Sanderlings on Terschelling island

Posted on November 30, 2016 by petrel41

This 29 October 2016 video shows sanderlings on Terschelling island in the Netherlands.

Jos Korenromp made the video.

Beach nesting birds of the Noordvaarder, Terschelling: here.

Small crabs eating king ragworm

Posted on September 28, 2016 by petrel41

This 27 September 2016 video shows young shore crabs attacking, and eating, a king ragworm.

Ciska van Geer made this video during low tide off the Boschplaat on Terschelling island in the Netherlands.

Brittle stars of Terschelling island

Posted on July 28, 2016 by petrel41

This video, recorded on 25 July 2016 on Terschelling island in the Netherlands, shows brittle stars.

Good wheatear news from Terschelling island

Posted on June 25, 2016 by petrel41

This is a 2012 northern wheatear video from Ukraine.

Translated from Dutch Vroege Vogels TV:

Terschelling Wheatear Paradise

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Of all northern wheatears that nest in our country more than a quarter do so on Terschelling. What is the secret of this island?

It’s been bad for years for the wheatears’ breeding in the Netherlands. It is estimated that there are no more than 270 wheatear couples in our dunes and other sandy areas. Terschelling foresters of the Forestry Commission counted during the last breeding season at least seventy couples. “And that’s probably an underestimate,” says ranger Joeri Lamers.

According to Lamers wheatears on Terschelling benefit from the extensive grazing taking place there. “Using, eg, goats and horses we stop overgrowth of the dunes. As a result, there is sufficient young marram grass, which in turn attracts insects, which in turn attract wheatears. We have sufficient open dune places where rabbits dig holes. The wheatears again need old rabbit holes to make their nests”.

Farmer’s water pumps help birds

Posted on June 8, 2016 by petrel41

This June 2016 video is about recently installed water pumps helping farmer Egbert Zorgdrager help grassland birds.

BirdLife in the Netherlands writes about this (translated):

This spring, on the land of farmer Egbert Zorgdrager four solar energy water pumps have been placed. The goal is wetting his meadows on Terschelling island as this is beneficial for grassland birds. The pumps pump water from the ditches on the land, thus ensuring a higher water level. …

In recent weeks many beautiful things happened on Egbert’s flowery pastures:

Regularly some ruffs are seen, which are almost extinct as breeding birds in our country.

Rare migratory birds are also fond of flower and herb-rich meadows. In May it was a beautiful stilt sandpiper [a vagrant from North America] which chose the Terschelling polder for a stopover.

On the wettest piece of meadow near the Wadden Sea dike avocets breed and for the entire month of June their fluffy chicks will be there.