Monday 27 December 2010

Apple of the eye

“Stay away! This is my apple!” What a plain beauty is this ♀ Blackbird (Turdus merula/Merel). One month from now the ♂♂ start to sing at dusk with a few hesitating strophes. The concert is for free, and it is the most beautiful sound you can imagine.

Friday 24 December 2010

X’mas tits

No, it is not what you think, I mean the birds of course! Again heavy snowfall today (we have more than 20 cm now). I did the X’mas shoppings already yesterday evening, so I had the entire day to ‘play’ outside. Robins (Erithacus rubecula/Roodborst), Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus/Pimpelmees) and Great Tits (Parus major/Koolmees) were happy to join me.

Monday 20 December 2010

Freezing sunset

Last weekend winter set-in, with heavy snowfall. At the same time my dad celebrated his 70-th birthday, so I was not able to go out. Therefore, I decided to take this day off. Surfing the Internet learned me that 2 Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus/Pestvogels) were reported yesterday near Boxmeer (about 35 km from the village where I live).
I could not find the Waxwings, but I enjoyed the crispy freezing cold in the “Maasheggen”. At the end of the afternoon patches of fog emerged above the white hedge-bordered fields near the river. I spent quite some time photographing a snow-covered bare corn field (I like bare corn fields!), but I also want to share with you a tree silhouette in the astonishing soft colors that sometimes appear just after sunset. The air echoed with the high-pitched calls of V-shaped formations White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons/Kolgans) migrating to their sleeping places. When I was back in the car the display indicated an outside temperature of -11°C.
I hope the fresh molehill doesn’t disturb the serene scenery too much (of course I also have a photo without the black dot :-).

Friday 10 December 2010

Elusive Jacky

Who doesn’t want to discover elusive and secret things? I don’t know about you, but I do! So, on this damp, cold and grey winter day, I was for a moment the happiest man on earth when I found this hidden Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus/Bokje). I still don’t know how I broke its superb camouflage, it must have been pure luck.

Saturday 4 December 2010

Right time, right place

This is my first bird photo taken during a snow flurry. Many thanx to this ♂ Great-spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major/Grote Bonte Specht) who showed-up at the right time, at the right place.