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.
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.