Birding Netherlands

29/09/2024

A pair of Black Redstarts squabbling.
www.mennovanduijn.nl

06/06/2024

When a cute little European Robin becomes your poltergeist.

Last winter a spent hours and hours with the Common Redstarts and one day we had some snowfall. I hoped to photograph the Redstart with the last light but this Robin kept chasing them away.

www.mennovanduijn.nl

Wanneer het schattige Roodborstje veranderd in je plaaggeest.

Afgelopen winter heb ik vele uren aan het fotograferen van Zwarte Roodstaarten besteed. Toen er eindelijk wat sneeuw was gevallen hoopte ik foto's met tegenlicht te kunnen maken, echter verjaagde de Roodborst steeds de Roodstaarten.

30/05/2024

The star bird of the Dutch dunes, the Bluethroat. I vividly rememeber photographing my first when I was about twelve years old. Skulking through the seathorn bushes, resulting a 3 cm thorn in my legs that only came our after two weeks, the doctor only got the top centimetre out.

Still I enjoy photographing them every spring, with or without thorns.

www.mennovanduijn.nl

28/05/2024

Last April I had the plan to photograph Bar-tailed Godwits on spring migration, see previous post. I did manage to get some shots but the highlight was this pair of Common Shelduck in the blasting sand.

www.mennovanduijn.nl

23/05/2024

A successful target birding trip, despite post spring migration we ticked 106 species of birds

Michael had sent over his target list for European birds. We tried to get most of them , some easier than others.

28/04/2024

This Hobby caught one of the spring migrants this morning, I guess it's a Tree Pipit, and was eating out of the wind on the sea side of the dunes.

Hobbies are the smaller cousin of Peregrine Falcons and also catch their prey mid air. They eat larger flying insects and small birds, including swifts and swallows. Last they often hunt in pairs, one distracts the bird whilst the other swoops in from behind.

www.mennovanduijn.nl

25/04/2024

Mid April is the time when Bar-tailed Godwits pass through on their migration to their Arctic breeding grounds.

Last weekend it felt like being back in the Arctic, 3 degrees and 5 Bft wind from the north makes is feels like sub zero temperatures. Only as it's spring it didn't bring any gloves... After 2 hours I couldn't feel my hands anymore, thankfully I could warm myself with some coffee Hans Overduin his place

11/04/2024

Eurasian Magpie, in the first morning light, on a fresh cut lawn, looking for breakfast.

Black and white birds are always tricky to get both details in the dark and light parts, the low light works best.

www.mennovanduijn.nl

Canon R6MKII, 600/4.0, 1.4EX, handheld f7.1,1/800,+1/3

10/04/2024

Sky Larks get their name from the fact they fly up high in the sky whilst singing, up to 200 meters high. Normally it last a couple of minutes but there are records of 30 minutes!

This male preferred an old fence at once side of the road whilst his rival neighbour was at the other, allowing me to get some nice portraits.
www.mennovanduijn.nl

07/04/2024

For years now a drake Goldeneye is wintering around my hometown and in spring he falls in love with the local Mallards.

He tails every female that comes by chasing off the male Mallards till the point they get so annoyed and fly off. Then the little Goldeneye is on their tails again.

14/03/2024

I've dedicated my last four months on photographing Black Redstarts. This results in thousands of images of which about a hundred I kept and a selection of that is now available on my website.
https://www.mennovanduijn.nl/projects/redstarts
Now the birds have left to start their breeding season and I can look for the next project :)

01/03/2024

Dark clouds underneath.
The world swirled upside down.
A Black-headed Gull scanning for food.

New blog post about a visit to Ameland, www.mennovanduijn.nl

27/02/2024

Chasing love.
An almost fully mature male Dark-belied Brent (some juvenile wing coverts) chases a pair to show of he's fitter then the adult male in the middle to show off to the leading female.
www.mennovanduijn.nl

25/02/2024

Spring is in the air. As part of the bonding a Great Crested Grebe offer his partner a feather.

Grebes eat their own feathers to help to create pallets of fishbones they can't digest. They also feed their feathers to their own young as long as they only have downy feathers.

14/02/2024

Is solar the future? Our national bird, the Black-tailed Godwit doesn't care sh*t about it.

08/02/2024

Whilst waiting for a Kingfisher (couple of years ago) this male Bullfinch popped up on the perch. I just managed to get two shots before it took off again.

Sadly these wonderful finches are getting scarcer every year. Once a time, when they were common, they were seen as pests as they ate blossoms from the apple trees.

01/02/2024

Juvenile Red-necked Phalarope trying to sn**ch a emerging Mayfly.
Canon R6, 100-500, handheld, 1/1600, +2, F8.0
Texel

31/01/2024

Great-crested Grebe youngsters are not that picky