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The rain did quit by morning, and the sun even came out around noon, but man-oh-man it sure was cold in the breeze before then. After a couple of hours outside, I had to go back to my apartment, get warmed up, and put on more layers before going out again. When the sun wasContinue reading “Full Circle”

Despite flipping to a new page in the calendar, the wet weather continues unabated here in South Holland. Happily, the birds just keep singing, and new ones keep arriving, so here’s who I could get a picture of this morning. The wrens have been loud and proud for a few weeks now, but usually fromContinue reading “April Showers!”

Oof, what a morning. It wasn’t raining or particularly cold, but the unrelenting wind was whipping at a constant 27 mph, and I can still feel it on my skin after a nice lunch, shower, and nap. The birds were abundant, however, and I even spotted a few hares, but everyone was hunkered down andContinue reading “The March Wind Howls”

Happy belated vernal equinox. I read that it occurred sometime last evening, depending on your time zone. Anyway, I’ve got some pictures left over from the weekend that “didn’t fit the narrative,” so I thought I’d use them to help celebrate this special occasion. First up, here’s a handsome tufted duck drake from Saturday, whenContinue reading “Happy Spring!”

I spoke too soon about the spring weather, I guess, because the cool breeze this morning cut right to my bones even with another layer on, but I should thank my lucky stars that at least it wasn’t also raining. The chill was worth it, however, to catch a glimpse finally of the aptly-named bluethroatContinue reading “‘Tis the season…”

With any luck, we are finally done with snow and heavy overnight frost. Today I got away without wearing my poofy coat for the first time this season, and I mostly left my gloves in my pocket. Another noticeable change is that the chiffchaff are back and singing up a storm. This morning it wasContinue reading “Starting to get on Spring’s good side…”

Oof, what a morning! At first, I was all excited because the rain did quit early, as I am sure you all hoped, and the radar looked nice and clear. Then, when I got out to the Ackerdijkse Plassen, I was reminded that soaking drizzle does not appear on radar, and I only dared take outContinue reading “Almost drizzled out.”

The trip to Bavaria I mentioned last weekend didn’t pan out, so I’m still here in South Holland, and what a beautiful day it was, especially after the rain and snow we had for most of the week. It was cold, and most open water had a skin of ice, but the sun was out,Continue reading “A brand-new bird, some returnees, and a vagrant, oh my!”

Besides all the new birds I saw yesterday or was finally able to photograph for the first time, there were plenty of old favorites around, too. While I was checking out the falcons up on the School of Architecture tower, I noticed a pair of European jays in the tree right over my head. TheyContinue reading “Weekend Wrapup”

Wow! What a “morning”, and I’m using scare quotes because I didn’t get home till 1pm, even though I headed out right after sunrise, at around 7:30. I must admit that some of that time was spent waiting out rain showers, under a roof if I could find one, or just under my umbrella ifContinue reading “A morning of many firsts…”