Kingfisher, goosander and fieldfare

This video from Britain says about itself:

BTO Bird ID – Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser

Identifying the two large sawbills, Goosander and Red-breasted Merganser, can be pretty straight-forward when confronted with male birds. However, the females, or redheads as they are more often called, can be much more difficult. This, the latest ID video gives useful pointers on how to confidently tell them apart.

Saturday 20 December was a stormy day. Usually, days like that are not really good for birdwatching. Birds tend to hide more than usually. We went to the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen. Would we see goosanders, beautiful birds sometimes wintering here? Would rain contribute to wind in making birding difficult?

The answer to the second question is no, it stayed dry. For an answer to the first question, keep reading 🙂

As we arrived, a blackbird flying past.

Great tit and nuthatch sounds.

In a lakelet, a male tufted duck swims. In a part of the lakelet which is more protected from wind, scores of tufted ducks, both males and females, rest. A male common pochard rests in this flock too. Two coots swim. A great cormorant flies overhead.

Not far away, little mushrooms grow. They are winter stalkball fungi.

In the next lake, a male goldeneye swims. We would see more birds of this beautiful species later.

Near the bank, a fallow deer. We would also see more of these mammals.

In the next pond, a mute swan couple. And four gadwall ducks, but they fly away. A female pochard keeps swimming.

A jay calls.

In a treeless, marshy area, some people see a jack snipe.

We arrive at a canal. Two goosander males and one female swim there.

A bit further, an even more special bird. A male kingfisher sitting on a branch near water.

This is a kingfisher video from Lewisham, London, England.

Fieldfares land in a bush.

Finally, two buzzards circling in the air together.

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