Sanderlings, goosanders and salt-shaker earthstar fungi

This photo shows scenery of nature reserve Meijendel in the Netherlands. We went there on 19 December 2015.

A blackbird sings. Very early, like that other blackbird.

Jay sounds.

Sulphur tuft fungi.

On a lake: mallards, tufted ducks and a female common pochard.

On the lake on the other side of the footpath: both male and female common pochards.

A young mute swan. A little grebe, diving every now and then.

And three goosanders, swimming to the west.

On some parts of the sand dunes there is not much plant cover.

Elsewhere, there is more: common sea-buckthorn and other shrubs and gnarled trees.

A great cormorant flies overhead. A dunnock sits on the top of a shrub.

Eventually, we reach the last sand dune ridge just east of the North Sea, where European beachgrass grows.

On the beach, a few sanderlings, running fast.

As we walk back, some salt-shaker earthstars grow.

This rare fungus is the biggest earthstar species. Maybe because of the unusually warm December, they are still here. Normally, they are finished in November.

As we continue, two fieldfares in a tree.

A male chaffinch in another tree.

Along the footpath, some more salt-shaker earthstars grow.

A nuthatch calls in woodland.

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