 

  

[BRACQUENE]

Today we had a family reunion at my mothers care centre in Gent in the afternoon but this morning I couldn't resist to have another Kobbegem visit for a few hours starting at seven ; I was fascinated by the owls that had been seen and would love to see them also ; I was welcomed by a Grey Wagtail ( I must be careful with wagtails from now on .. ) 

 

And a bit later a Common Buzzard 

 

 

A much better view of the Long-eared Owl this time 

 

 

But what I was hoping when returning to the place a bit later , two : 

84/ Little Owl ( Athene noctua - Steenuil ) Kobbegem 6th of April 2024 : 

 

 

 

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And then almost instinctively I went to the area where there had been a sighting I was anxious to verify it  , and I was lucky : 

 

85/ Common Stonechat ( Saxicola rubicola - Roodborsttapuit ) Kobbegem 6th of April 2024 : 

 

 

 

 

As the sun came suddenly out I had forgotten all  about the rain ... 

[JimS]

On 3/8/2024 at 3:46 PM, BRACQUENE said:

And that spring is in the air I noticed also when I heard the familiar sound of the : 

 

60/ Common Chiffchaff

 

A new species I've added to my birding consciousness this year. Now I'm hearing them everywhere I walk!

 

[BRACQUENE]

7 hours ago, JimS said:

Now I'm hearing them everywhere I walk!

Sometimes you hear them a bit too much to be honest missing the sound of other birds 

[michael-ibk]

Some great birds - especially Bluethroat and the two Owls, well done!

[TonyQ]

Another vote for the Bluethroat!

[BRACQUENE]

A walk in "The Grote Wal" this morning  , located in a bend of the river Scheldt near the town of Baasrode. It is set up as a controlled flood area. A creek with mud flats and salt marshes runs into the area and is surrounded by wet grasslands.

I was there very early and it was dry for once but the light wasn't ideal so don't expect stellar pictures ; moreover the distance to the birds was a problem even with my 600mm lens ...

except this fellow !

 

86/ Northern Lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus-Kievit ) Grote Wal Baasrode 8th of April 2024 :

 

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

The next one is a regular in the area : 

87/ Northern Pintail ( Anas acuta - Pijlstaart ) Grote Wal Baasrode 8th of April 2024 :