Peter B's 2024

[BRACQUENE]

Yesterday was the only reasonable day of the week  but with a ground frost early morning ; I decided to return to Paardenweide in Berlare where I had been a few times last year to look for warblers and waterbirds mainly but also birds of prey ...

It is one of the controlled flood areas of the Sigma plan ; problem as often in Flanders is the difficulty to get close to the birds from the walking paths so getting good pictures  

is a matter of luck 

 

 

Sedge Warbler and Common Reed Bunting to start with but the unmistakable sound of another warbler (apart from the Cetti's) was what I heard from the moment I arrived and as I never had been able to take a picture of it in the past ( failed last Sunday in De Blankaart in Woumen ) it was my mission of the day ... ; the result of a morning of waiting and hoping

might not be stellar in terms of photography but for me it was another lifer !

 

102/ Savi's Warbler ( Locustella luscinioides - Snor ) Paardenweide Berlare 18th of April 2024 : 

 

 

 

 

On his one ...

 

 

 

Or in company ...

[BRACQUENE]

Another area that struck me looking through my binoculars was a small pool and it had a few surprises : 

 

 

The Common Redshank I had seen on Saturday at the coast but from even further away but there were also a few : 

 

103/ Common Greenshank ( Tringa nebularia - Groenpoortruiter ) Paardenweide Berlare 18th of April 2024 : 

 

[BRACQUENE]

And sitting amongst them a : 

 

104/ Little Gull ( Hydrocoloeus minutus - Dwergmeeuw ) Paardenweide Berlare 18th of April 2024 

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

And the nicest surprise was walking a bit behind which from that distance I first thought it was an Eurasian Whimbrel bit it proved to be a : 

 

105/ Black-tailed Godwit ( Limosa limosa - Grutto ) Paardenweide Berlare 18th of April 2024 : 

[michael-ibk]

Some good birds to find indeed Peter!

[BRACQUENE]

Good news from the Blankaart !

 

For the first time ever, a sea eagle has been born in Belgium. One chick has hatched from the nest of a brooding pair in the Blankaart nature reserve in Diksmuide, West Flanders, and another could be on the way.

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/

[michael-ibk]

That's really good to hear!

[BRACQUENE]

Again , sad to repeat myself , a week with only one day , Tuesday that a birder could get some decent pictures ; otherwise cold and miserable  I was and still am busy preparing a big event for me at least : 50 years ago I left humanities and as president of the alumni association on the 1st of May we have our annual meeting !

But I managed to find a few hours to go birding and is there a better place to do so than Kobbegem and meet some old acquaintances : 

 

 

The two Little Owls I saw first on the 6th of April : I saw also the Long-eared again but he was hidden too much to get a picture ...

A Common Kestrel high in the sky 

A much better picture of the " Yellow Wagtail " than a few weeks ago but surprisingly my third Northern Wheatear in a few weeks after that nice one in Nieuwpoort !

 

 

 

And then a new one for the year flying around the church or posing nicely : 

106/ Barn Swallow ( Hirundo rustica - Boerenzwaluw ) Kobbegem 23th of April 2024 : 

  

 

  

[BRACQUENE]

I left early this morning , a glorious morning for once and went to Groot Molsbroek in Lokeren - Waasmunster , a nature reserve with a diverse landscape of marsh, wet forest, river dunes, reed lands and open waters which I visited a few times last year : 

First I was looking for a species that was badly hit by the avian flu last year ; a lot died but some remained even if I couldn't find them close or with young ones this time : 

107/ Black-necked Grebe ( Podiceps nigricollis - Geoorde Fuut ) Groot Molsbroek Lokeren 29th of April 2024 :

 

  

And this time a Cuckoo that wasn't in the air ( they were everywhere ) 

[BRACQUENE]

Second mission : find my first Reed Warbler that I heard when arriving but as always not easy to photograph and it took a few hours to finally have a good picture....

 

108/ Reed Warbler ( Acrocephalus scirpaceus - Kleine Karekiet ) Groot Molsbroek Lokeren 29th of April 2024 :

 

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

And then I did a short walk in the Hamputten of Waasmunster and during my lunch I saw this one : 

 

109/ Common Sandpiper ( Actitis hypoleucos - Oeverloper ) Hamputten Waasmunster 29th of April 2024 : 

And in the sky a lot of Common Terns : 

 

[xelas]

Lovely close-up of the Reed Warbler!

[Zim Girl]

Great pictures of the cuckoo and the reed warbler.

[BRACQUENE]

Thanks a lot @xelasand @Zim Girl. You all know the famous Supertramp song " it's raining again " and so time to look at the BY after my alumni reunion on a glorious 1st of May when I was forced to stay inside  .

But some birding on the 2nd even if the light was far from ideal in Grote Wal Baasrode before a thundery shower and the next lonely one was "very" far away  : 

 

110/ Black-winged Stilt ( Himantopus himantopus - Steltkluut ) Grote Wal Baasrode 2nd of May 2024: 

 

 

As was the other new one for this year resting on the other side of the water : 

 

111/ Great Black-backed Gull ( Larus marines - Grote Mantelmeeuw ) Grote Wal Baasrode 2nd of May 2024 : 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

1 hour ago, BRACQUENE said:

You all know the famous Supertramp song " it's raining again "

 

Of course - love Supertramp.

 

Fingers crossed the sun will come back soon for you Peter. Raining here too right now.

[xelas]

If that makes your rainy days better, it also rains in Slovenia! Hopefully it will be sunnier and drier on Sunday.

[pedro maia]

i finally caught up with yiur BY Peter, it’s still early in the year and you already have a very solid count for Belgium alone and with some very cool species, belated conrats on you first century.

 

Do you have have a goal for your country?

[BRACQUENE]

Thanks a lot Pedro ! Until I leave for Malawi in September , my only safari this year, there are still four months to do some more intensive birding in Belgium ; despite the horrible weather until now I am on schedule to better my local score (121) from last year when health issues kept me home for most of the summer ; anyway the score is secondary to the pleasure birding is giving me daily 

[BRACQUENE]

Yesterday was one of those days I will remember for a long time ; it started again with mist , rain and thundery showers but if I could believe the weather forecast for once the north of the country would see the sun first so I headed that way all excited to discover a reserve that I never visited before : "Groot Rietveld" close to the centre of Kallo , kind of a strange place, in the middle of the industrial areas of Antwerp. But a really good birding place ( I will be back soon ) consisting of 2 pools, partially filled with reed. Traffic was dense and I avoided the motorway so it took me almost two hours to arrive just when the sun tried to appear .... 

 

 

 

 

 

I have never seen so many Reed Buntings as in this place closer than usual : 

 

 

And Common Reed Warblers ...

[BRACQUENE]

But my main goal for the day was another bird which I have seen so many times on the Big Year , admired and hoped to see one day ; it took me less than an hour to get the first pictures ... 

 

112/ Bearded Tit ( Panurus biarmicus - Baardman ) Groot Rietveld Kallo 7th of May 2024 : 

  And I couldn't get enough of that lifer which I see daily on the cover of my Hume, Still, Swash & Harrop bird book .....

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

[Athene]

@BRACQUENE Lovely bird photos and a great variety. I wasn't aware you can find so many different birds in Europe, you just have to look for them.

[PeterHG]

Congrats on your lifer and you certainly made the most of it. Beautiful set of photos!

[BRACQUENE]

Thanks a lot @Atheneand Peter ; It is all about being able to get close which is often a problem in many birding places in Belgium ; even yesterday a major part of the reserve was closed for visitors ( breeding period ) and moreover it was almost impossible to get a good picture of the waterbirds because of the distance : for once the weather was on my side 

Getting lifers in my own country is " much " more rewarding than in the bush ; you have to work to see them and do some long walks but in the end it pays off ! 

[BRACQUENE]

And high in the sky another local bird of prey I haven't  seen until now this year : 

 

113/ Marsh Harrier ( Circus aeruginosus - Bruine Kiekendief ) Groot Rietveld Kallo 7th of May 2024 : 

 

[Zim Girl]

3 hours ago, BRACQUENE said:

Getting lifers in my own country is " much " more rewarding than in the bush ; you have to work to see them and do some long walks but in the end it pays off ! 

I couldn't agree more, @BRACQUENE.

Congratulations on finding the Bearded Tit and getting some lovely pictures of them.