Cuckoo, Canada geese and little grebe

Posted on May 17, 2015 by petrel41

This video is called The European Adder – Vipera berus. We did not see adders during our week in and around Dwingelderveld national park. They live there; but the best time to see them is on warm, sunny days. Which weren’t part of this early May week.

After 6 May 2015, 7 May in Drenthe. Our last full day there.

As we went to the hide, a robin on a fence.

Near the hide, swifts and barn swallows flying. A willow warbler sings.

In a lakelet just north of Moddergat lake, three common pochards, male and female tufted ducks.

A little grebe calls and swims.

A mallard. Two Egyptian geese: a Canada goose calls to them as they land.

In wet heathland, a skylark sings.

A cuckoo sitting on a tree.

Briefly, a yellowhammer above the cuckoo in the same tree.

A stonechat.

Canada geese.

Next, another wetland: Koelevaartsveen. Three common sandpipers near the bank.

Moss growing near the trees not far away.

Near the Dwingelose heide cycle track, again oak eggar caterpillars.

Dark tussock caterpillar, photo by Lo Troisfontaine

Also a much rarer and smaller caterpillar. So small and lightweight that the wind again and again blows it decimetres further away on the sandy path. A dark tussock caterpillar.

Back to the hide. Cottongrass grows there. This marked the end for us of a week of seeing much beautiful wildlife.

Skylark, stonechat, and oak eggar caterpillar

Posted on May 16, 2015 by petrel41

This video is about a yellowhammer singing.

After 5 May 2015, 6 May in and around Dwingelderveld national park in Drenthe.

Early in the morning, a red squirrel outside.

In the Dwingelose heide heathland, a yellowhammer sings.

A curlew calls.

Not just heather grows here: eg, moss as well.

Many skylarks fly up and down, singing.

One skylark, a bit atypically, sits down on a bush.

A kestrel flies overhead.

On the sandy path along the bicycle track, oak eggar caterpillars. These hairy caterpillars, common in Dwingelderveld at this time of the year, may irritate people’s skins. Some birds don’t like to feed on hairy caterpillars like these; but, eg, cuckoos don’t mind.

Near a lakelet, a northern lapwing couple flying and calling. And a redshank.

From the hide, again two black-necked grebes. And tufted ducks.

On the bank of Holtveenslenk lake, a spoonbill. While a grey heron flies away.

A long-tailed tit in a tree.

Then, a male stonechat.

Little ringed plover and young frog

Posted on May 12, 2015 by petrel41

This video is about black woodpeckers making their nest.

We had seen a black woodpecker; on 2 May, in a coniferous forest near the Holtveenslenk lake. I personally saw just a silhouette of the bird flying away.

After 4 May 2015, came 5 May in and around Dwingelderveld national park in Drenthe province.

We went to the southern Kloosterveld part. Still barn swallows flying around. However, now after the rain, there are many more puddles than on 3 May. So, the swallows now are able to drink and to collect nesting material at many more places than before; making photographing them harder than before.

The moss is not harder to photograph here now than earlier.

A yellowhammer on the grass.

Willow warbler and chiffchaff singing.

So does a skylark. And a song thrush.

A curlew calls.

A shelduck rests on the lakelet bank.

Behind it, Egyptian geese.

Two grey lag geese flying overhead.

On the northern bank of the next lake, a common sandpiper.

And a little ringed plover.

Two shelducks swimming between black-headed gulls.

Sound of a pheasant. And of an edible frog.

On a pole, a male stonechat. It flies to a wire; then, to another pole.

Then, a juvenile pool frog.

We arrive back at Lanka park. A red squirrel at the feeder.

Then, a female blackbird; cleaning her feathers after lots of rain.

Tree pipit, stonechat and whitethroat

Posted on May 10, 2015 by petrel41

This video is called Black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) with young.

After 3 May 2015, 4 May 2015 in Drenthe.

Near Kraloo, a black redstart on a roof.

In the Dwingelderveld, an Egyptian goose near a lake.

A cuckoo on a tree.

From the hide at the Davidsplassen lakes, one can see coots swimming. Barn swallows nest in the hide.

Grey lag geese fly past.

One can hear a little grebe. Two slightly bigger relatives, a black-necked grebe couple, dive again and again.

Just past the hide, a grey heron. Tufted ducks swimming. A Canada goose.

In a peat bog ditch, pondskaters.

Ground-ivy flowers.

Big caterpillars of oak eggar moths.

On a shrub in heathland, a tree pipit sings.

A bit further, a male and a female stonechat.

A whitethroat sings.

A yellowhammer in a tree sings.

Long-tailed tits drive away a jay.

On the edge of a peat bog, male and female common pochard swimming.

A brimstone butterfly lands on a dandelion flower.

House martins, barn swallows, moss and lambs

Posted on May 10, 2015 by petrel41

This video is about a skylark singing on a branch.

After 2 May 2015, 3 May 2015 in Dwingelderveld national park; more especially, its southern Kloosterveld part.

Like yesterday evening, barn swallows come here to drink. They also collect nesting material, as this photo shows.

Also some house martins, not as numerous here as barn swallows, come to collect mud for their nests.

Two goldfinches land close to the swallows’ waterhole.

A bit further, two shelducks. A northern lapwing.

A chaffinch sings. A curlew calls.

A skylark sings. Unlike the bird on the video at the top of this blog post, it sings while flying, not from a branch.

A northern wheatear on a pole.

A stonechat on a wire.

Two oystercatchers flying.

At some spots, moss grows.

A male common linnet.

The sheep are in this nature reserve to prevent it from becoming overgrown. At this time of the year, they have lambs.

And then came the afternoon … with rain, lots of it …

Black-necked grebes, hobbies and tree pipit

Posted on May 10, 2015 by petrel41

This is a red-necked grebe video.

After 1 May 2015, 2 May 2015 near Dwingelderveld national park, in Westerveld local authority. This is one of few places in the Netherlands where one may see red-necked grebes.

In Dwingelderveld, cranes nest as well. Photos: here.

We did not see red-necked grebes or cranes on that 2 May; but we did see other beautiful birds.

Early in the morning, curlew sound. A chaffinch sings. Sounds of song thrush, willow warbler, cuckoo, robin, chiffchaff and wood pigeon.

Of course, the blue tits are present again.

A great tit in a tree.

Near Kraloo village, three roe deer in a meadow.

This is a 3 May 2015 video of roe deer near Kraloo.

Grey lag geese in a lake.

Near the hide, male and female tufted ducks swim. And a black-necked grebe couple in love with each other. They dive often.

Two hobbies flying around.

Two Egyptian geese on a bank.

Black-headed gulls and coots swimming.

We arrive around the Holtveenslenk lake. Photos of that area are here. And here.

Here is another Holtveenslenk photo.

Again, a black-necked grebe couple.

A grey heron flies past.

A tree pipit in a tree.

A bit further in the Holtveenslenk lake, a Canada goose swims. And a great crested grebe; a male common pochard; and a tufted duck couple.

Two white storks fly overhead.

So do two buzzards.

A little grebe calls.

West of the Holtveenslenk, a white wagtail in a tree.

A yellow wagtail cleanses its feathers.

Back at the hide. A female marsh harrier lands in a tree.

The hobbies fly again.

We continue, to Ruinen village.

A redstart in a tree. Below the tree, yellow archangel flowers.

Just east of Ruinen, the Kloosterveld part of the national park. A northern wheatear.

A curlew wades in shallow water.

Three barn swallows drinking together.

A male and a female yellowhammer.

Blue tits and other Drenthe birds, 1 May 2015

Posted on May 9, 2015 by petrel41

This is a video about Dwingelderveld national park in the Netherlands.

On 1 May 2015, before arriving at Hoogeveen railway station, a great cormorant flying and two roe deer on a meadow.

At the station, great tit, willow warbler, chiffchaff and chaffinch sounds.

Then, we arrived in Anholt hamlet near Ruinen village in Drenthe province. Not far from Dwingelderveld national park, and from the Ruiner bossen woodland.