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Squacco abbey
Abdij van het Park, on the outskirts of Leuven, is a picturesque abbey set amongst some reed-fringed lakes which have become well-known for attracting Little Bittern over the past few years. It occasionally turns up a few other rarities too so today I headed there hoping to see the adult Squacco Heron which was found there yesterday morning. It showed extremely well the whole time I was there and even allowed me to take this distant, in-flight shot to prove I saw the bird, my first in Belgium. A much better photograph by a more expensively-equipped fellow observer can be seen here, however. Back in Brussels, our Peregrine chicks are growing very quickly and have already lost most of their down feathers. When I walked past the cathedral this afternoon, only one bird remained on the nesting platform, its siblings having ventured out onto the balcony below to exercise their wings.
Brussels in bloom
Work and other commitments together with the persistantly showery weather have prevented me getting out birding since my last post with the exception of a short walk around Molsbroek nature reserve in East Flanders, where I only managed to add Reed Warbler to my year list. Yesterday, I squeezed in a quick, evening tour of Mechels Broek, the highlights being a male Garganey, a calling Green Woodpecker, and the arrival of 10 migratory Redshanks.
The rain is definitely good for the plants, however, so the tulips at the Petit Sablon, my favourite spot in Brussels, are looking especially beautiful right now.
Tidalwave of wagtails
I've had a couple of busy days giving visiting tour-leader Rich Hoyer his first taste of Belgian birding. On Saturday evening, we saw some Swifts over the centre of Brussels, two days in advance of their traditional arrival on 30 April. Sunday was showery so we just spent a few hours at Mechels Broek on the edge of Mechelen. Six Black Terns were a nice surprise, as was a male Wheatear, whilst Blackcaps and Common Whitethroats were singing all over the place.
The weather was much better on Monday so we headed to the coast expecting to see some migration but little did we anticipate the tidalwave of migrants which awaited us.
As soon as we stepped out of the coastal tram, we noticed Yellow Wagtails passing overhead so we went up on to the dyke to see what else was migrating. We found ourselves in a constant stream of Swallows, martins, Swifts, wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Linnets, with a group of six Whimbrel and a female Ring Ouzel passing right over us. A single Serin had obviously migrated a little too far as it flew south past us before landing in some dandelions to feed, and an Osprey heading out to sea was the final highlight before we tore ourselves away to scour the polders.
With such concentrated migration, I expected there to be quite a lot of birds on the ground too but the polders themselves were fairly quiet other than the Sedge Warblers singing noisily from every ditch. The first ploughed field we came to, however, was awash with Wheatears, Whinchats and Yellow Wagtails, including three bright-yellow birds of the British subspecies flavissima. By the end of our walk, and a couple more ploughed fields later, we must have seen around 50 Wheatears and hundreds of Yellow Wagtails including at least 9 flavissima and 1 thunbergi (the grey-headed, Scandinavian subspecies)!
The weather was much better on Monday so we headed to the coast expecting to see some migration but little did we anticipate the tidalwave of migrants which awaited us.
As soon as we stepped out of the coastal tram, we noticed Yellow Wagtails passing overhead so we went up on to the dyke to see what else was migrating. We found ourselves in a constant stream of Swallows, martins, Swifts, wagtails, Meadow Pipits and Linnets, with a group of six Whimbrel and a female Ring Ouzel passing right over us. A single Serin had obviously migrated a little too far as it flew south past us before landing in some dandelions to feed, and an Osprey heading out to sea was the final highlight before we tore ourselves away to scour the polders.
With such concentrated migration, I expected there to be quite a lot of birds on the ground too but the polders themselves were fairly quiet other than the Sedge Warblers singing noisily from every ditch. The first ploughed field we came to, however, was awash with Wheatears, Whinchats and Yellow Wagtails, including three bright-yellow birds of the British subspecies flavissima. By the end of our walk, and a couple more ploughed fields later, we must have seen around 50 Wheatears and hundreds of Yellow Wagtails including at least 9 flavissima and 1 thunbergi (the grey-headed, Scandinavian subspecies)!
Red-and-yellow-letter day!
Image courtesy of http://www.falconsforeveryone.be
What a difference nine days make! The first hole appeared in one of the eggs right as I was writing my last post and, around 36 hours later, the third chick finally hatched. As you can see, they seem to be doing well and the cold, showery weather doesn't seem to be preventing the male from catching enough prey.
It has prevented me from getting out birding, however, with just one guided walk on Kalmthout Heath last week, during which I added Tree Pipit and Pied Flycatcher to my year list. The main target was Woodlark and we had great views of one bird perched, followed by another displaying, with a Black Woodpecker in flight as an added bonus. So far this week, I had just managed a couple of short walks in Brussels between the showers, finally connecting with Little Owl and also seeing my first House Martins of the year plus an unexpected, migrating group of Whimbrel.
Today, though, I headed down to Wallonia to try the Plateau de Gerny in Belgian Luxembourg for the first time. There have been quite a few raptors there recently, most notably a lingering Rough-legged Buzzard, and it is only a short walk from the nearest train station. As I arrived, Skylarks were singing everywhere and several Rooks also added to the feeling that this place was quite different to my usual birding spots in Flanders. Soon, though, I was watching three Red Kites being harassed by the crows and several male Yellowhammers, both species I would usually struggle to see in Belgium. Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear and Lesser Whitethroat were all year ticks, with a supporting cast of hunting Hen Harrier and a distant view of the Rough-legged Buzzard. The icing on the cake, however, was a group of 6 Ring Ouzels, which flew up from one of the fields, circled low in front of me so that I could clearly see their white bibs, and then headed off high to the north-east. It rained Ring Ouzels all over Belgium last week but I was unable to get out to see any and had more or less given up on them as there are much fewer around now and the rain is making it very difficult to predict where they will turn up next.
It has prevented me from getting out birding, however, with just one guided walk on Kalmthout Heath last week, during which I added Tree Pipit and Pied Flycatcher to my year list. The main target was Woodlark and we had great views of one bird perched, followed by another displaying, with a Black Woodpecker in flight as an added bonus. So far this week, I had just managed a couple of short walks in Brussels between the showers, finally connecting with Little Owl and also seeing my first House Martins of the year plus an unexpected, migrating group of Whimbrel.
Today, though, I headed down to Wallonia to try the Plateau de Gerny in Belgian Luxembourg for the first time. There have been quite a few raptors there recently, most notably a lingering Rough-legged Buzzard, and it is only a short walk from the nearest train station. As I arrived, Skylarks were singing everywhere and several Rooks also added to the feeling that this place was quite different to my usual birding spots in Flanders. Soon, though, I was watching three Red Kites being harassed by the crows and several male Yellowhammers, both species I would usually struggle to see in Belgium. Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear and Lesser Whitethroat were all year ticks, with a supporting cast of hunting Hen Harrier and a distant view of the Rough-legged Buzzard. The icing on the cake, however, was a group of 6 Ring Ouzels, which flew up from one of the fields, circled low in front of me so that I could clearly see their white bibs, and then headed off high to the north-east. It rained Ring Ouzels all over Belgium last week but I was unable to get out to see any and had more or less given up on them as there are much fewer around now and the rain is making it very difficult to predict where they will turn up next.
Easter eggs
Image courtesy of http://www.falconsforeveryone.be
Easter Monday was pretty miserable weatherwise and I was working the rest of the weekend so my year list has been stuck on 150 since the middle of last week, the latest addition being a Green Sandpiper. In fact, I only managed to get out to see how our cathedral-nesting Peregrines are doing and, as you can see, the three eggs are still intact. The female was very fidgety, however, constantly turning them over and seeming to listen to the sounds coming from within, so we expect three little fluffballs to hatch within the next couple of days. The website mentioned above has live camera footage from the nest so you can try to catch it happening.
April blues
I had a big surprise this morning in the form of a male Bluethroat feeding amongst the reeds at Boîtsfort, in the south-east of Brussels. It was either a 1st-summer bird or an adult still in winter plumage as some blue was showing but there was also an orange wash to the lower throat, leading me to think it might have been a migrant Scandinavian bird, especially as most of the white-spotted ones are already on territory. I've never seen any, of either subspecies, in Brussels before and it is the first record this year. Several Blackcaps were singing but, frustratingly, I could not find any of them as they seem to have all been following ventriloquism lessons over the winter. Easier to locate, however, was a beautiful, male Bullfinch, which would occasionally stop singing to nibble on a treebud, and I rounded off the morning in style with a nice view of a female Black Woodpecker climbing up a tree, having only heard one so far this year. Finally, I just couldn't resist taking a picture of this pair of Mandarins showing themselves off in the sun.
Comings and goings
My year list is coming on in leaps and bounds with the return of the migrants. Earlier this week, I sat on the dyke at the coastal migration watchpoint for four hours and just waited for the birds to come past me. Within a few minutes, we had a male Marsh Harrier low along the dyke, followed not long after by an elegant line of 13 Spoonbills. 4 Barn Swallows were also my first of the year, one of them twittering as it went past as if proclaiming its happiness at seeing us there waiting for its arrival, whilst a Red-breasted Merganser and a small flock of Common Scoter over the sea were even more important as it was probably my last chance to get these outgoing winter visitors before they return next autumn. I watched at least 36 different species migrating, with Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Meadow Pipits constituting the vast majority of the 5000+ birds which passed by that morning.
Today, I headed to Kalmthout Heath looking for Woodlarks and found at least six singing individuals. The first Willow Warblers were also very vocal, as was a distant Black Woodpecker, and the flooded meadow held Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin and a blotchy-looking Spotted Redshank just starting to transition to its beautiful summer plumage. Strangest of all, though, were the weird, wheezing calls which were reverberating all around me in the woods. It took me a while to locate them but they belonged to many Bramblings, all excitedly uttering an almost voiceless imitation of their well-known 'keep' call. I didn't remember ever hearing this until I looked in the guidebook and found out they were actually singing, thus bringing back memories of trying to locate the same sound in Lapland several years ago. Definitely not something I've ever heard in Belgium before, though, and, judging by their excited activity, it won't be long before they go too.
Today, I headed to Kalmthout Heath looking for Woodlarks and found at least six singing individuals. The first Willow Warblers were also very vocal, as was a distant Black Woodpecker, and the flooded meadow held Little Ringed Plover, Dunlin and a blotchy-looking Spotted Redshank just starting to transition to its beautiful summer plumage. Strangest of all, though, were the weird, wheezing calls which were reverberating all around me in the woods. It took me a while to locate them but they belonged to many Bramblings, all excitedly uttering an almost voiceless imitation of their well-known 'keep' call. I didn't remember ever hearing this until I looked in the guidebook and found out they were actually singing, thus bringing back memories of trying to locate the same sound in Lapland several years ago. Definitely not something I've ever heard in Belgium before, though, and, judging by their excited activity, it won't be long before they go too.
Summer teals and tortoiseshells
This nice, male Garganey, one of my favourite ducks, was swimming around near Leuven this afternoon. Both the Dutch and French names for it are 'summer teal' as opposed to 'winter teal', which is Eurasian Teal in English. It certainly felt very summery too, with my first butteflies of the year flying round; several Small Tortoiseshells, a few Comma, and one Holly Blue flying high up amongst the trees.
Clockwork Chiffchaffs
Having heard and then seen my first Chiffchaff of the year just eight days ago, they are now singing everywhere. I'm always amazed by the ability of certain species of birds to return without fail on more or less the same date each year despite varying weather conditions and, no doubt, food supplies along their way. I've always regarded Swifts as the most reliable, with the first ones appearing in the skies over Brussels on 30th April year after year.
Last weekend's Chiffchaffs got me thinking, however, and looking back at my records, I had my first ones on 9 March 2009, 12 March 2011 and 11 March 2012. Absolutely amazing for such tiny birds, the four-day difference being more due to my not getting out any earlier than anything else. As I headed out to a lake in Limburg early this morning, 'the' Black Redstart was back singing from the top of my building, just one day before I first heard him last year!
On the other hand, some species are turning up unusually early this year. I had my earliest ever Sand Martin today and am pretty sure I glimpsed a Marsh Harrier from the train at the weekend. Stonechats and White Wagtails have returned en masse as there were plenty of both around today, whilst a migrating flock of Starlings also contained a single Ruff, taking my year list to 130.
Last weekend's Chiffchaffs got me thinking, however, and looking back at my records, I had my first ones on 9 March 2009, 12 March 2011 and 11 March 2012. Absolutely amazing for such tiny birds, the four-day difference being more due to my not getting out any earlier than anything else. As I headed out to a lake in Limburg early this morning, 'the' Black Redstart was back singing from the top of my building, just one day before I first heard him last year!
On the other hand, some species are turning up unusually early this year. I had my earliest ever Sand Martin today and am pretty sure I glimpsed a Marsh Harrier from the train at the weekend. Stonechats and White Wagtails have returned en masse as there were plenty of both around today, whilst a migrating flock of Starlings also contained a single Ruff, taking my year list to 130.
City birding
Today, I had the pleasure of guiding The Urban Birder, David Lindo, who wanted me to give him a taste of birding in Brussels.
We started what turned out to be a beautifully sunny, spring day with this Egyptian Goose dancing atop a cherub in the Royal Park, right in the city centre.
From there, we moved on to the woodpecker wonderland of Woluwe Park, which lived up to its name with plenty of drumming, several territorial chases by Great Spotted, a couple of decent looks at Middle Spotted, and a very bright, female Green Woodpecker showing off in the sun. Red Squirrels were all over the place and I don't think I've ever seen so many; perhaps a dozen or so. By the time we got to the ponds and forest on the edge of Brussels, there were plenty of other people making the most of the nice weather so birding became a bit harder. Nevertheless, we saw and heard at least one more Middle Spotted Woodpecker, found the pair of Wood Duck settling in high up in a tree, connected with a Kingfisher and got to see my first Chiffchaff of the year. Heading back to the central train station via the cathedral, we arrived just as the male Peregrine came in with a small prey, calling like mad to his mate who is already sitting on eggs. A last-minute Collared Dove took our day tally to 57 species, not including cherubs and lions!
