Fritillaries and a Snake Consuming Raptor!

I had a good sleep-in this morning and woke up around 11:00. You would say that's too late for a real birdwatcher (or birdringer) to do some proper birding but well, I gathered all my courage and decided to cycle 15 km to the National Park Hoge Veluwe. I didn't feel like cycling but it was good weather and a target species was awaiting me!

Yesterday afternoon a Short-toed Eagle had been discovered on the Deelense Veld at the Hoge Veluwe; the same place where I saw the Red-footed Falcons this year. Two Short-toed Eagles were present at the exact same place last year, but for some reason I was being a lazy bastard and didn't see those... However, it is never to late for a rematch! So I had a go for it.

I left our house at 14:00 and around 15:00, 8,20 euro lighter I arrived on the Deelense Veld. I only saw one other birdwatcher present there, Dick van Houwelingen, whom I joined. He said he had seen the bird drop in the heath 10 minutes ago, so all that needed to be done was waiting. It only took 10 minutes before we saw a large raptor circling low, quite distant however, and the heat waves didn't make this any better. We were pretty sure this was the Short-toed Eagle but a better view was needed. As requested, the Short-toed Eagle came our way and as I had cycled towards the bird, the bird flew past, showing really well through my telescope. It did some hunting above the heath, without succes. It disappeared to the North and was out a view for a while. I wanted to do some butterfly watching but a better photo of the Short-toed Eagle was still needed... I waited, and after some time the eagle came into sight again. This time quite close, and with a nice sun shining on the bird. I was only to take some recordshots, but that's good enough for species #210 in my county! It's only my second Short-toed Eagle in the Netherlands, but that's mainly because my dad and I refused to twitch one, haha.

Recordshots of the Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus)

Deelensche Veld, NP Hoge Veluwe; I stood here while observing the Short-toed Eagle

I cycled south to the Eikenhoutbergen where I saw some nice butterflies. Some rare butterfly species occur here on the Hoge Veluwe, that are almost impossible to see outside this National Park. I found the ones I was looking for quickly:

 Heath Fritillary/Bosparelmoervlinder; quite a few seen

Dark-Green Fritillary/Grote Parelmoervlinder; difficult to capture on photo as these were flying all the time

There were also some other butterflies to be found:

Small Copper/Kleine Vuurvlinder

Grayling/Heivlinder

After some more skipper checking I believe both are Large Skippers/Groot Dikkopje

On my way back to home I was cycling through the woods and as I stopped to drink some water I saw something running next to the cycling path: a young Meadow Pipit! What the hell was it doing here all alone? It must have walked away from its nest.. Anyway, I did a good deed and brought the bird back to the heath where it -hopefully- will be reunited with its parents, as I put it on the ground it started feeding, so there is hope!

Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis), not yet able to fly..

Red-footed Falcons!

Yesterday 3 Red-footed Falcons had been found on the Deelense Veld on the Hoge Veluwe, approx. 10km south of Apeldoorn. They've been pretty rare so far this spring with only fly-by's if I'm correct. So that was a good reason to get up early this morning and look for them! There were also some other species I wanted to try for my yearlist, such as Turtle Dove and Red-backed Shrike. 

I arrived at the eastern part of the Deelense Veld, along the Deelenseweg around 8:00. The light was perfect, no heatwaves and a clear sky with a shining sun. The falcons weren't hunting yet however.. Just 500 Swifts hunting above the water. I waited and scanned for about 30 minutes and then decided to cycle on. Around 8:45 I arrived at Vliegveld Deelen. There is a small viewpoint along the road from which you can look through the woods out in the open. The site is very disclosed as it is an air base. The last years there has been a pair of Red-backed Shrikes here. Also this year they're present (at least the male). After some waiting I suddenly discovered a male Red-backed Shrike perched on a small bush. I looked at it and I quickly grabbed my scope, to find out the bird had gone again...! I waited a bit longer but I didn't see it anymore. Next stop was Deelen where some Turtle Doves have been singing. I waited on the exact spot for quite some time, but nothing. I did see and record a brilliant Black Woodpecker. This species and Pileated Woodpecker are probably one of my favourite species. So impressive!

Here is a recording of the bird calling, in a lane of beeches:

 Black Woodpecker by Fmeijer 

Along the road between Hoenderloo and Deelen I heard at least 4 different Wood Warblers singing. For a change, I decided to make some effort. I approached one and recorded and photographed it. It wasn't shy at all, singing above my head.

The recording and some photos:

 Wood Warbler by Fmeijer 

Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix), not so yellow!

I wanted to give the Red-footed Falcons another try, so on my way back I stopped at the lookout again. There were some more birders and it didn't take long until we saw a Red-footed Falcon. A first-summer female was hunting above the lake. It was quite distant but we could see the characteristics really well - lack of red 'pants', orange-tinged underparts including wing, long tailed, white-cheek, light neck and the upper part of the wing was a bit brown greyish - and every now and then it was catching dragonflies. A bit later a second individual was relocated, also a first summer female. Another interesting observation was a fly-by of a Ruddy Shelduck! Not the place where I would expect one! My dad arrived a little bit later and also saw one Red-footed Falcon. On our way back home we saw a nice Honey Buzzard on the Hoog Buurlosche Heide.