Garganey, pintail, and other birds

21 March 2015. Though it was officially the first day of spring, it was cold and windy. The male and female wigeons in nature reserve De Wilck, depicted in this photo, apparently thought the weather was still too winterish for migration back to eastern and northern Europe.

Before arriving at De Wilck that morning, we had first gone to Zaans Rietveld reserve.

This is a Zaans Rietveld video.

Zaans Rietveld biodiversity: here.

Black-tailed godwits flying about and calling. Grey lag geese. Wigeons here as well.

A chiffchaff sings. The first time I hear that sound this year.

Two oystercatchers.

Scores of barnacle geese grazing. A northern lapwing.

Lesser celandine starts flowering.

A hare.

A dunnock sings.

A great egret flies and lands.

A reed bunting signs.

A grey heron flying.

A curlew flies over a meadow. On the meadow: herring gulls, mute swans and two shelducks.

A chaffinch sings.

A dead mole, lying in the grass.

A singing greenfinch.

In a shallow lakelet: avocets. Black-headed gulls. Teal. And, resting on a bank, a rare teal relative: a male garganey.

Zaans Rietveld, July 2019 update: here.

Then, after Zaans Rietveld, we continued to De Wilck. Hundreds of wigeons. Also, a male pintail.

Finally, to the Amaliahut hide.

Near the hide, two white storks´ heads popping up from their nest.

On a small island, visible from the hide, a moorhen. And a female tufted duck.

Then, she took to the water with her mate.

A bit further, a gadwall couple swimming.

On the island, this oystercatcher couple.

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