Fochteloërveen | Dear Kitty. Some blog

This video is about cranes in the Dutch Fochteloërveen nature reserve.

Translated from BirdLife in the Netherlands:

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

Things go well for cranes in the Netherlands. In particular, in the Fochteloërveen. Nature management in this reserve on the border of Friesland and Drenthe increasingly brings silent and wet spots there and the cranes take advantage of that. In the area, there are currently between 22 and 25 cranes. Before the autumn migration begins, therefore now is the opportunity to see the Fochteloërveen cranes is at its best.

The cranes nest since 2001 in the Fochteloërveen. Thus, they made their comeback as breeding birds in the Netherlands, after centuries of absence. A great success for conservationists in the Netherlands. …

In the Dwingelderveld – as the crow flies about 25 kilometers away – a pair of cranes this year brought up two youngsters, of which eventually one fledged. In the Engbertsdijksvenen there was a couple again this year, but their breeding success is still nil. [Warden] Herman Feenstra estimates that the total number of cranes in the Netherlands is now about forty individuals.

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This video says about itself:

Part of a flock of an estimated 30,000 Barnacle Geese flies over our heads in February 2010.

Filmed in the Netherlands on a weekend tour with Birding Holland.

Translated from the Dutch SOVON ornithologists:

In the first two weekends of December, a total of more than 100,000 geese were counted in the four areas. Leader was the Biesbosch with 41,000 geese, followed by 37,000 geese in the Oostvaardersplassen. The most common species in the two areas was the white-fronted goose, followed by the gray lag goose and barnacle goose. Also in the Wieden the white-fronted goose was most common, with more than 17,000 individuals. In Fochteloërveen the tundra bean goose, with over 3,700 birds, was the top scorer.

Surprising were the Oostvaardersplassen white-fronted geese: they left in considerable groups across the IJsselmeer to North-Holland. Another beautiful phenomenon was the gathering of Bewick’s swans in the Biesbosch with on January 19, more than 1,500 birds. It is estimated that this means about ten percent of the total western flyway of this species. In both areas during the count sea eagles were seen, which caused panic among the geese. The two cranes seen in the Fochteloërveen, presumably local breeding birds, were special as well.