Monthly Archives: January 2023

Well, the forecast was correct, and the skies this morning were as grey as clouds that form a thick blanket that blocks out most of the sun. Luckily for us, I have plenty of bird pictures left over from yesterday when the sun was out and the sky was blue. Let’s start with a greatContinue reading “Nonaquatic birds of Delft on a mild and sunny winter day”

My apartment in Delft has huge, old-timey windows in one end, and even though they are in pretty good shape, my apartment is a lot warmer if I keep the heavy curtains closed. Thus, I don’t really know what the weather is like outside until I explicitly look, and this morning I was pleasantly surprisedContinue reading “Aquatic birds of Delft on a sunny and mild winter day”

I did find a mute swan in town yesterday, but it was taking a break from the water, so that could explain why I didn’t spot it Saturday when I merely looked down the canals. It seemed perfectly content to sit right there, between a parked bicycle and a park car, and preen its feathers.Continue reading “Birds of Delft in Winter, PS”

Phew! Good thing I saved some pictures from yesterday, because the weather here has returned to its dark and dreary self this morning. In any case, on to the water birds, and the ubiquitous Eurasian coot deserves top billing. If there’s only one bird in a body of water around here, odds are that it’sContinue reading “Birds of Delft in Winter, Part 2 – Aquatic”

Well, miracles never cease, and the sun “rose” over clear skies in Delft this “morning”. I use scare quotes because the sun only breached the horizon at 8:37am and only reaches 18° above the horizon by noon. It will set again at 5:10pm. I think I’ve only seen the sun one other day since I’veContinue reading “Birds of Delft in Winter”

It turns out that my flight back to Delft leaves later today than I thought, so I did have enough time for one last quick visit to Estabrook Park this morning. I was happy to see the great horned owl near its usual spot on the river again, and it was a little less buriedContinue reading “Just one more…”

Big Bend National Park and Terlingua in West Texas were amazing, and we saw a lot of wild life, but it is also always great to be back home and get a chance to visit Estabrook Park. I ship out back to South Holland tomorrow, so this might be my last post for a while.Continue reading “Back in Estabrook, at least for a day…”

It was our third and last day in this amazing park, and the sights just kept on coming. We stopped first at one of the old, abandoned ranches, Sam Nail’s, and the old well acting as a water source worked as advertised. The place was abuzz with birds as the sun came into the valley.Continue reading “Big Bend National Park, Day 3.”

Today we took a “float” down the Rio Grand. Anne was surprised that we had to paddle, and I was surprised that we hit white water. Happily, neither surprise did us in, and we did see some more amazing sights. Here are a couple of the highlights. There were several black phoebes (Sayornis nigricans) huntingContinue reading “Big Bend National Park, Day 2.”

We made it into Big Bend National Park today, did some great hiking in the Chisos Mountains, and saw some amazing sights. Here’s a pyrrhuloxia or desert cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus), close cousin to the Northern cardinals we see in Estabrook. Here’s a Say’s phoebe (Sayornis saya) on the hunt for dinner out on the desert north ofContinue reading “Big Bend National Park, Day 1.”