This is a video of a weasel.
It was recorded in nature reserve Westerbroekstermadepolder, Groningen province, the Netherlands, by Ronald Stroetinga.
The maker of this video, Willem ten Rae from the Netherlands, writes about it on YouTube (translated):
April 2, 2013
Between an old dairy and our farm, the roe deer regularly cross the main road between Zuidbroek and Noordbroek on their way from the clay soils to sandy soils and vice versa. So far, no accidents have happened.
Roe deer more likely to be run over at nightfall on a Sunday in April: here.
This video is about red fox cubs in Groningen province in the Netherlands.
The webcams at the fox den in Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve in Flevoland province in the Netherlands are working again. You can watch them here.
Already, a fox sleeps regularly in the den. Last year, foxes did not live in the den. This year may be different.
This video from Lancashire in England is called Wigeons – Anas penelope.
The Dutch province Groningen, in the northern Netherlands, has decided that there will be no more mute swan and wigeon hunting.
This video, from August 2011, is about hundreds of black-headed gulls, trying to catch winged ants on their bridal flights on Rottumeroog island.
North of the Netherlands are three desert islands: Rottumeroog, Rottumerplaat, and Zuiderduin.
On Tuesday 6 November, a new book will be published on the animals of the Rottum archipelago. Its authors are the wildlife ranger Nico de Vries and Mark Zekhuis. Its name is Fauna van Rottum.
There is much in the book about the birds of the islands. But not only about birds.
Bert Corté, wildlife ranger of Rottum, writes on his blog:
Fauna of Rottum has a systematic overview of all animal species ever recorded on the Rottum archipelago. Eg, jellyfish, molluscs, crustaceans, centipedes. Mammals, dragonflies and butterflies are discussed extensively as well.
Roe deer on Rottum: here.
Rottumerplaat in March 2013: here.
Rottumerplaat birds in April 2013: here.
This video from the Netherlands says about itself:
October 10, 2012 by Giervalk1
A short tour on the uninhabited island Rottumerplaat, one of the two Wadden islands of Groningen province in the north of the Netherlands. The island is off-limits for people, only a handful of researchers and bird counters (which also was the reason of my visit) can enter the island occasionally.
Translated from the blog of the warden of desert island Rottumerplaat in the Netherlands:
Moss survey on Rottumerplaat
Posted on October 11, 2012 by Bert Corté
Every 10 years we do a survey of leafy mosses, liverworts and lichens on the Rottum archipelago (see here, page 27 Section 6.4.2.). In 2000, for the first time ever, we did a complete survey on Rottumerplaat. Then, 32 mosses and 2 liverworts were found. The number of species of mosses in the meantime has been growing steadily. This year 40 species were found, of which 37 were mosses and three liverworts. The number of lichens increased as well, from 35 species in 2007 to 82 in 2012.
The full report, in Dutch, is here.
Sunday 30 September 2012.
As my earlier blog post said, our ship passed through the lock in Lauwersoog from the Wadden Sea to the Lauwersmeer.
Like on 28 September, we were in Lauwersmeer national park again.
Five gadwall ducks flying.
Then, a highlight of our journey to Schiermonnikoog and Rottum islands and back: first, we see one white-tailed eagle.
Then we see two white-tailed eagles.
Finally, three eagles: the adult couple nesting here are flying around with their daughter, fledged this year.
As the ship comes closer to Zoutkamp harbour, scores, then hundreds, of lapwings flying.
A bit later, mute swans.
And a great egret.
The ship lands in Zoutkamp. We disembark, with many good memories.
Friday, 28 September 2012.
Yesterday evening we went aboard the ship, originally built for fishing.
In Zoutkamp harbour early in the morning, coots and a great crested grebe swim. Herring gulls fly.
The ship passes five flying lapwings. Six flying barnacle geese.
This is a video about birds in the Lauwersmeer national park in the Netherlands.
A female marsh harrier. The weather is a bit foggy this morning in Lauwersmeer national park. Not really good conditions for seeing ospreys and white-tailed eagles, which we won’t see this morning. We do see other birds.
A grey heron.
Lots of grey lag geese on the banks.
A bit further a great cormorant.
Two tufted ducks in the water. A great egret on the bank.
An Egyptian goose flies past.
Mute swans swimming. A juvenile great black-backed gull swimming.
Barn swallows flying. If all goes well, their autumn migration will bring them to Africa.
Twenty spoonbills standing in the water. Most of them will migrate to Africa as well.
Meadow pipits flying across the water, calling. Some will winter here; some in south-west Europe; some in Morocco or even further south.
A buzzard on a tree.
The Lauwersmeer used to be a part of the Wadden Sea. In 1969, a dike was built. Our ship passes through a lock in the dike to the Wadden Sea.
Thursday 27 September 2012.
We are near Zoutkamp harbour in the Netherlands.
This is a barnacle geese video.
Overhead, a hundred barnacle geese flying and calling.
Also, scores of jackdaws, calling and flying to their sleeping trees.
Tomorrow, our ship will sail to Schiermonnikoog and Rottum islands. What birds will we see then?
People on the ship say that today, they saw two sea eagles and an osprey.
Stay tuned for more about that on this blog.
This is a Dutch video about restoring seagrass along the Wadden Sea coast; see also here.
Dutch site Natuurbericht reports about new research at the Wadden Sea coast of Groningen province in the northern Netherlands.
The biggest seagrass field of the Netherlands is there. Seagrass is a favourite food for brent geese and wigeons. Every autumn, these birds arrive on migration from colder countries.
The new research proves that the birds eat seagrass in a way which helps the seagrass to grow again next summer.
The research results have been published in the article: Ecosystem Engineering by Seagrasses Interacts with Grazing to Shape an Intertidal Landscape.
