Northern wheatears back nesting on Schiermonnikoog island

Posted on July 14, 2019 by petrel41

This video from England says about itself:

Close inspection of nale & female northern wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe) at Thorpe Marsh Nature Reserve, spring 2012.

Northern wheatears are declining as nesting birds in the Netherlands.

Fortunately, in Dutch Trouw daily, 12 July 2019, Koos Dijksterhuis reported that he had seen a young northern wheatear on Schiermonnikoog: proof that they had nested on the island.

They had been away for years. Conservation organisation Natuurmonumenten recently had made a sand dune valley more fit for northern wheatears. And it had worked.

Pheasants quarrel, video

Posted on April 15, 2019 by petrel41

This 11 April 2019 video is about pheasants quarreling on Schiermonnikoog island in the Netherlands.

Fighting pheasants on Schiermonnikoog island

Posted on November 24, 2017 by petrel41

This 21 November 2017 video is about two male pheasants fighting on Schiermonnikoog island in the Netherlands.

Pheasants were bought to Schiermonnikoog in 1896.

Flore van Eerde made this video.

Shark egg with living embryo found

Posted on August 25, 2016 by petrel41

This video says about itself:

Small-spotted catshark embryo is moving inside the egg

5 December 2014

… Video displays how it is swimming and waving his tail inside the egg.

Copyright note:

Video is created by me, soundtrack is a classic song “Song of the Indian Guest” created by composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who died in 1908 (more than 100 years ago).

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

Fishermen just off the coast of Schiermonnikoog have found a shark‘s egg containing a living embryo. The RTV Noord website shows a video with the wriggling baby shark.

It is an egg of a small-spotted catshark, a small shark of about one meter long. The small-spotted catshark is common in the North Sea and the discovery of a shark’s egg is not so special, but a living embryo is.

“We sometimes find empty egg capsules on the beach, but I’ve never seen a live shark in an egg,” says Marijke Barhorst of the Visitors Centre of Schiermonnikoog National Park.

The visitor center staff have put the shark‘s egg inside a culture dish in a saltwater aquarium, hoping that it will hatch.

Bearded vulture over Dutch Ameland, Schiermonnikoog islands

Posted on June 22, 2016 by petrel41

This video shows adult and young bearded vultures; and some griffon vultures and ravens, in Spain.

Dutch NOS TV reports that this afternoon, a young bearded vulture flew over Ameland and Schiermonnikoog islands. For some time, a buzzard flew along with the vulture, showing the big size difference.

This vulture has a transmitter, showing it is originally from central France. Bearded vultures are very rare in the Netherlands.

I have been to Ameland and Schiermonnikoog, but I never saw any bearded vulture there. Though I did see them in Aragon in Spain.

New wetland for birds on Ameland: here.

What brent geese eat, new research

Posted on January 26, 2016 by petrel41

This ideo is called Brent geese (Branta bernicla) grazing on grassland.

Translated from BirdLife in the Netherlands:

Jan 26, 2016 – Brent geese preferably eat non salty salt marsh plants. Salty plants are avoided. The protein content of the plant apparently leaves the birds cold. That concludes PhD researcher Wimke Fokkema based on measurements of plants in the marshes of Schiermonnikoog island. The research is published this month in the journal Oikos.

Oystercatcher opens seashell, video

Posted on October 28, 2015 by petrel41

This video is about an oystercatcher, near the harbour of Schiermonnikoog island in the Netherlands.

It tries to open a razor clam seashell.

Ciska van Geer made this video.

Dutch oystercatcher board game: here.

Spoonbills clean each other’s feathers, video

Posted on October 3, 2015 by petrel41

This is a video about three spoonbills cleaning each other’s feathers.

Ciska van Geer made this video near the harbour of Schiermonnikoog island in the Netherlands.

Four spoonbills feeding, video

Posted on September 30, 2015 by petrel41

This video shows four spoonbills feeding off Schiermonnikoog island in the Netherlands.

They pass other birds, like redshanks and oystercatchers.

Ciska van Geer made the video.

Golden samphire, new flower species on Schiermonnikoog island

Posted on September 11, 2015 by petrel41

This video is about the Schorren nature reserve on Texel island. Especially about a rare plant flowering there: the golden samphire.

Dutch conservation organisation Natuurmonumenten reported on 6 September 2015 that late in August a special plant had been found on Schiermonnikoog island: golden samphire.

This species is new for the island. It had been found only at three other sites in the Netherlands: on Texel, Goeree and Griend.

Schiermonnikoog grazing: here.