Apple of the eye

“Stay away! This is my apple!” What a plain beauty is this ♀ Blackbird (Turdus merula/Merel). One month from now the ♂♂ start to sing at dusk with a few hesitating strophes. The concert is for free, and it is the most beautiful sound you can imagine.

X’mas tits

No, it is not what you think, I mean the birds of course! Again heavy snowfall today (we have more than 20 cm now). I did the X’mas shoppings already yesterday evening, so I had the entire day to ‘play’ outside. Robins (Erithacus rubecula/Roodborst), Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus/Pimpelmees) and Great Tits (Parus major/Koolmees) were happy to join me.

Freezing sunset

Last weekend winter set-in, with heavy snowfall. At the same time my dad celebrated his 70-th birthday, so I was not able to go out. Therefore, I decided to take this day off. Surfing the Internet learned me that 2 Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus/Pestvogels) were reported yesterday near Boxmeer (about 35 km from the village where I live).
I could not find the Waxwings, but I enjoyed the crispy freezing cold in the “Maasheggen”. At the end of the afternoon patches of fog emerged above the white hedge-bordered fields near the river. I spent quite some time photographing a snow-covered bare corn field (I like bare corn fields!), but I also want to share with you a tree silhouette in the astonishing soft colors that sometimes appear just after sunset. The air echoed with the high-pitched calls of V-shaped formations White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons/Kolgans) migrating to their sleeping places. When I was back in the car the display indicated an outside temperature of -11°C.
I hope the fresh molehill doesn’t disturb the serene scenery too much (of course I also have a photo without the black dot :-).

Elusive Jacky

Who doesn’t want to discover elusive and secret things? I don’t know about you, but I do! So, on this damp, cold and grey winter day, I was for a moment the happiest man on earth when I found this hidden Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus/Bokje). I still don’t know how I broke its superb camouflage, it must have been pure luck.

Right time, right place

This is my first bird photo taken during a snow flurry. Many thanx to this ♂ Great-spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major/Grote Bonte Specht) who showed-up at the right time, at the right place.