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As I stepped out the door from my apartment building after lunch yesterday to walk back to work, my heart skipped a beat when I spotted what I thought was a large butterfly fluttering by. I gave chase immediately, at least with my eyes, and I was thrilled to see it land on a brickContinue reading “A rare glimpse…”

Here are a few more sights from this past weekend, and these critters all tend to keep themselves better hidden than others I see. I stumbled upon another ring-necked pheasant hen tucked into the tall grass and holding perfectly still, unlike her boldly-colored counterpart who I often see strutting across open fields. Here’s another noisy-as-heckContinue reading “Shy ones…”

As promised, here’s a short story from Saturday that got bumped from my earlier reports, first by the fledging storks, and then by the fox. These are two very fresh coot chicks, maybe just a day or two old, judging by their size and their bright red hairdo, and probably a second brood for theContinue reading “Coots, young and old…”

It was another perfect morning in South Holland, and spurred by seeing all the storks yesterday, I headed first to my old stomping grounds on the east side of the Delftse Schie, where we watched the second stork nest for several weeks, in which I now read is called the Ackerdijkse Plassen, “one of theContinue reading “Not outfoxed for a change…”

We had a picture perfect-morning in South Holland today. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the winds were calm, and the air was cool. The temps started in the 50s at sunrise, and we’re not forecast to reach the 70s all day. I headed out to the new area Anne had told meContinue reading “The Dog Days of Summer are Here”

I was traveling yesterday, and so I couldn’t get out into the countryside until this morning, when it was cloudy, cool, and sprinkly. Such weather kept the butterflies bedded down, but didn’t seem to bother these birds at all, thankfully. I headed to a new spot that Anne had scouted for me last week, andContinue reading “Family Dynamics”

Anne and I had a nice leisurely bike ride down to Brielle, just south of the Maas River, and back. So, now I’m trying to identify some of the other creatures I photographed Saturday morning. First up is the darling long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus). Its beak barely extends beyond its feathers, and it’s tiny “(only 13–15 cmContinue reading “A tit, a tattered map, and a warbler…”

I got about 5 minutes, so this has to be quick. I headed to a new spot this morning that Anne told me about, and it really paid off. Here’s a pheasant with a pair of his chicks. The hen and a couple other chicks where there too, but this was the nicest grouping. Here’sContinue reading “I quick post before I bolt…”

Here’s another beach bird from Sunday, a Eurasian linnet (Linaria cannabina). It’s a “small finch of open country, from wild moorland to rough grassland and weedy patches in urban areas.” There were a handful of these little cuties flitting around in the trees atop the dunes, and this one perched against that beautiful blue skyContinue reading “More beach beauties”

Well, Anne and I did ride up to the coast this morning, to Oostduinpark in Scheveningen, and the dunes are huge, perhaps the highest points I’ve seen in the Netherlands so far. It was a beautiful morning with clear skies and calm winds, the bike ride up from Delft was pretty nice, and there areContinue reading “More Winged Things”