zondag 17 april 2011

Ces 1: not bad at all!

Numbers of birds trapped:

Boomklever (Nuthatch) 2-1
Fitis (Willow Warbler)  0-1
GBS (GS-woodpecker) 2-1
Gaai (Jay) 1-0
Heggenmus (Dunnock) 1-0
Koolmees (Great tit) 2-5
Merel (Blackbird) 0-2
Pimpelmees (Blue tit) 1-3
Putter (Goldfinch) 1-0
Rietgors (Reed Bunting) 12-1
Roodborst (Robin) 2-1
Tjiftjaf (Chiffchaff) 7-7
Vink (Chaffinch) 1-0
Winterkoning (Wren) 0-1
Zwartkop (Blackcap) 15-2
Total 46-26 = 72

Normally the total for CES round 1 is around 40-50, so we can conclude this was a good first ces round!
Further observations were a singing Sedge Warbler near the nets (scarce/rare species in the county, not trapped however..), a displaying male Goshawk (this same male failed to find a female last year, hopefully it will succeed this year). A fly-over of Spoonbill - which is quite rare in our county-, a fly over of Marsh Harrier ands 2 Green sandpipers and last but not least singing Cuckoos

I like Jays:)
All three hanging in the same mistnet!

maandag 4 april 2011

More new summer visitors

Sunday morning my father and I did some birding along the IJssel, in the hope of seeing some new species for the yearlist and perhaps some waders. We started off at the Ossenwaard, north of Deventer. We walked through the Ossenwaard resulting in some fun species. We saw several Yellow Wagtails and groups of singing Linnets. While walking along a small canal we saw some Teals, Snipes, singing Redshanks and a Green Sandpiper. On some small islands we saw some Black-tailed Godwits and 2 Little Plovers. Furthermore plenty of Shovelers, Shelducks and Gadwalls were foraging in the water. Singing Willow Warblers were heard as well.

Afterwards we headed south in the direction of the Yperenplas. Here we saw a group of 200 Black-tailed Godwits. Some Swallows were seen as well. As we drove back to Apeldoorn again we decided to check Bussloo again for the long-staying Red-necked Grebe. It had still been sighted last Sunday. We parked the car on the southern side of the lake and walked towards the place where the bird has been present every time. On our way we had singing Black Woodpecker, Mistle Thrush, Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrests and my first Blackcap of the year. When we arrived at the place I soon located the Grebe. It is almost entirely in summer plumage now! We could observe the bird not too far away and I was able to make some shots.
I'm curious how long this bird will stay at Bussloo!

zaterdag 2 april 2011

Migration's getting started

After a busy testweek I wanted to do some birding today. As the weather forecast was excellent (sun, 24 degrees, SSE wind etc) I headed to the Hoog Buurlosche Heide. The Braamberg is the place where we count the migrating  birds and this morning we did this as well. Together with Maarten Kaales, Jochem v/d Kamp, Theo Van Veenendaal and Peter Lindeboom we did some migration counting. The numbers weren't too high but I had my first Tree Pipits, Swallows and Willow Warblers of the year. Furthermore we saw active Goshawks (probably 2 pairs) the entire morning, hunting and a bit of displaying. Futhermore we had 2 migrating Peregrines and the highlight consisted of a nice adult Red Kite! Maarten discovered the bird already from a large distance. And as with all the raptors passing the Braamberg, this one flew by at a close distance!
The Red Kite
And a lousy recordshot of a 2nd CY Peregrine. 

For over 2 weeks now a singing male Central European Treecreeper has been present near Hoog Buurlo, in a forest patch of oaks and beeches. Until today I did not have any time to see this bird. It seems that the bird is very active during the afternoon. Arriving at the exact place we heard the bird singing twice. After a period of silence(with 2 calling Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers) the bird became active again and was singing and calling actively and now and then showing well. A nice tick to my county list!
At the HB-heide I also had my first wheatear.