Another Dutch Day of Sunshine

It was another beautiful morning in South Holland, so I hopped on my bike and headed into the countryside again. My first new find is this striking common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) finally posing perfectly after it made me chase it from perch to perch for a while. I read that chaffinch is “literally “chaff-finch,” so called for its habit of eating waste grain among the chaff on farms in winter.”

Here’s one more grey heron picture from yesterday when the sun was nice and low to give it that golden glow.

Also, from yesterday, here’s a reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) singing away, who looks just like the sedge warbler we’ve already seen, but without the eye stripe.

Here’s my first raptor. It’s not a great picture, but the brown on brown coloration makes me lean towards Eurasian marsh-harrier (Circus aeruginosus), which I have also seen hovering over the fields once in a while.

On that patch of thistle blossoms yesterday, there was also a single, slightly-roughed-up, painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui), “the most widespread of all butterfly species.” We’ve even seen them in Estabrook Park, and more than once!

I didn’t see any new butterflies this morning, but I did finally find a dragonfly taking a breather, and the blueish tail plus one black “spot” on each wing makes me think it might be the aptly-named black-tailed skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum). Right?

I’d better stop there, for now, so that I have something to show you tomorrow, just in case this weather doesn’t hold.